My new stainless forge

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

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Feb 16, 2010
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I've been wanting to make this for about 3 years, since right after I made my first forge. The problem with a regular forge is that you leave it outside to cool down, and forget it. The next morning dew has formed and your forge is rusty. It's made entirely from 304 SS. I just needed to spend $1000 on a 20' piece of stainless square tube and $300 on a saw and $300 worth of blades to cut it with.


StainlessForge-1024x768.jpg
 
That looks like a beast--I am not familiar with 'forges' what is the 3bolt fixture on the right side.

Looks good to me.
 
Have you left the 304ss in contact with water? How does it hold up?

I am working on a project and after reading up on 304 and 316 I decided I wanted 326 but could not find 3/8" plate.

Thanks
 
304 works well for outdoor use and is the easiest to get in plate sizes because it's the standard stainless steel for structural applications. My forge is 304 and has been left outside for weeks without developing rust. It will warp from heat though if it's not insulated enough (especially at the opening). that forge looks great (mine is just 16 ga. shell around my insulation).
 
Quite a few years back I scored a bunch of 1/8" thick stainless steel pipe in 8-10-12-16" diameters, plus a box full of heavy walled tubing/pipe in the 3/4" to 2" size.. I made several stainless forges with stainless burners. I have all the parts cut out for a bunch more...which I will get around to assembling some day.
 
Fish30114 said:
That looks like a beast--I am not familiar with 'forges' what is the 3bolt fixture on the right side.

Looks good to me.
Click to expand...

That's the burner holder. It angles back at about 15° to give more complete combustion and focus the heat in the middle of the chamber.

304SS is the only thing the 5" square is readily available in, and it took a lot of searching to find a steel distributor that actually had a piece.
 
Yes, the minimum length I could purchase was 20' long, and it cost $865 + $50 cutting charge to cut it to 12" lengths + tax brought it close to $1000. I could find 5' lengths which were $565. This was WAY more per piece, so I decided to get enough to make 20 forges.
 
WOW, that's a hell of an investment.


Luckily I have friends and contacts in metal recycling industry that let me find project parts on a low budget.


But it sounds like you have plans for the rest of those tube sections.

And knowing exactly what you have is always a plus.


I'm surprised you limited yourself to 12" lengths.




Big Mike
 
Big Mike said:
I'm surprised you limited yourself to 12" lengths.
Big Mike
Click to expand...

You know, I've built dual burner 16" forges before. They just weren't as efficient as the 12" length. Except on short swords and machetes, the extra chamber was mostly unused. 10½" is plenty big enough chamber for most knives, even full tang. Plus, the proportions of a 12" forge look right compared to the longer forge. It's not the golden ratio, but it just looks right proportionally.

Charles
 
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