Probe Placement?

[Peppie]

I have a 5 gallon air tank single 3/4'' burner propane forge.
Where would be the ideal placement for a ceramic sheath heat probe?
I would like to use the forge mainly for heat treatment. But I believe it will produce enough heat to weld.
I am wondering if I can mold a shelf for the sheath to sit on. That way I could pull the heat probe out when not needed.??? IDK I am new to all this.

 

[scott.livesey]

ideally you want the probe end as close to the blade as possible. for heat treat, you get better temperature control and more even temperatures is you put the blade in a muffle inside the forge. muffle would usually be a piece of pipe or tube big enough for the blade to stand up. you just lay the probe next to the blade in the muffle

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

The guidance I give on my store for the thermocouple is:

To use the thermocouple, I recommend placing the probe under the metal
as it sits in the forge. This will give the most accurate reading.
Typical use is to learn the correlation between temp and color. After
a while, you will no longer need the thermocouple except for HT.

I never sit a blade in a forge to HT, it always stays moving to give a more even heat and keep the tip from burning. I'm not an expert on HT, but it makes sense to me.

 

[stezann]

whether a forge is or not suitable for HT it depends.
A flame striking on the blade won't be the ideal world, but if you have a large enough chamber and just enough flame to keep with the natural loss of heat you can create a very even heat chamber, especially if your opening is on top....an horizontal design, turned vertical, with a slit door (not full bore)...you can use firebriks to make the opening tight, to reflect back down the heat of the rising flame. You should make the necessary adjustments always exploring with your probe to make it sure the heat is even, then you will find a reasonable average in your (minimal) range where to place your TC ceramic sheat/well. If you spend a little time doing things like this you won't even have the tips hotter.
Giving it enough time to get even it is the trick of the trade, expect half an hour to be in the ballpark.