Propane tank forge

warrior24

warrior24

Joined
May 3, 2006
Messages
673
I am planning on making a forge so I thought I would use an old propane tank for the shell. It should be safe so long as I fill the tank with water and rinse it out before I cut it. But I am not sure as to which type of forge design I should use. I am concerted that it won’t get hot enough. Can some one give me some pointers? Thanks guys and gals
 
Do two things. First go to www.elliscustomknifeworks.com and look at the forge gallery to get an idea what other people have built. You can also check out materials you will need.
Second, do a search of this forum for old threads on building forges. Guys in here have been doing it for years, and have posted alot of really good ideas.

My forge is made with a propane tank shell. Its just about the perfect shape for starting out a knifemakers forge. The fact that its round, makes it easy to get the flame to swirl inside and heat it evenly. And the tank wall is about the right thickness where you can cut it easily, but its not so thin that its hard to weld on if you need to.

My first forge is posted here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308343

Plans for the burner are also included.

That set up worked really well for me for a couple years. I have recently rebuilt it and made a horizontal set up that I like better, but haven't had a chance to get pictures of it all yet. The horizontal set up was harder to make because I made a door for the end so I could fit larger projects into it, and that took a lot more welding, but it really isn't too difficult.
I also changed the design of my burner. I actually made 2 small burners for the new forge instead of one large one. If I get a chance I'll draw up theplans for them too. They use an inflation needle (like you use to blow up a basketball) for an orifice and it looks like its going to work out pretty well.
 
Interesting I was going to use my tank in the horizontal position. Why do you have it in the vertical position?
 
It doesn't make any difference on vert/hor. Most with verts will have a small opening in the back where longer material can run out. Personal preferance pretty much depending on what your using it for. I'm sure once you make one you'll be making more and you'll end up with a family of forges.
 
In went with a vertical because it was simple to build, and I was able to use soft firebricks for the forge floor. The trouble with it is that I didn't put an opening in the back to run long peices through, so the forge wasn't too handy for the some of the welding projects I've gotten into where I needed to bend something big.
The reason my new forge is horizontal is because its a much easier set up with a door. This way I can leave a small opening in the front and back for knife sized stuff, and I can open the door and put larger peices inside if I want. I occasionally make a pair of spurs, and might try to make some bits this winter so the door will make it a lot easier to get things in and out of the forge. You just have to figure out what you want to use it for and design it accordingly. And like Ray said, you'll have more than one eventually.
 
I would make a burner. The one I posted in that old link doesn't require any welding and all the materials are found in the plumbing section of any decent hardware store. Probably cost you about $10 to make it and when it gets burnt out you can replace it easily.
The new burners I'm using are a little bit harder to make, but still only cost about $10 to build and still use common plumbing materials. They're also a lot smaller than that torch, which will be really awkward sticking 3 ft out of your forge.
 
I made mine from an old P tank.
It worked great.
I had 20 bucks in the tank from a scrap yard.
I like the domed top and bottom.
 
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