question about buying a forge

raylaconico · May 22, 2005

I'm thinking about buying the three burner forge from kovalknives.com to use for heat treating. I've been using a charcoal and barbeque pit for several years now and I want to know if a forge will be better (easier and more convenient to use). I think it will be good. I just want to get opinions before making the decision.
Thanks,
Ray Laconico

synghyn · May 22, 2005

I'm a new guy, so others with more knowledge will chime in but.......

I used a coal forge a few times when I played with smithing back in the day, and it was messy smelly, and generally a lot of work. That's all we had so it's what we used and we were happy enough with it.

Now, with a gas forge, cleaner, hotter(or hotter easier anyway), much less work to keep up and run. Well worth it IMHO.

Also, while keeping in mind I didn't use the coal forge that much, alot easier to control and maintain accurate temps with gas, so that might help with the HT.

I'd use it for everything, but if all your thinking is HT, you might look at a dedicated HT oven.

Hope it's useful for what it is.
Jon

indian george · May 22, 2005

Why buy??? If you can make a knife you can build a forge.

I have a tutorial on my site and if you live near me I'll give you a hand in building it. If you have any question feel free in emailing me.

I just noticed that you are on the other coast.

raylaconico · May 22, 2005

Jon, I will probably only use it for heat treating at least for now. I didn't think you could use those electric ovens for oil quenching steels, correct me if I'm wrong.
George, thanks so much for your offer but I'm not buying actually my father is buying for me. I'm a poor guy with a rich father. He offered to set up a nice shop for me so I'm looking to improve what I have. I was looking at a HT oven but Im not sure if you could do oil quenching steels in those and I'm not ready for the more complicated steels just yet.
Thanks
Ray

DaQo'tah Forge · May 22, 2005

raylaconico

When I started to make knives I just used normal store coal for the BBQ.

it worked fine, but the blower did put a ton of sparks in the air so I had to be very carefull with the wind and how close I was to my shop.

In the winter it just got too cold to use the out doors forge, so I got a Whisper low-boy 3-burner from a forum brother.

It is great,,,for what I should use it for.

It can heat fast, it can heat a bunch of steel, and it can get that steel very hot.

so it is a good idea to get a gas forge for the winter.

However, there are a few problems with my 3- burner too. Like you have to be very carefull to not over cook the steel. And it is very hard to heat smaller sections at a time.

I am learning how to make Katana now, and at first I thought a 3-burner would be good to use, however the number of times I end up heating the tip as I work down the blade makes me wish I had just a 1-burner.

But, I would never trade away my 3-burner now, I can heat a whole katana at once with just a little movement ...and being in doors allows me to control the heating of the sword more closely that when i was out fighting the wind and snow.

Bruce Bump · May 22, 2005

I use an Even Heat electic oven for everything. It does a great job for all aspects from annealing simple carbon steels to heat treating high alloy stainless steels. I couldnt work without it now.

AwP · May 22, 2005

You don't NEED a HT oven for oil quench steel, but you can still use one and it'll be just fine. Like others mentioned, propane can be much more convenient to use, but sometimes you want solid fuel for stuff propane can't do well, like heating specific sections. Having both available is very nice.

Reg ELLERY · May 22, 2005

The simple answer is gas is simpler cleaner and more convienient. I used a charcoal gorge and still do. However I use my single burner as much as possible.

If you have a few tools building a forge is much easier than you think. I was afraid to build one for years. When I finally did and made one for another maker, I could not believe why I had waited.

There are plenty of sites around with plans and how too's.

only thing is cost of gas. consider what you intend to make. The bigger the forge the more to run it.

I have a 16 inch length gas 10 inch diamiter 1 burner. I am going to make a smaller mini forge for small items.

I will also keep my charcoal forge for all my history pieces. It is a thing I like to do. I recycle old historic metal and turn it into letter openers. I always do some part of the forging on the charcoal forge. It takes longer and more mess but the tourists seem to like it.