Vertical Forge Simple Questions

C

cartierusm

Joined
Feb 23, 2017
Messages
69
Ok I've got a horizontal forge I built with a 14" ribbon burner. Doesn't seem to be that efficient. I'm totally new to this, but have been a regular metal worker most of my life. So I'm pretty sure I'm not too far off. I'm doing a lot of Damascus and have read that a vertical forge is the way to go. My current forge interior size is 8" wide x 6" high and 18" long.

This is where my questions come into play. Most working vertical forges I've seen have a small window on each side, but people on forums regularly talk about suspending the billet in a vertical forge. And most vertical forges seem short.

So my question is when I'm drawing out a damascus billet they can easily get 18" long. I like the idea of side windows as suspending a billet seems...um...hard. And if the point of the vertical forge is to have the heat go up wouldn't that heat the handle on the billet super hot?

I'm looking for the ergonomics of it before I start building one.
 
I have a horizontal and a vertical forge. I don't use the vertical much for some of the reasons you state. What I normally do is weld up in the vertical since that uses the most flux, and after welding and some drawing I'll switch to the horizontal to draw out 2-3' and let cool before cutting and restocking. Then back to the vertical for welding. I tend to weld up several billets at a time, so I don't waist the heat of the vertical. I can draw out long sections with using the vertical, but it's not as nice for general work as the horizontal. I normally have about a 3' piece of rebar welded on the billet for a handle, and use a tin can dipper in the slack tub to cool the handle down some and let me know where the heat is on it. All that said, the vertical forge really saves the lining on my horizontal when welding.

I've also got a long skinny set of pick up tongs I made just for picking stuff I dropped out of the vertical forge.
 
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