What temp do you run your forge at?

Jesse Smith

Jesse Smith

Joined
Dec 2, 2013
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163
I am just finishing up my first forge, which is a temperature controlled propane forge. I know (think) I want the blade to be in the orange peel color 1600°F neighborhood when forging, but I'm curious what kind of temp y'all run your forges at. Should it be set close the blade temp I'm wanting (1600°-1700°) or is it better to run it hotter so the blade heating time is quicker?

I've been Googling and searching the site for two days and haven't found anything, so sorry for yet another newbie forging question.
 
Purely from my own inept attempts at forging and time spent watching guys who are very much better at it than me, I think the answer depends a lot on how you work and how good you are.

For a beginner or hobby maker with no major time constraints, the best forge temperature is probably the desired forging temperature. That way, there is no possibility of overheating the steel and ruining the workpiece. Additionally, if the forge has good mixture adjustment, the atmosphere is likely to be richer at lower temperatures and this will tend to reduce scaling, even though the time spent in the forge is longer.

For the guys who are sufficiently skilled to tell when the workpiece is at forging temperature, even though the background is hotter, for whom time is money, and for whom ruining a workpiece is a rare event, hotter is probably better.

I'm guessing it's probably best to start with the forge at forging temperature and work up as you gain experience.
 
PID control is for HT and such. You can try and control the forge at higher temps for forging, but to be honest, it is simpler to do those temps manually. The TC isn't really any good above 2000°, IMHO.

For forging, you want the forge at about 2200°F. Forge most normal carbon steels between 2100° and 1600°. Do not forge above 2200° or below 1500°F. Both those will have bad effects on the steel. That is between yellow at the top and orange at the bottom.
 
Start the forging at 2100 or 2200 and dial the temp down as the blade thins. Finish up at 1600 or so. Your working at normalizing temps when your working at 1600 and this is a good thing when you are finishing up forging a blade.
 
Thanks everyone. I had no idea you would want the forge that hot if you weren't welding. No wonder my rebar handles get so hot waiting for the work piece to heat up. :eek:
 
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