Will this Forge idea work???

Robert Hankins

Robert Hankins

Joined
May 19, 2003
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Want to make another forge strictly for doing Heat treating. It will be a multi burner forge long enough to HT swords up to 30" or so.
Need to control the even heating of the blade.
Could I use a 2" pipe placed in the center of the forge, heat that with the burners and place the blade in the pipe for more even heat?

If someone has a HT Forge for swords how about a little help on this. Want to include a movable back wall so I can use burners selectively and do smaller blades as well.
Ron Reil's 4 burner looks good but I think the pipe idea will work.

Pics of your forge will be greatly appreciated.
 
Yes it works good. weld the end closed so air cant circulate and this will keep the scale to a minimum. I havent done a sword but have had good luck doing bowie sized blades. I still preheat the ricasso area with a torch because it is thick and slow to catch up with the rest of the blade. As always the tip can get over heated but leave it thick and try to get the fire down to around 1700F and hold it there. Turn the lights off in the shop and use a magnet. It would be nice to have a very long forge for swords.
 
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This is a pic of my forging and heat treating forge it has a 30" fire box. It started out as a N.C. Tool Co 5 burner, changed to a 6 burner with N.C.Tool burners, I used this for several years with mixed results. I then rebuilt it with Ron Riel side arm burners, thy are ease to build and work great. I don,t think that 4 burners are enough in my experience, I had serious issues with the 6 burner N.C.Tool set up.
A pipe will help, but try to get extra heavy pipe and weld one shut to act as a heat defuser. I tried this before the up date and now don't need it. Also use a plug in the burners that you are not using or you will ruin them. I use a piece of K Wool to make a movable wall to limit the length of the fire box. Call or email if you have questions. Gib
 
Gib, that looks like a diesel engine! Looks great but why do you say you need so many burners?
 
To get a even heat for the length of the forge. The forge is a bad design to start with, however that is what I had and needed to make it work. If you talk to Larry Zollor ( you will find him on Ron Riel burner pages) you find that the spacing on the burners is correct for that size forge. Also that number of burners is needed for the volume of the forge. The fire box is 30" long and I have found that is what it takes. Hope it helps. Gib
 
I believe Don Fogg said somewhere on his website that he uses his salt pot for swords witha really tall pipe sticking out the top of it.
I think that would be that way to go. just use a long enough pipe full of salts to cover your blade and wrap the part that sticks up out of the forge with a couple layers of kaowool.
 
A salt pot would be the ultimate for a sword, but unfortunately they aren't as easy to construct, or obtain suitable materials.
 
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