Gas Forges

[hondo1892]

Been sometime since I've posted anything. I check the forum about every day to keep up though. Since my breathing has been poor this past year I've had to rethink how I do some things. I do a fair amount of forge work and have burned coal for years. Coal has lots of smoke when you start with green coal and still has some with coked coal. So I'm trying to stay away from smoke all together now. I went and bought a Majestic knife makers forge back around Christmas. Everyone said that gas forges will get hot enough to forge weld with. Well the Majestic may weld but I haven't been able to yet with mine. Company says it will weld easily with three burners. I bought this one because two guys I know use them and liked them. So after a month of messing with this thing I decided to do some research which I should have done more before I got this thing. It has too little insulation and supposedly it will weld if you use 30 psi of gas. Shouldn't need this much pressure and it really eats up a tank quick at that pressure. So it looks as if I'm going to have to make my own gas forge after spending $500 on this thing. I do several hawks a year and need to have a forge that will weld and need it to weld at an affordable price. I hope I can use the burners from the Majestic to make my own. If I can't I'll have a gas forge for sale, cheap. It will forge out a knife blade from bar stock and its fine for heating blades to harden them but that's about all. I would never recommend one of these to anyone. Sorry for griping so much but thought I would let you guys know in case any of you ever think about getting a gas forge. I have managed to make four knives since I got it though.

[Bill in Oregon]

Hondo, you are way out of my "dabbler" league. I have a two-burner Diamond Back Iron Works forge and have never tried to get to welding heat. Now I am curious. I went to gas from a hand-cranked charcoal Tim Lively washtub forge and of course feel like I am living in tall cotton. I don't miss the smoke.

[hondo1892]

I've read that the Diamondbacks are better designed than the Majestic.

[Grizz]

Hondo

search for 'brick pile forge' . they are just piles of 2200df bricks that you arrange in the way that best contains the object you are heating. some of them look like rubble but they have massive insulation.

with three burners you should be able to melt steel! I have one of these:



and run it between 15 and 5 psi depending on how hot the forge is and the steel that's in it. I put the smallest tweco tip in it for better back pressure at the pressures I'm using, better jet effect.

some of the forges look like side blast viking setups. some of them look like engineering marvels. some look industrial. I have a "two brick forge" that gets VERY hot in the little space. my burner does use more gas than the little thing I started with, but it heats the steel all the way thru in a hot hurry after the first heat. more than enough heat to forge 3/4" thick truck springs. with a 3/4" burner. hope this helps

hope searching turns up something you can use. here's a video of a little fprge, but you can scale it to any size you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVF_ARXjWWs

probably lots more ideas there.

Best

[Gobblerforge]

Two thoughts on this. One is that I have never met anyone who can weld in gas every time. It's as if there are variables that are often unfixable. The second is to do as I have in the past. Use the coal to do the welding and gas for forgeing.
Gobbler

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Reminds me that I'm one episode behind in the Forged in Fire series. They use an interesting little brick 3 burner forge but they are always making knives.

[Chuck 100 yd]

What he said ^^^ + 1 . On that show you see guys forge welding all the time using three burner gas forges. Walter Sorells makes Damascus all the time with his gas forge as you can see on his youtube videos.

[Grizz]

two more things

I add a stick of wood now and then to change the chemistry of the forge atmoshpere, might that effect welding? and

the gas burners can run rich or lean, oxidizing or reducing, depending on the gas-air ratio, is that a factor on whether forging happens in gas?

[Griff]

two more things
I add a stick of wood now and then to change the chemistry of the forge atmoshpere, might that effect welding? and the gas burners can run rich or lean, oxidizing or reducing, depending on the gas-air ratio, is that a factor on whether forging happens in gas?

I've never used a gas forge, always a coal... But, I'd believe that a adding a stick of wood would cool the forge, not enhance anything but aroma. I would think lean would be hotter... a neighbor uses a two burner forge to make damascus... but, it's a very "short" forge, as in only a couple of inches in height, (interior).

[Grizz]

two more things
I add a stick of wood now and then to change the chemistry of the forge atmoshpere, might that effect welding? and the gas burners can run rich or lean, oxidizing or reducing, depending on the gas-air ratio, is that a factor on whether forging happens in gas?

I've never used a gas forge, always a coal... But, I'd believe that a adding a stick of wood would cool the forge, not enhance anything but aroma. I would think lean would be hotter... a neighbor uses a two burner forge to make damascus... but, it's a very "short" forge, as in only a couple of inches in height, (interior).

small pieces of wood. reduces amt of O2 in the forge and reduces scale. especially effective when using a muffle.
helps to keep a reducing atmosphere with enough gas to keep the temps where I want them, just throttling down the aid cools the flame too much sometimes.


give it a whirl

[Griff]

two more things
I add a stick of wood now and then to change the chemistry of the forge atmoshpere, might that effect welding? and the gas burners can run rich or lean, oxidizing or reducing, depending on the gas-air ratio, is that a factor on whether forging happens in gas?

I've never used a gas forge, always a coal... But, I'd believe that a adding a stick of wood would cool the forge, not enhance anything but aroma. I would think lean would be hotter... a neighbor uses a two burner forge to make damascus... but, it's a very "short" forge, as in only a couple of inches in height, (interior).

small pieces of wood. reduces amt of O2 in the forge and reduces scale. especially effective when using a muffle.
helps to keep a reducing atmosphere with enough gas to keep the temps where I want them, just throttling down the aid cools the flame too much sometimes.
give it a whirl

I don't currently have a forge. Have looked at gas forges, just always wanted something else more, when I had the yen...

[hondo1892]

This one will probably weld but with very high pressure which means lots of gas. If it was insulated better and had a reflective layer it would heat faster and use less fuel. I need something that is as cheap and efficient as coal. Most guys make there own but I needed one quick and hoped this one would work well enough. Not going to happen without mods or rebuild it.

[JReed]

Is there a way to add insulation to your forge? Looking at the pics on the website it looks like the insulation is just fire brick if so you could possibly remove the brick and replace with 2" kaowool coated with ITC/ Satanite. Should up your insulation rating.