Best gas forge for a serious home hobbyist?

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Ome108

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Apr 29, 2014
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Hi guys,
I am learning about knife making, and now I am ready to buy a small gas forge, and it needs to be under 50 or 60 lbs , so It can be easily brought in the basement, when not in use.
I would like to give some shaping hot metal with a proper hammer on my anvil
There are many available on ebay and on the internet.
One company seemed interesting,
Diamondback ironworks.
Does anyone know anything about this and other company's.
The model I am looking at is a 2 burner LP GAS sidearm.
It has a door , and is suppose to be versatile if you end up wanting to do more that heat treatment.
Anyone who is any information I would greatly appreciate it.
I know there are many people who are selling kits but I have no interest or time to make one so I definitely am interested in an exclusive let's say turn key purchase.
Thank you very much,

Jon
 
I have the two burner blacksmith forge by Diamondback Ironworks. It works really good for general bladesmithing. It is a great size, easy to use, and is very portable; Dennis makes a quality product and has quick shipping. I have also done other projects in it, I like the blacksmith model because it has the side door to put larger items in. I haven't been able to get it hot enough to forge weld. If you put some Reil burners in it, it certainly would get hot enough to make damascus, but I haven't had luck with the atmospheric burners. Maybe someone knows how to get them hot enough.
 
Most forges that are the better level are also heavier. 70-90 pounds is the norm.

A good choice for portable use is a NC Tool Co "Whisper Knifemaker" forge. They are less than 50# and perfect for general forging and basic HT. I have run two whisper forges for many years, and they are robust.

The Chile forges with double sideburners are also good, but a bit heavier.

That said, the best forge for knifemaking is probably going to be home built. A single burner blown forge with PID control will do most anything that a maker could need.

Whatever you get, if you are going to be moving it around, buy two sets of propane quick connect fittings from High Temp Tools and Refractories. Put one set on the ends of your propane hose (male one end female the other), a female on the propane regulator, and a male on the forge burner.. This will allow you to un-couple the gas lines easily and quickly when breaking down the forge and propane tank to move back inside.

Consider building a small storage shed to keep the forge (on a rolling cart) and other forging stuff in outside the house. Hauling it up and down basement stairs will sooner or later end up badly.
 
I have the NC tool knifemaker forge and as Stacy said it is a great little forge. I have it sitting on the grill of an old bbq (although i will modify the bbq to fit it better) so that I can move it around easy. The propane bottle is underneath, the same as using it to bbq and the bbq cover fits over it and my anvil when Im not using them. I have 2 x 20# tanks and 1 x 40# depending on how long I plan on playing around. I do have two sets of fittings, one came with the forge and the other I bought locally, I also put on a tank gauge as I have run out of propane before because I didnt check my tank before hand.
 
Have you checked out the Atlas Mini Forge? It's one of the very few bladesmith forges commercially available. It's a completely "turn key" forge, just add propane and an anvil and you're ready to hammer. It has a round chamber, which works much better for bladesmithing than the square blacksmith forges and the simple burner that it comes with with easily get hot enough to do just about anything you would do as a hobbyist. I know of at least one ABS mastersmith that uses one as well as a few teachers that use them for classes on forging. It weighs just 31lbs., is built like a tank, and is the only forge I've seen that has a handle to make it easier to move to the basement.
 
I have the diamond back economy two burner forge. It easily gets to welding temps, fast. It is well under 40 pounds. After relining it once, I have melted/burned steel on more than one occasion when I got distracted for a bit.
 
I have the 3-burner metalsmith forge from Diamondback and like what the design features afford. I've also worked with a NC tool Whisper daddy forge and have no complaints. I can tell you that less is more when it comes to hobby smithing. Something as simple as a single burner forge set up correctly can do just about everything you'd ever want it to do, especially in regards to blades. I find that with most of the forging I do, I could get away with a lot of it using a single burner coffee can forge... The heavy traffic of others forging beside me make the larger forge a winner though.
 
Hi Stacy and everyone,
Thank you so much for everyone chiming in with great information since I'm a beginner I don't know anything about forges but I do know that I need one. I have heard of the importance of a choke I imagine somewhere where the burner is I'm not sure if it does what a choke does in a gas engine but it's mentioned that a choke is important to have on a forge can anyone comment on this?
Also I am a little concerned about putting the quick connects on gas line because I guess I just feel that they might not be as reliable as a regular gas fitting that you would tighten with the wrench. I have seen written that others are concerned with the rubber hose that is used from the Forge to the propane tank or LP tank, is this a concern with any of you guys that have the forges?
I have been doing my research and have seen advertisements on the website for the diamondback Ironworks forges which I spoke to one of the gentleman the other day and he recommended one of the more versatile forges that can do knives as well as some other type of work and then it's the chili forge which you've mentioned but no one's mentioned Mankel forges?
Anyone know anything about this forge?
I do notice that some of the larger forges that weigh more than 50 or 60 pounds are not circular or do not have a round chamber but a square or rectangular chamber. Is it really that important to make sure I get a round chamber for the forge?
Thanks,
Jon
 
Last edited:
Ome108 said:
Hi Stacy and everyone,
Thank you so much for everyone chiming in with great information since I'm a beginner I don't know anything about forges but I do know that I need one. I have heard of the importance of a choke I imagine somewhere where the burner is I'm not sure if it does what a joke does in a gas engine but it's mentioned that a choke is important to have on a forage can anyone comment on this?
Also I am a little concerned about putting the quick connects on gas line because I guess I just feel that they might not be as reliable as a regular gas fitting that you would tighten with the wrench. I have seen written that others are concerned with the rubber hose that is used from the Forge to the propane tank or LP tank is this a concern with any of you guys that have the forges?
I have been doing my research and have seen advertisements on the website for the diamondback Ironworks forges which I spoke to one of the gentleman the other day and he recommended one of the more versatile forges that can do knives as well as some other type of work and then it's the chili forge which you've mentioned but no one's mentioned Mankel forges?
Anyone know anything about this forge?
I do notice that some of the larger forges that way next best of 50 or 60 pounds are not circular or do not have around chamber but a square or rectangular chamber I'm is it really that important to make sure I get a round chamber for the forge?
Click to expand...


Atmospheric vacuum is what I think you're hinting at with "choke"....?

I would advise against quick disconnects; just another mechanism that can fail.

If your forge is properly set up and insulated correctly, there should be no concern for the hose melting, provided it is the correct hose used for said fuel.
 
You wanted a light weight forge. The Mankel is a superb forge, but runs around 100# and up.

A propane forge runs at 0-5PSi for a blown burner, and 0-15PSI for venturi, Quick connect gas fittings are perfectly fine at propane pressures. I have never had one fail or read about one failing. The hoses made for propane are also pretty robust. Properly used they are safe. All gas hoses should be inspected regularly, and replaced if worn or there is a problem.

Forges built in industry are built for ease of construction. For a forge building company, a square chamber is much faster/cheaper/easier to build, and easier to ship in an industrial setup. Also, forges are used for many things, knifemaking being the smallest percentage of use. When heating a dozen bars of steel for ironworking or horseshoes, rectangular works just fine ( or better). A round chamber is better for working on one knife and knifemaking HT. That is why building your own is best. Properly adjusted and used right either chamber shape will work fine.

"Choke" is sometimes used to refer to the part of a venturi burner to adjust the "draw" and create the venturi.
More commonly it is the term for a plate on the blower of a blown burner which is rotated to reduce the amount of air flow. I suspect what you were reading was the importance of having this plate so you can adjust the forge atmosphere. Many people use speed controlers on the blower to adjust the air flow, or use a large gate valve in the manifold to limit the air supply.
 
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