Building own forge

R

ricardo Z

Joined
Dec 2, 2019
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So I have been thinking about building a forge recently, I have made two knives with the stock removal method and the second one turned out alright, but I'd like to give forging a shot. I cant decide if I should start out with a two brick forge, make a couple knives, have something that could actually heat treat and learn a bit about forging, or if I should go straight to a real forge. If I built a forge I would buy a 100k burner from atlas, 5 lb satanite, 2.5 lb alumina, 3' of 1" thick kaowool, and a couple hard firebricks, forge body would be something around 8" diameter. That all comes out to about $220, which was more than I was expecting. I appreciate any advice you guys can give, and if I am doing this all terribly wrong please let me know.
 
N.W. Gean said:
At that price, why not spend a little more and get an atlas mini forge?
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It is a lot smaller, wouldnt be able to use flux if I ever decide to forge weld, and it is essentially a two brick forge on a stand. Not saying it is bad, I dont have any experience, but building a two brick forge and buying a 30k burner would be a fraction of the cost for the same thing.
 
Not necessarily. There’s been years and years and thousands of hours of testing, tweaking, reviews and more that have gone into the Atlas forges. I don’t own one but I’ve used them and I can tell ya they aren’t made by some dude in his basement drilling holes in two bricks and selling them for 100% profit. They’re plug and play for the most part. I spent a good bit of money and time building my own forges. Lots of trial and error. Lots of wasted material, money and time. Now I know what I want in a forge but starting out I wish I woulda had one of these.
 
You've only made a couple of knives to date. I'd suggest a 2 brick forge to see if you like it. The cost is next to nothing and it doesn't take up any space. This hobby can be addicting and I always promote "by once cry once" but given that you can make 2 brick using a torch you probably already have why not start there.
 
NickBoyle said:
Not necessarily. There’s been years and years and thousands of hours of testing, tweaking, reviews and more that have gone into the Atlas forges. I don’t own one but I’ve used them and I can tell ya they aren’t made by some dude in his basement drilling holes in two bricks and selling them for 100% profit. They’re plug and play for the most part. I spent a good bit of money and time building my own forges. Lots of trial and error. Lots of wasted material, money and time. Now I know what I want in a forge but starting out I wish I woulda had one of these.
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Im sure its a whole lot more than a basic two brick forge, and I dont mean to be disrespectful, but at the end of the day aint it limited by being a two brick forge?
 
scott kozub said:
You've only made a couple of knives to date. I'd suggest a 2 brick forge to see if you like it. The cost is next to nothing and it doesn't take up any space. This hobby can be addicting and I always promote "by once cry once" but given that you can make 2 brick using a torch you probably already have why not start there.
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Thats what I thought, but its the same reason a real forge was more than I expected. The cost of shipping for refractory materials is absurd. Two soft 3" firebricks cost $30 to ship. That makes it $50 for a couple firebricks- at that price is it still worth it?
 
Do you have a pottery supply around? You could also do a coffee can forge if the bricks aren't readily accessible.
 
I would skip the bricks and make a tubular forge with an 8" shell. This will really cut the cost down a lot.
Any sort of roughly 8" tube will work. It can be regular pipe, stove pipe, or a trash can.

I really wish you new members would fill out your profile. Many of us older makers would gladly give you a pipe shell ... or maybe an old forge... but we have no idea where you live.
 
Thanks, does the $220 shipped sound about right, or is there something I am missing that would cut the cost?
 
Scott’s advice was good, try the two firebrick forge.
If you want to try it I’ll send you two firebricks if you want to cover flat rate shipping.
If you enjoy forging, then upgrade your forge and build or buy.
 
ricardo Z said:
I have been looking around, at hightemptools they do flatrate boxes so it would only be $28 for two bricks. There is also Wayne Coe who seems to have very low prices, do you know anything about him? http://www.waynecoeartistblacksmith.com/Forge_Supplies.php
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I know Wayne. I've taken some classes from him at his shop and bought supplies from him to build a ribbon burner forge. He's a great guy. I can't speak to shipping since I just picked mine up. Give him a call. He's usually home.
 
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I would just say that the inswool that I see on that clay planet site is 6# density whereas the stuff from hightemptools is 8# density. I’d get the higher density stuff if you were going to pick up inswool for your forge.

Stacy’s suggestion of the 8” tube with wool in it is what I would do.

Good luck
 
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I don't know anything about Atlas forge never having used one. But I will say for $220 you can buy a Mathewson Metal Works forge. I use one and have made a couple of Damascus billets with it no problem, and it will run fine off of bbq style propane bottles.
 
Problem with that $220 Mathewson Metal Works forge it's only got 1" insulation and it's NOT rigidized, just loose fiber from photos and one review. I'd pass on that one. Atlas seems to have MUCH better forges and not much more money.
 
If you build your own, I'd recommend starting small. You'll make mistakes and learn things along the way. Wasting $30 in materials is much easier to move past than wasting $200 and a bunch of time.

If you buy one, I'd recommend something that's as plug-and-play as possible, and with good reviews (e.g. Atlas). You're going to have enough trial-and-error while learning to forge knives as is, so taking the variable of "could it not be my fault, and be the forge's fault instead?" out of the equation is a huge benefit.
 
Ken H> said:
Problem with that $220 Mathewson Metal Works forge it's only got 1" insulation and it's NOT rigidized, just loose fiber from photos and one review. I'd pass on that one. Atlas seems to have MUCH better forges and not much more money.
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The insulation is rigidized and the forge has no problem getting to temp and holding it. Have you used one Ken?
 
Sorry I should have been more clear - No, I have never used one, nor even seen one in person. Only looking at the photo and seeing the 1" layer of insulation and it sure does NOT look like it's been very rigidized. Also one of the reviews who said he got one said it wasn't rigidized.

If you've actually used one and know for a fact the insulation is rigidized and the forge works good, then YOU are the last word because you know. I suspect they took the photo before putting the rigidizing on the insulation. OR, maybe it's the type of rigidizing that doesn't show up in photos. Since I've never used one, nor seen one in person, best for me to keep my mouth shut {g}
 
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