Is the NC Whisper Baby Forge a good starter forge?

R

redbate

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Sep 20, 2015
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Hey guys, in your opinions do you think the Whisper Baby is a good forge for a bladesmith? I want it for doing some forging and doing my own heat treating, kinda sick of doing batch work with sending HT out and such, and maybe long while down the line I'd like to do some forge welding.

Now before you say "build your own forge" I have my own reasons to just want to buy one straight out instead of doing that.

So Whisper Baby forge yes or nah? I don't really have access to other brands either in this country sadly.
 
I have no experience with the baby, but I have two whisper mommas, I use them lots, and like Them. I have made lots of Damascus in them too. They are slow to get to temp. I much prefer my vertical blown forge for welding, but like the momma for forcing to shape and small pieces ect. I am a farrier and these forges are what I learned on.
 
I have heard good things about all there forges. But I would look heavily at the NC knifemaker forge. The size is nice and versatile. It's a good size for bladesmithing, I hate being cramped in a forge. I have 2 forges and I'm building another. Forges are easy to build but I can understand wanting to buy your first one. One of my all time favort bladesmiths who really got me into the Damascus thing what JIM HRISOULAS and he uses a forge that looks identical to the NC knifemaker. He does not call it that but it sure looks like one. So naturally I have a soft spot for that forge, never used one like I said but I hear nothing but good about them.
 
I would skip the Baby and get the Low-boy, Momma, or Knifemaker. You are going to want the bigger forge soon, anyway.

I have hundreds, if not a thousand, of hours on my NC forge over nearly two decades ... and have only re-lined it once. About the only negative is the straight down burner arrangement ... but that isn't hard to work with if you let the chamber fully soak. They are real working forge beasts made for professionals. The cost is worth every penny.

I have the Low-Boy (and a back-up Knifemaker from Ron Frazier's shop, but I have barely used it myself because the Low-Boy des everything so well).
 
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Thanks fellas, is fuel consumption of any worry to you guys? It costs me about 500 bucks more for the 2 burner forge compared to 1 burner (living in NZ SUCKS for hobbies haha) but I can only assume its very much worth it. Time to squeeze out money somewhere I guess.
 
If I were you ( and in kiwi-land), I would order everything I needed to build a great forge from High Temp Tools and a few other places and build a really good PID controlled forge for about $300 total. Maybe shipping would add at most another $100.
 
Stacy, how well does the NC Forge cope with HT? Can the forge itself hold a temperature, or does it need a skilled smith to "pump" the workpiece?
 
All forges unless pid controlled are going to need to be attended. You will need to closely monitor the temp with magnets and eye and unless it's a verticle forge it will have a hot(er) spot that will over heat the blade. Even the forges that are round and the burner enters in at a tangent will have a hot spot. Not as bad as a square forge with the burner shooting Stright in but still have to watch it. If your wanting a no skill needed heat treat then send your blades out to peters or another shop that does it. Even a heat treat oven needs skill in operating to make sure it runs how you want it to.
 
I have a Low Boy and love it for general forging. I use a large vertical for forge welding & heat treating though.
 
Ooh, sorry about that. Slight glitch on my website has shipping to NZ disabled. I've sent at least 3 there and several to Australia over the last couple years. If you send me an address I can get you a shipping quote for any products on Monday. It's usually around $140-160 for shipping there.

Charles
 
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