Sword Forge Build Help.

C

cartierusm

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Feb 23, 2017
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So I'm thinking of building a forge for swords. I guess the first question is should I? My knife forge is 18" long and the back I made removable if needed and I'm building a sword heat treat oven. So, not having made any swords yet, if you're only working on a small section at time is it necessary?

I don't mind building it as i like building stuff like this, but if it's counter productive in the actually forging then....
 
Your forge will work fine for forging and HT on most any sword that isn't too curved to fit through it. You usually only forge one area at a time, and pump the blade in and out for HT.

Building a 36-48" forge isn't hard, but it usually isn't cheap. If you do it, make it with five burners and have needle valves on each burner to adjust the heat and allow shutting off burners you don't need for shorter projects. I would make it manually controlled, as PID control of a long forge doesn't work well without some sophisticated electronics.
 
Ok thanks. Good to know. That was the first question. So if I go that route I was going to build a 44" long or so ribbon burner. I've built a few ribbon burners, but only 14". Is it possible to make a ribbon burner that long and get all the air and propane dispersed throughout? If so how? I'm assuming a very engineered baffle?
 
I will let anyone with direct experience correct me, but I doubt a 44" ribbon burner will work right. However, three 14" ribbon burners in a row will do the trick. This will allow adjusting them individually for even heating.
 
Ah that's a good idea. Would you think I need to make 3 completely separate units? Probably huh I couldn't use the same blower and propane for all 3. Same principal dividing it up.
 
Yes, make three separate burners. They will all sit end to end and will look like one long burner. They all share the same blower and gas supply. The air and gas are split into three lines and each burner has its own air and gas valves. You can then turn each one up or down as needed ... or off if you only need one or two burners running.
 
You'll have issues with a long, horizontal forge and the hot metal warping under it's own weight. This is why many sword makers use vertical towers for heat treat, as well as salt pots. A Don Fogg barrel works great for HT.
 
For actually forging the sword you’ll only need a one burner forge to (and be able to) work 3-4” at a time, using overlapping heats to blend each wrought section to the next. Heat treating is the only time you’ll ever need big heats.
 
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