You don't need or want a large long forge for forging the blade, it helps for heat treating. If I didn't have salts or a large kiln/oven, I would build a drum furnace. A large internal space (55 gallon drum) insilated , with a single burner entering from the botton. With a thermal couple to monitor the temp these can hold surprisingly consistent heats very very evenly.

I agree with Matt... I don't make a lot of swords anymore, but did in the past. I found that an overly long forge is more a hindrance than a help. After failing many times trying to forge the "whole thing".....I learned to break it down into sections...forging no more then about 6-8" at a time, and overlapping as I went.

Matt also mentioned a salt tank..... in my opinion that's the way to go when heat treating something the length of a sword blade.

Although it's not a necessity, I found that when my shop was "set up" specifically to produce swords, things went a lot smoother. I basically got tired "resetting" the shop when I went from sword sized blades to "normal" sized blades.... and these days I just generally tell those who inquire, that I don't build swords.....of course unless the $$$$ is right! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Thanks Matthew and Ed. I will give this a try. Yep, mainly just for heat treat. I have a vertical forge and a coal forge I can use to heat the steel.

Thanks again guys!

I too am wanting to build a sword forge. My question is how much insulation is needed? I am thinking of using a hot water heater tank for the body. So, would one inch or two inch inswool be sufficient? Would it be fine unlined without anything on top of that?

I've tested 1" ceramic wool versus 2" in the same forge "shell". The results were surprising to me, but after researching my results I understood why.

OK...ceramic wool is engineered/designed to absorb a given amount of heat before it starts reflecting. The thicker the ceramic wool, the more heat it absorbs before it starts reflecting, and as it gets thicker, the less heat it reflects. What that means is.... common logic would make a person think that if 1" of ceramic wool is a good insulator, then 2" must be better....just the opposite is true, at least in a forge application. 2" ceramic wool will require a longer heat up time, and will require a 1-3psi increase in fuel to maintain a given temp when compared to 1", in the same shell/application. About the only advantage that 2" thick ceramic wool offers is a more durability (talking about #8 density)

I'm sure some will want to argue those points, but my advice is to try it, and see for yourself.

OK, as far as "lining", I'm assuming you mean some type of slurry coating? Coming from someone who has had lung issues, and lung surgeries, its just a wise practice to slurry coat ANY ceramic fiber product you use. No matter how careful you are, without a coating of some type, ceramic fibers will be flying around, and you WILL suck them in. Protect yourself in any way you can NOW....because I wouldn't wish what I went through on anyone.