Hey Zack!

This is an interesting topic, so I thought I'd throw-in my two cents worth. I use an NC Tools Knife Maker forge (two burner). It works very well. I have welded-up two billets in it so far, and it seems to be just the right size for making knives. I also have a coal forge that my son and I built. I would not be without it. Coal makes it easier to localize the heat for sure. On the down-side, I can almost rough-forge a blade in my propane forge in the same time it takes to get the coal forge fully going. However, I can do anything I need to do with it---forge almost any shape or size item, weld, heck, I even saw a guy heat-up his lunch on it <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//blink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':blink:' /> Using both of these has led me to the following: 1)propane to forge the blade-cleaner, less scale; 2)I heat-treat with my coal forge using a piece of 2" black or mild steel pipe in the coal as an oven---very controllable; 3)I need to make myself a third forge---vertical forced air propane for forge welding. If I had to pick one forge to make knives with, I'd go with propane but expect to eventually have more than one kind. Every type of forge is better at doing something different.

Interesting. Thanks for adding your input, Ed! Zack