Look into a blown vertical forge, especially if you're interested in trying damascus at some point.

I would also strongly recommend just building your own. It's a really simple process, you'll end up with a better forge, and you'll save a ton of money.

I built mine from plans from The King of Random (just youtube search for King of Random torch). It's fantastic, easy to build, and has easily replaceable parts if any ever get worn out (thought I see no issues with mine after 3 months.

You don't need forced air to weld. I'm guessing forced air makes it more efficient on propane, but for this sized forge, you don't need it to get good compression. I made my first forge out of a 20lb propane tank. Another youtube search will show you a few different ways to make it, but they're all the same idea. Cut holes in it, stuff it with insulation, put a brick in it, put feet on it, put a torch in it.

Buy a roll of ceramic wool. I bought mine on amazon, 1 in x 2 ft x 25 ft. There's one company selling it for $75 shipped, which was the best price I could find.

Make it so you can have a hinged front and back. Not so it's big enough for bowies, but so you can control the compression and insulation in the tank. If I close the back and close the front with a 2sqin hole, it will forge weld damascus at about 10psi.

I built the whole thing for about $200, and that included a metal braided hose, regulator, all the parts for the torch, the ceramic wool, all the taps and dyes I needed to make the parts, etc.. The only thing I got free was the propane tank that I cut up.

I've either owned or used all of the above mentioned types of forges.

For what you are going to do with the forge, I can make two recommendations depending on your shop and how much production you will want to get.

After all of the wasted money, fuel, and time, I have settled on having one large vertical, well insulated, forced air forge and one small forced air forge ( Little Johnny). This covers all of my heating needs so far. I can use the big one for high heats (welding) and large pieces of steel (breaking down heavy stock) and the small forge for thermo cycling, and forging normal pieces up to bowie size. There is some over lap of duties which is important.

If I had to have one, it would be the big forge. But the small one has paid for itself over and over in fuel savings. That is why I have it and will continue to use this system. There is times I have both forges running at the same time.

I am not a full time knife maker, but I take it very seriously. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Personally, when it comes to Bladesmithing, I detest any of the "square" designs in a forge. In my experience, any forge that is square in design (has ANY 90 degree corners) just isn't for Bladesmithing... they create cold/hot spots, which creates issues/problems when it comes to blade type steels. These issues are compounded if/when you try making damascus in these type forges.

Although they still have some issues, if you feel that you must buy, rather then build your own forge for Bladesmithing, I would recommend looking into the Chile forges. At least with the Chile forges, you have a round design, and the ability to make what I consider necessary modifications are fairly simple.....where as the square designs are just problems from the start, with no way to "fix" their problems.

The ONLY way I would ever recommend a square design forge would be for general Blacksmithing work, where the only thing a person was ever going to heat is mild steel.

Build a blown, vertical forge. Ed recently did a build, and all the photos are in a thread on this forum. There are other builds as well, including a video on the ABS YouTube channel. Find a refractory dealer near you, and you can get an entire roll of Insawool for what you will pay online or on ebay for small pieces.

Two sources for a blown vertical forge ready to go are, Uncle Al's and Hightemp Tools. Both reasonably priced.

I built both my forges, both of which are blown. One is vertical and the other is horizontal. Since I built the vertical, the horizontal sits in the corner!

Bob

About the size, remember you only need to heat the steel in sections, but something with a 8 to 10 inch round firebox in a vertical forge will allow you to forge big knives.

Also, gas supply is important. A small tank will freeze up so plan on using at least a 100 gallon tank.

Bob

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will look into these options. Thanks again.

|quoted:

I've either owned or used all of the above mentioned types of forges.

For what you are going to do with the forge, I can make two recommendations depending on your shop and how much production you will want to get.

After all of the wasted money, fuel, and time, I have settled on having one large vertical, well insulated, forced air forge and one small forced air forge ( Little Johnny). This covers all of my heating needs so far. I can use the big one for high heats (welding) and large pieces of steel (breaking down heavy stock) and the small forge for thermo cycling, and forging normal pieces up to bowie size. There is some over lap of duties which is important.

If I had to have one, it would be the big forge. But the small one has paid for itself over and over in fuel savings. That is why I have it and will continue to use this system. There is times I have both forges running at the same time.

I am not a full time knife maker, but I take it very seriously. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Mr Lin,

I have not been able to find a place to purchase the little Johnny. But I really like the design. Can you recommend a place to purchase one? The only place I have found is Ozark, and from the response I am not sure they are still in business. Thanks again.