My current forge gets steel around 1800 degrees, and costed about $130 to build from scratch. It consists of an outer shell of hardened fire bricks, and an inner lining of 1" ceramic wool. I have that hooked up with a burner I bought off eBay for about $50 that claims to put out over 150,000 BTU's, and to the best of my knowledge does. I am currently in the stages of attempting my first cable damascus knife, and have realized that my forge, while perfect for heat treating and light forging, is not quite suitable for forge welding. In this entry I'm going to explain about my current forge, where to get materials to build one like it, and give a little more info on forges themselves.
Ok so my current forge is about 16 inches long, and is open on both ends so I can adjust where inside the forge I need the most heat. The inner cavity is about 3.5" wide, 5" tall, and 16" long. The burner comes in at about the 2/3rds mark, although I plan to buy a second burner to put one at each end to increase the heat. An important part of putting your burner in is making sure it creates a vortex inside the inner cavity so that heat is filling the entire forge up. Below are the materials needed to make this forge.
Materials:
Ceramic Wool
http://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Insulation-Blanket-Quadrafire-Stoves/dp/B00GT5Q6X0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447814309&sr=8-2&keywords=ceramic+wool
Forge Burner:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-made-Gas-burner-blacksmith-forge-raku-kiln-propane-foundry-150-000-BTU-/231733465879?hash=item35f4641317:g:Lu4AAOSwzOxUXlEH
Fire Bricks:
These can be found online, but I found are much cheaper and larger when purchased at your local hardware store rock yard.
Propane:
This can also be found at hardware stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, its everywhere. Make sure you also have a propane hose to connect to the forge burner.
Ok so my current forge is about 16 inches long, and is open on both ends so I can adjust where inside the forge I need the most heat. The inner cavity is about 3.5" wide, 5" tall, and 16" long. The burner comes in at about the 2/3rds mark, although I plan to buy a second burner to put one at each end to increase the heat. An important part of putting your burner in is making sure it creates a vortex inside the inner cavity so that heat is filling the entire forge up. Below are the materials needed to make this forge.
Materials:
Ceramic Wool
http://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Insulation-Blanket-Quadrafire-Stoves/dp/B00GT5Q6X0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447814309&sr=8-2&keywords=ceramic+wool
Forge Burner:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-made-Gas-burner-blacksmith-forge-raku-kiln-propane-foundry-150-000-BTU-/231733465879?hash=item35f4641317:g:Lu4AAOSwzOxUXlEH
Fire Bricks:
These can be found online, but I found are much cheaper and larger when purchased at your local hardware store rock yard.
Propane:
This can also be found at hardware stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, its everywhere. Make sure you also have a propane hose to connect to the forge burner.