New forge

Gliden07

Gliden07

Well-Known Member
So I've been working on piecing together my forced burner forge. In the meantime I needed something that I could just run for a bit. I didn't want to spend 3-400 bucks so I ordered a Mr Volcano single burner forge! $75 delivered to me off of Ebay! Got it today and have to admit it's a lot nicer than I was expecting!! Forge body, hard firebrick for floor, Burner with shut-off, 20LB regulator, KAO Wool, rigidizer, 2lbs of Satinite and the Cherry on top 2 laminated instruction sheets! It's all Stainless Steel too. The couple things I'm not fond of, regulator has no provisions for gauge and the propane hose they provide is slip fit on the nipple of the regulator (I have some real hoses and regulator to use instead). I have the Rigidizer on the Kao-Wool set oven at 200deg brought it up to temp and put whole forge in then turned it off till tomorrow. First coat of Satinite gonna go on then the second and I planned on top coating with ITC100 and getting some Firebricks for the ends to conserve some fuel. I'll reserve my opinion until I use it a little. But if it works as good as it was packaged and thought out it seems it would be a Fantastic beginners forge! To be Continued!!
 

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That's a heck of a deal for a forge like that. Definitely a good idea to close off the ends of the forge with firebrick - there's really no disadvantage, other than having to move the bricks when you want to retrieve a part.

Well, that and losing line of sight with the part. Shouldn't be a big deal with a propane forge, though. You have a ton of control over how hot the forge gets.

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That's heck of a good deal on a forge - while it's small, you'll be amazed how much you can do with it. I do like the flame coming in at an angle - MUCH better than directly down. A pressure gauge will be easy to add with a Tee and nipple. Well, as you mentioned the hose barb on outlet of regulator might make that a tad more difficult. That's be no problem for a man of your skills :)
 
First coat of Satinite Refractory on gotta wait a couple days for it to dry. Then another coat, couple days to dry then, a coat of ITC100 to make it more efficient! Quality looks decent on forge did some more research and found a few complaints about spot welds coming apart? Most said it was not a big deal they either rewelded or bolted them back together! As long as there not exploding I should be good!! LOL!!
 

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Second coat of Satinite! Couple 3 days dry time and then ITC coat! Will see if this thing works or not?
 

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Sorry guys!! LOL!! Works pretty good. I lined it with Metrokote I don't think it works as well as the ITC100. I am going to reline with ITC, I had to order it. I did not use my other hose and gauge setup, I will next time. I also had problems getting lightweight refractory bricks (place I get them from still won't let you walk in because of covid don't know how their doing it). On the whole if anyone is looking for a Cheap small second forge or a travel forge this is a decent unit! With a few small mods I think this will get to forge welding Temps. I plan on filling in the gap between the hard Firebrick floor and wall with extra Kao-Wool and Satinite when I get my ITC to improve the swirl affect in the forge.
 
Relined with a thin coat of Satinite, waiting for ITC. Plan on putting hard brick back in and filling in the edges with Kao-Wool cover with Satinite to help with swirl effect! Hopefully be able to hit welding temps??
 

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Gliden07 said:
Relined with a thin coat of Satinite, waiting for ITC. Plan on putting hard brick back in and filling in the edges with Kao-Wool cover with Satinite to help with swirl effect! Hopefully be able to hit welding temps??
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If you can't hit welding temps, you could probably rig up some sort of forced air burner. That'd definitely do it. It wouldn't take a large blower, either.

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Shape of that combustion chamber matters quite a bit, once you get that flame swirling it will help a lot. Hottest forge I ever built used a soccer ball for the combustion chamber mold. It might have had something to do with the 11,000 CFM it was fed with too :) Two giant squirrel cage fans from an old air handling unit. I don’t know how hot it got, but it melted down and it was poured with 3600F cement!
 
Edwardshandmadeknives said:
Shape of that combustion chamber matters quite a bit, once you get that flame swirling it will help a lot. Hottest forge I ever built used a soccer ball for the combustion chamber mold. It might have had something to do with the 11,000 CFM it was fed with too :) Two giant squirrel cage fans from an old air handling unit. I don’t know how hot it got, but it melted down and it was poured with 3600F cement!
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11,000 CFM. I take it you have natural gas at your shop?

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Well here is the interior of the forge with the hard firebrick molded in with the Kao-Wool and rigidizer applied. Like everything with a forge have to sit and wait for it to dry and then coat with Satinite and ITC!! Hopefully the molded infillets will help the burner in this chamber swirl and I'll be able to hit welding heats with it??
 

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First coat of Satinite on at least 1 more to go then ITC100. Figure filling in the gap from hard floor to wall will help with to swirl the flame?? We shall see!! Forges are such a PITA to reline!!
 

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It's sure looking good. I do think it's going to really work nice. My first two forges with venturi burners and worked good. BUT, since I changed to a blown burner, I wouldn't wish anything else.
 
I know it all looks the same LOL!! But trust me second coat of Satinite and 1 coat of ITC100 on the Satinite. Everything always has to wait to dry! This is so tedious!! We're getting close though! Do I need more than 1 coat of the ITC?? It's been so long since I applied it I can't remember what I did!! LOL!!
 

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Looks like it's burning nicely. I don't think you'll have any problem getting to welding temps with that forge. You might have to move the billet back 'n forth to get even heating from end to end. There is a nice swirl pattern around the forge. Good job.
 
KenH said:
Looks like it's burning nicely. I don't think you'll have any problem getting to welding temps with that forge. You might have to move the billet back 'n forth to get even heating from end to end. There is a nice swirl pattern around the forge. Good job.
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Without a multiple burners or a ribbon burner, I just expect to "paint" the heat into a billet.

That sounds like it could be a pretty fun project. Making a ribbon burner and converting it to a forced air style burner.

My suggestion if you decided to buy a blower is to either get one with a universal motor (brushed, AC/DC) or a 3 phase motor. I'm just using a cheap Black and Decker leaf blower on my forge. Since it's brushed, the speed controller I use with it is basically just a fancy dimmer switch.

Second hand or surplus 3 phase blowers could probably had fairly cheap, but of course you'd need a VFD.


I think that's the one I'm using... cheapest one I could find in Lowe's. It's been on there for a few years now - no issues. Plus, the way the duct is attached, I just slide that off, unplug it from the speed controller, hook it to an extension cord, and use it to blow out the shop.

Edit: and I'm using the speed controller pictured in this link (https://www.zoro.com/vibco-electric...MIwoGrsquI-QIVFY-GCh0DOQm0EAQYGSABEgIUmfD_BwE)

Pretty sure Harbor Freight sells one like it (advertised for router tables, maybe?)

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