Fellas,
I'm mostly using 0-1 right now, and after having seen so many different forges, etc, I would like to know what might be the best option for me to HT my blades, until I eventually move up to a digital oven, OR a nice forge of some type.

I'm a stock removal guy and I will be making a few fixed blades to start, and then mostly folders, with the occasional fixed blade.

Is the one brick forge the way to go, or is there something a little better, that will be a bit more of a step up?
Thanks fellas.

As a first Forge I would do a coffee can forge Like on Mr Ellis' site. He is a great person and has everyting at a very good price http://refractory.elliscustomknifeworks.com/
I did a couple of them, one single one pound size can and then took two full sized coffee cans and welded them together into a long one and lined them with inswook and satanite. Did both with just 2 feet of inswool and about 2 pounds of satanite. I have a full sized forge also and use them for heat treating all the time now you could easily use them for forging also. They work great. Cheap way to start out and use the magnet for finding quench temps. Check out Ellis' forge gallery, it will open up all kinds of ideas for you.

Hey bud,
Yes I've seen the forge gallery. A little confusing, but I get the picture.
Could you tell me cost of the coffee can setup? Approximately if necessary, would be fine.
Thanks bud!
I'm actually supposed to call Darren sometime this week, to discuss the matter also..

You could do a coffee can setup with 1 lineal foot of inswool and 1lb of satanite, which puts you at $10 plus shipping from Darren. I'd say go with a little more of each because you'll probably use it anyways. I have an 12" long forge similar to a coffee can type setup, I get it hot with one of those MAPP torches you can get at lowe's or whatever... cost me $35 I think. I couldn't get propane hot enough with my forge that long, but with the smaller 1lb can you could probably do it.

You may want to pick a few bricks up to set your forge on anyways, so grab one extra and try out the one bricker. I found it's a little too small for what I want to do, but if you're doing mostly smaller folders it might work out well. I'd say give yourself about $50 and you'll have enough to make a fine forge.

A couple things I learned building my forge:

Wear gloves when you work with the inswool... it might not happen to everyone, but that stuff drives me crazy if I get it on my hands.

Don't skip out on the satanite, you don't want to breath that ceramic in. I covered anything I thought might get hit by fire.

Use in a well ventilated area, carbon monoxide can kill you and you may not even know it's there. If you use MAPP gas I believe it let's off more CO than propane, so be careful.

**Edit** When I said I couldn't get propane hot enough, I meant a plumber's torch, not a more complex setup.

Thanks bud, yeah, I've already got a propane torch (plumbers type) I could easily buy a yellow Mapp gas bottle from Lowes if neede. Mapp is definitely hotter.
I also have a nice oxy acetylene setup too.

What is the satanite's purpose? I have always heard of it, but apparently you are saying it helps keep you from breathing "ceramic" in???
Thanks bud.
Very helpful.
I did not know the coffe can setup was this cheap.

I have always wondered what the coffe can forge setup does better than just heating to non magnetic with an acetylene torch.??? Does it just get it hotter quicker and more evenly with it being inside the can? I assume that is the biggest advantage over just throwing the knife down and heating to non magnetic with a torch and then tempering... Thanks bud..

What is the satanite's purpose? I have always heard of it, but apparently you are saying it helps keep you from breathing "ceramic" in???

Exactly, as the blanket gets heated over and over it starts letting off very fine strands that can get in your lungs. You can coat with ITC100 too for the same effect with better IR reflection, or even better, use both.

I have always wondered what the coffe can forge setup does better than just heating to non magnetic with an acetylene torch.???

More even heating. If you just want to heat the edge and quench then your oxy/acetelene will work fine, but for forging you need to heat more area on the blade and the lined can will hold the heat and radiate it so the entire blade (or at least the part in it if the blade is too long) will be heated.

I'm guessing you got a bernzomatic with the brass tip and a screw type regulator like mine. I thought I would just buy a yellow bottle too, but I did a little reading and those tips aren't good for the mapp gas, I guess it gets too hot so you want one with the stainless on it too. I don't know what will happen if you use it, and maybe someone on here can tell you, but my instructions said not to.

My cost on setting up the 2 small forges was about 25 dollars. I used the leftovers from the 2 coffee can forge to make the small one. 2 ft of inswool will do the job and a couple pounds of satanite. I coated then fired it up after drying for a few days then recoated it again to seal cracks. I put a heavy base in it to make a kind of floor and works great. I would use the torch you have on low and try it out. I use my jewler's torch setup on it and it gets as hot as I want it.

The one-brick forge will work and it easier to set up than the coffee can. You don't need MAPP gas, regular propane will reach a high enough temperature. (MAPP gas will get the temperature up quicker.) The reason propane works OK in a one-brick may be because its so small that it doesn't lose heat as quickly. The MAPP/Propane torch seems to use more fuel than the cheaper propane-only one (and puts out more heat).

Thanks fellas!