The Newst shop toy!

[Ed Caffrey]

I've secretly thought about this for a long time, and recently I was in a place where I could afford it... so after using a friend's..... took the plunge.

The New Induction Forge.....

Setup on the cart, and with the required TIG cooler on the bottom.


The machine heats via magnetic induction, must constantly have coolant (distilled water) running through the machine/coils, and has a and on/off foot switch.

I order coils from a gentleman in Canada... and found you can touch one coil....but if you cross two.. it arcs, and if it repeats in the same spot.... will make a hole in the coil and spray water everywhere. To that end, I made a slurry of 3000F kiln cement, and dipped each coil in as a test... and found it to have no impact on how the coil heats, yet it prevent metal to metal contact, there by eliminating any arcing!

Why? Its simply crazy how quickly this thing heats! A 1" wide X 1/4" thick piece of 1084 goes from dead cold, to literally burning (sparkling) in about 70 seconds! And after the steel has been heated once, that time is literally cut in half. To forging heat, it's typically 30-45 second, and the reheat takes again, half that time. Here are the first three blades I forged completely with the induction forge.....


Following are some random pics of coils and a rack that I made for/placed on the machine.....











If anybody has questions, just let me know. I'm still very new to the machine....so am just learning, but it's a fun ride!

[TexasJack]

I've seen some videos on induction heating and the one thing I've wondered is how far the induction current goes, particularly since you are standing in front of it.

[Ed Caffrey]

Originally Posted by TexasJack

I've seen some videos on induction heating and the one thing I've wondered is how far the induction current goes, particularly since you are standing in front of it.

Years ago, I first saw/played with one of these units a Tom Ferry's shop in WA. At that time, with that machine, you had to remove any rings, and in my case of wearing a fairly large Damascus belt buckle... I had to removed that too.

It appears all the is no longer necessary. I can work with the machine, with my wedding ring on, and the ring never got warm during forging those blades. Likewise no troubles with the belt buckle getting warm. So it appears that over time that issue has been resolved.

Right now I think this Induction forge is going to be just like other tools in the shop.... great for specific types of applications. I purchased a "blade edge coil", and am anxious to try it for differential heat treating. Otherwise its just the sheer convenience of the unit. Plug in the cooler, plug in the induction forge, and you're heating steel instantly. No 30-45 min wait for the propane forge to heat up, and then once the forge is heated up, more time for a workpiece to heat.

[Chris Railey]

I saw guy at blade doing press demos with an induction forge. I have also seen the guy over at Black Bear Forge's youtube channel forge with one. They are very fast and much safer IMO for demos. Plus, its already 100 degrees in the shade here so not super heating my shop would be nice as well. The thing I like best about an induction forge is you can isolate and heat a specific part of your steel. You can heat the center part of a bar and bend it too without using a oxy/acetylene torch. Great setup Ed.

[M&J]

Super cool! Anything that speeds up the process and yields improved results is a winner! Congrats!!

[cdent]

Ah, where's the bending jig for making your own coils? Just kidding Ed, coolest toy of the year.

[Ed Caffrey]

Hey Craig!

I'm sure at some point I'll fiddle around with making coils....but I still have a LOT to learn about this thing and it's uses.

Give me a call when you have a few minutes.....it would be nice to chat and catch up!

[KenH]

That's impressive - you gonna have LOTS of fun with that thing. Congrats on getting it.

[Taz575]

That is so cool and a good idea to use the refractory around the coils!! I know some guys local to me that use the Induction coils to pass handles through it so heat up and loosen the epoxy without messing up the remaining handle material!

[Gliden07]

I wanted to experiment with one so I bought a small one on Ebay. Hooked it up to a 12VDC Battery and the thing worked awesome!! I've actually used it a couple times to soften the tangs on knives I forgot to drill prior to heat treat!

[Longshot117]

Very cool! I saw a video on YouTube a while back where they were using one of these to rapidly produce tongs in a large press. Does it take a lot more power to run it, or is it ok to run on your typical garage wiring?

[Ed Caffrey]

This one takes TWO plugs.... the one for the actual unit requires a 220v/30a circuit. Then you need to power whatever cooler you get for it. Mine is a 25L TIG cooler and runs on a 110v/15 curcuit.

That means when you're using it, you have one 220v plug, and one 110v plug in use.

Honestly, I cannot speak to the actual power consumption. For me it's just a cost of doing business, and gets figured into what my products cost.