New mini forge up and running

[AKmik]

Hello all.

Well thanks to everyone who gave me info and links for this project.

I made the mini forge off one of the links , used the bernzomatic JTH-7 torch for the burner, a 6" dia steel pipe 10" long and 1" fiberfrax blanket. I fit a piece of fire brick to the shape of the forge then cut a slot in it to hold my blades for heat treating. I lengthened the forge by two inches to make up for the fire brick work rest. So far it is working great. and I have a total of $18 invested, that is including the jazzy paint job.

It gets a 5" blade nonmagnetic in about 3-4 mins once the forge is hot.

Here's a link to the pic. I can't open the pic posting tutoral , so this is the best I can do.

http://images5.fotki.com/v66/photos/...jpg?1081070964


see ya
Mike

[Gene Chapman]

Nice forge Mike.

Just a thought, if you insulate the openings it will really cook. just leave a slot for the blade. Gas forges can't be completely closed.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[rhrocker]

I like your forge Mike, better than mine in fact. I have a Whisper Momma, which doesn't heat evenly, and the darned end ports are too small to get a 1.5" billet in. I've been thinking about changing over to something else.

[Bwitty]

where did you get the jht7 torch kit? everywhere local here they wat 40.00 + for it.


I like the forge btw it looks great!

[Bernez]

Nice forge Mike,

I'm looking for something like this to build.
A few questions:
1. Is the back of the forge closed?
2. What's the length/dia. of the side pipe?
3. Does the side pipe go inside the forge or is it flush with the wall?
4. What's the temperature reaching?
5. Does the fire brick rest have to be a the opening? (I would thing, more in the center, directly by the flamme, which is hoter!)

All informations/advices are appreciated.

Bernez

[AKmik]

Thanks guys.

I heat treated four more blades in this baby today and I am stoked. It works great for me. As Gene suggested I closed up the opening in the front a bit more, cut a 1" wide strip of the fiberfrax blanket and put it flush with the front closing up an additional inch all the way around meeting the brick on the bottom. If I closed it up more it was choked for air, this is about perfect I think.

I used a piece of 6" ID steel pipe10" long, cut a piece of 1/4" plate to fit one end and welded it in place like a bucket. Then half in the middle of that I cut a hole and welded in a 3" piece of 3/4" pipe, it sets flush with the fiber fraxblanket on the top , so I would say the pipe sticks into the forge body by about 7/8" or so, and level to the deck and high enough so the flame curls around the forge body. No measurements there , blasted a hole with the plasma cutter then adjusted the angle by eye ,lucky for me it worked out perfect. Also drilled and tapped a 1/4x20 bolt in there to hold the torch nozzle. The legs were a piece of scrap 4x4 square tubing that was sitting on the saw when I went to cut my pipe, that worked out great too, its solid. The fire brick is about 2 1/2" wide and cut to the contour of the forge with a knife slot, it is just about right on the mone , it holds the blade right where it needs to be, a turn or two during heating and its great. Everything was scrap. I did bead blast and paint the whole thing once it was done. Today I made a rolling forge station by mounting casters to the bottom of a big empty line spool, its 30" wide and holds all my heat treating and forging gear.

The torch came from a local hardware store for $35.

I 'll post a pic of the mobile forge set up, this is perfect for my small shop.

see ya
Mike

[Terry_Dodson]

WOW that forge looks great. i really like the paint job. if you are looking for a cheap emp meter so you can check your temps, I got mine from Harbor Freight. It was on sale for $19.99 normally it was $39.99, and it comes with a type K thermocouple. It is Item 37772, Cen-Tech Digial Multimeter, made in China. It only reaads in Celcius, so you have to make yourself a conversion chart. It says it reads up to 1000 degrees celcius which is 1832 degrees farenheight. My little coffe can forge i know goes over 950 celcius which is 1742 farenheight, i didnt check any higher than that, i didnt want to mess up the meter.

[Bernez]

I've got a piece of junk pipe. 6" dia. 10" long with a wall thickness of about .080" (2mm). Woult it be suitable for a mini forge?

Bernez

[AKmik]

Thanks Terry, I'm going to try and order that for my forge. It would be nice to know exactly what the temps are.

The guy who posted the mini forge I copied uses map gas in his. I am just using propane and its working great for my heat treating needs. Maby I'll try some cable in it soon to see how she does. I think I'd need a fire brick bottom though.


.080" pipe should work. too bad you arent closer I till have 4' of the pipe I used. I would think any scrap yard is full of the stuff.

see ya
Mike

[Bernez]

Thx Mike

Bernez

[Eichler]

Hi,

Can you post a pic of the back of the forge too?

Thanks,

Ike

[AKmik]

Ike,

The back of the forge is just flat, closed off pipe.

I stood the 6" pipe on end and traced the inside diameter out on a piece of flat steel then took the plasma cutter to it . once I had the piece cut out I layed it flat on the bench and placed the pipe over it so it would be flush with the back edge of the pipe and tack welded a few spots from the inside, then flipped it upright and completed the weld around the seam. It is just closed off.

It's been cranking for about a week now, so far I have heat treated 13 blades in it on the same bottle of coleman propane. I love it and the fact that it is stingy on gas is even better.

I can still post you a pic of the back if you want , but there is really nothing to it. , the only addition is the piece of 3/4" for the torch and the legs, super simple.

Here's the one I worked off of to make mine.

http://www.geocities.com/zoellerforge/miniforge.html

see ya.
Mike

[Eichler]

No, thats ok, i just was wondering if you had any openings or adj. vents back there. I was thinking of using standoffs on the back plate to put an air gap of a 1/4" around the edge along the back of the pipe to help draw the air through.

Looks like I don't need to.

Thanks,

Ike

p.s. I think I will be making the "son-of-mike forge soon enough.

[Sweany]

AKmik, that's slick >>>----------> High heat paint?

[AKmik]

Yessiree , high heat from walmart. 1500 degree stuff for the black and the flame job is just 500 degree engine paint.

The part that really pleased my girl was that to get the 1500 degree potential out of the black paint it has to be cured at 300 for two hours.....ahhhhhh yeahhhhhhh you probably should do it on a day when you can leave all the windows open for a while.there aren't many of those days in kodiak this time of year. I had to leave the house and do some ventalation. she was digging the house at 40 degrees when she came home from work.

see ya