propane mini forge done

[mikemeteor]

Finished up my propane mini-forge this weekend.
The soft firebrick is nice, but the guidance to coat it with Plistix seemed to make a big efficiency difference, altho I don't have a pyrometer yet.
The uncoated firebrick would get red hot(top pic).
The Plistix seems to not absorb heat near as much - at least it doesn't change color as fast(bottom pic). Added slider front doors.
Hope to beat out some small gouges from O-1 tool steel, and try forging a trigger guard eventually.
Whole thing was less than $100.
/mike


Soft firebrick only:

Lined with Plistix

Final design:

 

[chance]

Really Neat!!!

 

[nilo52]

That looks really good !

Please post your results using propane as a heat sorce, I'd like to make one as well.

nilo

 

[VTdeerhunter]

Great job Mike, I like it a lot....and it cost sooooo much less than my store bought one :thumbsup:

 

[Stophel]

I NEED one of these.

Is there a plan that you used to build it? Particularly the burner arrangement?

 

[LRB]

Hey Chris, that would likely be handy for forging parts or heat treating simple steels, but is not good for 01 steel if you had that in the back of your mind. It would get you by for HTing 01 lock parts, but not very good for a 01 knife blade.

 

[BrownBear]

I'm wondering about the temps that could be achieved with a switch to MAP gas when needed.

 

[Supercracker]

Wick
On that note. When it is said that a set up like this won't work or isn't good for O1 what exactly is meant? Does O1 have to be brought to a narrow temp range or a higher temp or does the color on O1 no indicate temp or ????????


Not arguing at all. Just curious if "won't work" means it can't be done at all or if it means it will only get %50 or %90 as hard as it could with a high tech HT set up.

 

[Stophel]

What is is about O1 that would make it unsuitable?

A brick forge would make it easier for me to do forging of larger parts than I can with just an oxyacetylene torch, but yes, I thought it would be handy for knife blades. I do know that O1 is often considered tricky steel to harden and temper. I wanted to try my hand at 1095 first. :wink:

 

[mikemeteor]

Chris - I got the burner basics of this forum thread:
I Forge Iron thread.
Don't know if you have to be a member to see it - it's free and easy to join if so.
I downsized it to 1/2" iron pipe (4" nipple).The tee has 3/4" (FIP) air intakes.
The jet is a 0.023 MIG welding tip.
Getting out of your 1/4" copper supply line and into your MIG tip (1/4"-28, IIRC), and sandwiching it thru the hole drilled in the back of the tee, takes a little easy customizing of copper fittings. I can take more pictures of that when I get back to my shop.
The sleeved stainless flare piece, with the silver set screws, helps to adjust tube length, which seems to help when tuning the burner.

There's a whole separate forum section for gas-fired forges, on I Forge Iron, with beaux coup information. Seems like a lot of the blademakers use a two burner rig to heat the whole blade.

Wick, I too am interested in learning why it won't work for 0-1. I'm obviously a novice in this endeavor with a lot to learn.

cheers,
Mike

 

[LRB]

Think 1084 Chris. It is nearly fool proof to heat treat, and only slightly less in carbon as the 1095. I doubt you could tell the difference between the two in use. 1095 is not a beginners steel. As I said, you could get away with doing lock parts of 01, but for a blade, temp control is a must in that 01 requires 3 timed heat soaks to realize it's potential. A stress relief at 1250° for an hour then air cool. Then a preheat soak of 30 minutes at 1250°, then the heat needs to climb and hold at 1475° for 20 minutes before quenching. If you forge it, it means even more timed soaks. If it is not carefully soaked in those temps as described, you will not get the alloys in 01 to homogenize properly and you will not get even dispersion of them or the carbides that make 01 such a fine knife steel. In that case, you might as well use 1084. As for 1095, it very picky about quench speed. It has to cool from 1475° to below 900° in about 1/2 second in the quench for max hardness, about 1 second for a usable hardness. Or, it will be no better, and maybe even less as good as 1084. 1095 also should have a short soak at quench temp before quenching. 1084 is much more forgiving because of more manganese in it. You can over heat 1084 a little without harm, and you can under heat a tad without harm, quench in canola oil, and expect a fine blade after temper. One major thing that many overlook is that hardness alone is not necessarily an indicator of a successful quench, or that the blade will hold a good edge. 1095 is very good at fooling people that don't know better, or how to properly evaluate a file test for hardness. 1095 can be so hard as to not be scratched by a new file, but yet not hold an edge well because the hardness is not evenly uniform. If not cooled at the speeds mentioned, 1095 will be a mix of hard and soft, and the file will skip off the hard never touching the soft to tell you, you missed the boat with the quench. You will find out in use that the blade is not performing as it should be.

 

[mikemeteor]

I'm wondering about the temps that could be achieved with a switch to MAP gas when needed.

well, MAPP burns hotter thats for sure.
don't know if the orifices are the same.
Plus its definetly more expensive. :wink:
/m

 

[MSW]

drat.

another cool gadget that i didn't know i really really really needed.

 

[Supercracker]

thanks. I've been curious about that for a while.

The only things I've made in O1 are about a dozen little chisels and scrapers and a set of checkering tools. But I only used O1 on them because I have a few sticks of O1 drill rod hanging around already.

To say that I did a very basic heat and quench on them would be over stating it. They seem to hold their edges but then again, They're checkering tools and scrapers.

 

[LRB]

There are enough people using 01 for chisles and such with just a basic HT, and liking the results they get, I would not tell them they did it wrong, only that they are not getting the full performance it is capable of. Carving chisles are more of a specialized tool, whereas a knife is used to cut many different materials, and all to often do jobs it was not intended to do.

 

[Stophel]

Thanks, Wick. :wink:

 

[mikemeteor]

Yes, thank you Wick, you are a wealth of knowledge, as well as a helluva craftsman.
/mike