Gas Forges for Knife Making - Everything You Need to Know!

Propane forges are popular with blade smiths for forging knives and swords. In this video knife maker Walter Sorrells discusses the ins and outs of gas forges. If you've ever wanted to make or buy a gas forge, this will tell you everything you need to know.

More at:

Walter's Instagram: walterstactix
Tactix Armory Instagram: tactixarmory
Twitter: @WalterSorrells

[terrybest]

Exactly I'm 54 years old and started out helping my grandfather about 46 years ago building knives I have even used a good camp fire for forging a knife before it did perfectly fine I have made many that way before I had a forge

[tlbfarm]

Only thing missing: Propane usage. How long does a 20 lb tank last? How many knives can you make with one tank? etc. etc. Thanks for posting!

[terencegill]

when warning about the use of the dangers of propane you failed to mention; when propane leaks it acts somewhat like water. So when it leaks it lies low to the ground and builds up, unlike natural gas that can be detected quickly . always store it outside and run a fuel line from the outside if you can. As an retired pipefitter and inspector I have seen a number of fires caused by a build up of lp gas. A good idea is to have a vent close to the floor so if there is a leak it will flow to the outside,
another mistake is not shutting off at the tank. if shut off at the forge and a fire starts and melts the hose, now you have a propane tank feeding the fire.

[billymartinozarkmountainfo]

Bub u have told me more in this one video then I have learned in the ton of videos I have watched about what stuff to use in making forges and what's the best way on what u are making and what to use for liners wish this vid was up a few month's ago. Thanks bub keep up the great vids

[ShapingSilver]

Very nice summery. I'm planning to build one for toolmaking in the near future, so excelent timing. Thanks Walter.

Made mine from a helium cylinder (for balloons) lined with insulating wool coated in refractory cement. Used bolts as legs (mounted horizontally), and cut the top end off and put it back on with a hinge as a door. Got a burner from ebay as making one was probably a bit beyond my capability. Works great and the only cost was the insulation / refractory / burner.

[PetesCreativeRecycling]

I made my 1st forge. It was small but got me through what I needed it to do... It was a coffee can, lines with plaster of Paris/Florida sand mix and a map gas can with the Home Depot trigger kit. It worked well and was really cheap! I made some decent knives and was able to sell some for more than the cost of the steel... then I used the money I made from using that to buy one from NC Tool. Money well spent! Making one yourself to start is great, but soon as you can buy a good manufactured forge you'll step that game up tremendously!

[RickRabjohn]

Terrific video Walter - one of your best I have seen. Should be a big help to the community. So, thanks for sharing; Booyah!

[sedulousdabbler]

This is the best gas forge video I've seen. Thank you.

[NetVoyagerOne]

One thing I did was tie paper ribbon every few inches on the gas line, nearest to the burner. If it was hot enough to burn paper in that spot, it was a good early warning sign that the configuration needed to be adjusted.

[Baubette]

I'll most likely make one with my brother in law over this summer. Looking foward to it.

[falcken]

Liked like always! :) You and simplelittlelife have been a big inspiration to me

[JWhittskey]

"If you're hesitating about making a forge, don't worry. It's not that hard.
Secondly, a single tank of propane can blow up your entire neighborhood..."

Thanks, Walter

[talatkayar]

Hey Walter, you're awesome! Love your videos.

[cousineddie]

Walter ya kill me when you say your forge "looks like ass but it works fine." Love your videos, thanks for the help you give us!

[thadias]

I love watching your videos. Always very informative!

[hungrycolby]

Fantastic information! Exactly what I was needing, thank you!

[WorkingHandsMakingStuff]

I think a more important role for a thermocouple is to cut off the gas if the heat drops. These are standard in commercial gas cooking equipment (pizza ovens, fryers, etc). You need to hold an override button down to open the gas on your pilot until the thermocouple heats up and keeps the valve open, then you start the oven. The pilot should stay in all the time but I've seen them blow out from stupid reasons. Leave one of these running all night and trying to light something the next day would be disastrous.

Putting something like that in line in your forced air propane forge would cause the propane to cut off shortly after the power went out resulting in the flame going out.

[budove]

Another option to solve the forced air issue when the power is cut off, is to salvage a propane burner from a gas dryer and use the electric switch already attached which shuts off the propane when power is cut off.

[housevollmer]

I’m using a 12”ID 1/2”wall piece of steel pipe about 18” long for mine and I’m going with ceramic fiber batting and refractory cement coating with firebrick floor... no rear opening... I plan on using 2 layers with maybe 1/2 of refractory cement, which will make about 7 inch opening, is this too large of a volume for 1 burner?? Should I use a third layer of fiber and close it down to 5” I want to move I to hammer and axe making and wanted to upsize but I’m worried about efficiency...I’ll have the ability to firebrick the front down and reduce and I don’t think the face of my axes will be larger than 5” anyway...