Commercial welding forges

Ray

Ray

Dealer - Purveyor
I'm totally frustrated with my home made welding forge.

Thinking of getting one of the 'whisper' forges, or something like it.

Got any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

Ray
 
What type of forge did you make, a pic would helpful. I got a tutorial on my site on the welding forges I make. I am not a fan of a venturi style burner.
 
The NC Whisper forges are good for making horseshoes or general blacksmithing, the problem with these forges for forge welding is the atmosphere is to oxidizing and the flame blast right on your work causing massive amounts of scale and the are real bad about hot and cold spots another thing is the top temp is very marginal for forge welding, if you are new to it you will have nothing but headaches of failed welds and lost materials. I know I use a Whisper Momma everyday in my farrier business.

Like IG said more info of what you built would be most helpful and if I was you I would build one of IG's welding forges and you will probably save $200 over buying a Whisper. I know I paid $400 for my Whisper Momma back in 1999 and the last welding forge I built I have about $200 into it.
 
Thanks for all the help, links, etc. My forge is very much the same as Indian George's. One mistake I made was cutting the Kaowool for the lining too long. So, rather than cut it to size I just overlapped it on the bottom - which raised the floor about 1 1/2 inches and puts the work in the blast - which doesn't work well. One thing I like about the fire clay/sand mix is that it's heavy and dense which gives the lining 'thermal mass' that makes it hard to drag down the temperature when a cold piece is put into the forge. I have no problem with flux eating up the lining materials. I got a piece of kiln shelf from a potter and it holds up very well. They'll usually give away the ones the've broken.

Again, thanks.

Ray
http://www.damascusknife.com
 
Broke it all down again. Changed the angle of the burner tube. Lowered the floor inside to keep the piece out of the blast. Relined with fire clay/sand mixture. Fired it up. 1500 in 10 minutes. 2300 in 20 minutes. Topped out at 2460 at about 28 minutes. (Using a McEnglevan Melt Master temp gage). Running at 6 PSI. Gets white hot. Billet 1 1/2 inches wide, eight inches long made up of eleven layers (1/4 1084, .030 15N20) up to welding in 11 minutes. It ain't pretty, but it sure works well. I'm not changing anything!

In the second photo there's a billet in the forge (handle sticking out). They get so hot they 'disappear' visually.

Thanks again for your suggestions, links, and comments.

Ray
http://damascusknife.com
 

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