[TheForge] Chip Bed Forge

[Larry Brown]

Thank for posting I'd be interested in your findings
Larry Brown


At 09:35 PM 2/15/2006 -0800, you wrote:
>Some years ago I made a gas forge for use at the Renaissance  Faire, 
>hiding the hot box under some black lava rock. It worked pretty well , at 
>least as a nail forge, but you could only heat one end of the bar, with no 
>pass through. Last year we used a Whisper Mama, tucked away in a 
>faux-brick forge.  Still pretty obviously a gas hotbox.  I wanted a coal 
>or charcoal fire, but the Faire site, regulated by the Army Corps of 
>Engineers and the local county Fire Inspectors wouldn't allow the "Open Fire"
>
>This year we are putting together a ceramic chip forge, basically a gas 
>burner feeding the bottom of a pile of heat resistant "rocks."  I've been 
>looking at the past postings on the forge, and talking off list with Paul 
>Boulay , Rex Price, Frosty and Mike Porter, about the ins and outs, 
>advantages and disadvantages of this type of forge. Whether it can be made 
>to work with a venturi burner or if a blower is needed, what type of media 
>to use  for best heat transfer to your steel, and so on. I've also been 
>looking at the "expensive" commercial versions available in England as 
>used in the school systems,as shown in the graphics page here,  and some 
>slightly different types available in Germany,
>  http://www.angele-shop.com/catalog/index.php?cName=gas-forges-gasforges .
>
>There have been some great ideas pop up, not to mention the usual kludges 
>I'm apt to come up with. <GRIN>
>
>Mikie in particular has a great idea for a recuperative forge that looks 
>great for a commercial forging station, if perhaps a bit more than I was 
>looking to do as a portable forge at the Faire
>
>Seems like there's some interest in this, so I'll be summarizing in later 
>messages some of the stuff we've been talking about, as well as the 
>results from some experimentation I'm doing.  I've got some refractory 
>media due in this weekend so I can try to produce some results to share.
>
>
>Michael D. Horgan , lughaid at earthlink.net
>http://members.aol.com/lughaid/
>posting from
>  A BRAZEN FORGERY
>Blacksmithing and Metalwork
>Claremont, Ca.