[TheForge] Carbon loss with gas forges

[Matt Stevens]

Jerry Frost wrote:
> What kinds of projects are you thinking of making? Wanting a good welding 
> gas forge usually indicates to me someone wanting to forge blades but that's 
> not universal by any means. Having a chamber only slightly larger than the 
> work works better than a large one but it's hard to design and build one 
> that's the perfect size unless you have a single product in mind.

Eventually I'd like to forge swords, but realistically knives, tanto & 
short swords up to say 18-24 inches would keep me occupied for a while. 
I recognise there's a fair few forging and bladesmith skills to aquire & 
  smaller blades are obviously faster & easier to make. I like lots of 
quick projects for gaining experience.

Initially I'll use the forge for heat treatment rather than forging, 
I'll use scrap steel & grinders for my first blades.

Of the gas forge designs I've seen online I've narrowed my first one 
down to Zoeller forges "Bucket forge", with two burners. Having said 
that, any input is welcome.
http://zoellerforge.com/simplegasforge.html
I've now gotta source the parts here in NZ, not as easy as it might seem :-)

Part of what has given my interest a boost is the opportunity to take 
part in a day class early May, in Tokyo making a blade using traditional 
  Japanese techniques. I've read about bladesmithing on & off over 30 
odd years and the opportunity to push & shape metal kinda pushes my buttons.

Cheers
Matt