Since I made knives and swords before casting bronze, I made forges before I made furnaces. My fist designs were based on glory holes from glassblowing and evolved from there.

This was built as a small demo forge, but as it turns out it's the one I keep out in the studio. The body is made out of a small freon tank and angle iron. The walls are lined with ceramic fiber, the door and rear are castable refractory, and the floor is a firebrick.

Front of forge. The sides are 1" of ceramic fiber. The bottom is a G-26 firebrick, and the door and back are made of Greenlite refractory.

Here's a rear view. The small hole is for long knives or swords. Since this was only a demo forge, I didn't make a rear door, but I find I that this works for 99% of my needs.

I made a support arm to hold longer pieces of metal. It's probably the handiest addition I've made to my forge.

Here's the forge in action. The burner is from Ron Reil's site. I've made more advanced burners, but this one is a workhorse - I've used it for years. The burner fits into a flared stainless steel nozzle which is permanently installed in the forge. The burner can be removed by loosening a set screw. The end of the nozzle is surrounded by ceramic fiber, and has not worn out after several hundred hours of service. I use this same system in my furnaces allowing me to use the same burner in each.

A close-up of the support arm tucked up against the furnace. A clip on the rear leg holds it in place.

The support arm. It's made of 3/4" angle iron and 1/2", 3/4" and 1" black pipe.

A close-up of the interior.

This is a standard "EZ burner" made from Ron Reil's website. The burner requires a flared nozzle to stabilize the flame. The stainless steel nozzle is attached to the forge and the burner is removed from it to use on other furnaces or to transport the forge.

More to come...