mjr
My current forge is a thing I put together quickly, aiming for something that heated fast and was well insulated. It works really, really, well. There are a few things worth noting about it: the heat shield and flux tray. The aluminum 1/8″ heat shield is bolted to standoffs and it does a fabulous job of keeping heat off the propane feeds. There’s just something a bit unsettling about seeing propane hoses starting to bend and bubble. The other thing is the bottom – the flux tray. That’s 16ga inconel plate I sourced on ebay, and bent with some pliers in the vise. Usually, flux is notorious for eating holes in forges and everything else it touches, but I was watching some show about building rocket motors and it was mentioned that inconel is what you use for insanely hot metal applications. (Platinum being another alternative, but.. platinum!) So I tried the inconel and now, after about 30 forging sessions, it looks exactly the same. In other words, I have solved the “flux eats your forge” problem. I called the folks at Coal Iron and Chili Forges and asked to talk to one of their tech people, then explained the inconel thing. I think they thought I was a crank caller, or something. Or maybe in the next few years we’ll see forges with inconel bottoms. Who knows?
