Michael Burch's Forge

For forge welding applications, a vertical forge configuration with a forced air burner is a good choice for many reasons, least of which is maintenance of the lining material when exposed to flux! Michael Burch has built a nice vertical forge for blade making as well as Damascus work. Michael used a 16" diameter x 21" long piece of pipe for his forge body, but he did something a little different than most. Wanting to make the section he can get a heat in a little longer, Michael used a trick shown to him by Bill Buxton of squishing the pipe some to elongate it a little more to provide a longer heat zone. This also aids in retaining the somewhat circular shape of the pipe, so you continue to get a good swirling action of the fuel/air mixture inside the forge. To squish the pipe, Michael used a log splitter, but a front end loader or something of the like could be used as well. The forge lining consists of 2" thick Inswool which has been top-coated with Satanite and ITC-100 to increase efficiency.

This picture shows the burner assembly Michael built for his forge. Also, you can see the oblong nature of the 16" diameter steel pipe in this picture.

Another view of the burner showing how the blower was coupled to the burner assembly. Michael Burch is a talented bladesmith as well as a writer living in Springfield, MO. You can check out his work at the following url: http://www.burchtreeblades.com/