# 2Burner Atmospheric Forge



## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

This Forge is a 2 burner atmospheric forge run on propane, and reaches 2300 degrees in a few minutes at most. This is welding heat. To harden turning tools 1475 degrees is all that is needed. I just hardened and tempered these two 5/8" bowl gouges and now they are cooling after being tempered at 450 degrees untill straw colored and the steel won't be too hard and brittle. BTW the steel is M2 steel and this steel makes excellent tools for turning. Doug Thompson recommended the steel and he was way right, this is a good steel. The gouges are hard to see because they are almost coal black. All that needs to be done to them now is to lightly resharpen the cutting edges and fit a handle to the tool. I use the new tool to turn the new handle. Once again I am very pleased how well the bowl gouges cut. All comments or questions will be appreciated. Mitch


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## slatron25 (Dec 18, 2007)

It looks like you're all set now that you can heat treat your tools also. Cool. Is the forge something you bought or made?


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

Slaytron2Thanks for the reply Tim. I made a small one but this one I bought. The made one would harden an inch or two but this baby can heat the entire tool in just a couple minutes and after quenching in oil I can temper and cool in about ten minutes. Makes tool making a pleasure and no hard work. Mitch


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

I'm dying to build a propane forge. It's just too much work to do it with coal. I have to lay aside a day and do a bunch of projects all at once to justify it. On the plus side I have a lot of control and can heat large pieces.


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

John Lucas
Thanks again for the reply John. I know what your meaning when you say your dying to make a propane forge. I wanted to badly myself. John I know that you know what your doing but I would like to make a suggestion if I may? You have a coal forge that you can use when you want to do larger jobs, so why not make a small propane torch like this? Go over Home Depot and get a new model Bernz O Matic torch that has a hose from the torch and you connect it to Propane or Mapp cylinder Get piece of pipe or even a coffee can and line with a fire resistant blanket and firebrick Put a piece of pipe in the top of the can and install a thumbscrew in this pipe where you install the torch, tighten the setscrew click the starter and open the gas and it starts to burn. If you buy all the stuff you can make this forge in less than a half hour. The pipe you install in the body doesn't need to be welded, use them electrical rings to install the pipe that holds the torch.If your interested, Search out Zoller forge and on his page go to his mini forges and see what I mean. Let me know what you think. This forge I bought does one heck of a good job John. It heats in a couple minutes and does the whole 12 inch rod I use for the tool. I heat untill it is way hard then let cool till it becomes magnetic again, put back in the forge to heat again then quickly quench to cool, heat till straw colored and it is completely tempered. Wish I could show you how good these bowl gouges cut. Mitch:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

AAAHHH! Mitch you are one step closer to a production run of Cholewinski gouges aren't ya!!!:yes: Looks like you have a nice little system now to get your tools hardened. Good for you!

And John don't forget to take lots of pictures of the forge you build from Mitch's description so I can see how to do it. I'll have to check out the website you were talking about.

John


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

Mitch, that Zoeller Forge website is outstanding. Here is a link for anyone wanting to look around.

http://www.zoellerforge.com/index.html

I love how he shows how some of the little forges are made with all the pictures and such. Very neat, thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

John


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Mitch I picked up some fire bricks at the hardware the other day. I decided to build a small propane forge out of these similar to what Roy Underhill had on a show recently. It looks awfully simple. I was going to build the tin can version but don't know where to get the stuff to line the can.


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

John Lucas
Thanks for getting back to me on this John. I was going to mention to you about the all firebrick forge but as usual you already know about it. That forge should be very easy to make and very durable. Far as the stuff to make the tin can/ pipe version of a forge. You can buy everything you need from Zoeller forge to make any of those forges. Whichever you make I know you will come up with some fine posts of tools you make and I am excited to see whatever you come up with. Mitch:thumbsup:


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

jdixon
John, I guess your right in a way about being close to production runs on making these tools and I honestly think I can do that it if that was my plan. If I was going into this I would buy a much bigger milling machine and it would be a horizontal and not a vertical milling machine. I am going to stick to my word though, and not try to sell these tools. I really get a thrill out of getting guys like yourself interested in doing this. On all the forums there are several guys fired up to make their own tools. I will do my best to help them get started. Hard to believe how many of these tools I made already. One word of caution John, don't buy a $500 forge if your going to make 4 or 5 tools. Look at and :thumbsup:buy a Zoeller mini forge and you can have loads of fun making tools. Mitch


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

jdixon
Thanks for getting back to me and telling me what you think about Zoeller's forges. Isn't that the greatest place to get info on forges? I spent many hours studying every forge he makes on his site. He doesn't make the forge to sell, but he sells everything you need to make these forges and I think 8 out of every 10 turners could make any of the forges if they wanted. Mitch:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

Mitch, been kicking some questions around my feeble little brain for the last couple of days. Are you primarily using your forge outdoors? Can it be used indoors? Is that safe? Once that baby heats up, how long does it take for it to cool down? I mean like the forge itself, does it take it a long time to be cool to the touch for instance. Thanks,

John


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

jdixon
When I first started using propane and Mapp torches to harden the first tools I made I hardened them in my garage worksho[ and didn't worry about it. When I got this forge I started thinking about ever even having this big tank in my house at all. They can be very dangerous if enclosed inside anyplace. I just throw up my garage door and put a 4"x8"x18" wall brick on this old table I have outside and connect the propane tank to the forge. I use a few firebrick to close the hole in the back of the forge to half it's size but not completely because the forge has to breath on both ends.and if you don't and the forge is burning hot the flames can hardly be seen but they pour out the front and back of the forge and it would burn your hands. I since taught myself how to correct that by closing the lid on each burner slightly but not enough to make it go out.Do this correctly and the forge will be roaring hot in no time at all and in mine the whole tool is hardened in just a few minutes. I am glad I was so careful at first because the first time I light it I couldn't light the burners so I just put the torch inside the forge and this thing blew up like a bomb and scared the life out of me. From then on I stand off to the side when lighting it and put my wood turning mask on. The guy who made my forge works in a big shop and he lights the forges inside all the time but has the windows and doors wide open at all times and he isn't a woodworker like me and doesn't have saw dust in the shop to ignite. If you get one of Zoellers mini forges you can do it inside but if you get an atmospheric forge use it outside. It does take a few hours to completely cool down because of the firebrick and all the insulation in the forge. There are many things you can do to fix that if you need to have it cool down quicker. If your thinking of getting into this John and have any questions feel free to ask me and I will be glad to help you much as I can. That was my problem, I had no one to go to to ask anything. Mitch


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