Is a $200 Forge Kit Worth It? 

The refractory coating isn’t usually factory applied even on high end forges. To prevent it from breaking in shipping. Usually they send some product and instructions though

liquids under pressure like propane, freon. or CO2, as long as there is a single ounce of liquid, the pressure only denotes the vapor pressure, not an indication of liquid remaining, you will see a drop while you are using it because the phase change cooling as the liquid propane boils off will cool the tank. if its a humid day you will see a frost / condensation line on the tank at the level (ish) of the liquid within. the only real value to a dual gauge regulator is it will tell you if you are over utilizing your propane source, IE drawing propane faster than it can boil off, small tank and cold weather you may experience this, but the pressure you see means nothing more than the temperature of the tank. better way to track usage is to weigh it before and after.

Simple honest video but with all the right tips thank you

White vinegar dissolves the galvanised coating from those pipes very easily, just let them soak overnight and it just washes off.

I've bought quite a lot of cheap import stuff from Vevor. They have a local warehouse, so they're a good choice for heavy and bulky stuff that would be prohibitive to get directly from China. I've got really mixed feelings - I'm perfectly satisfied, but I couldn't in good conscience recommend it. Stefan Gotteswinter tends to describe Chinese import tooling as a kit of parts, which certainly applies to Vevor stuff. Everything I've bought has required some amount of fixing, but I've never received anything that I couldn't fix. Your average punter would be stuffed, but it's no big deal if you're a halfway competent machinist. It does puzzle me slightly that their manufacturers can grind to very good standards of flatness and squareness, but can't seem to turn a thread or drill a hole straight. Still, I couldn't buy the raw materials for those prices.

I bought a Devil Forge witha n coupon from BigStacked, and it was about 216€. Even on thouse models you must apply the rigidizer yourself, but you get the powder with instructions in your set. The don´t Pre-Apply the coating because it can easyly crack while in transit ;)

I would weigh your propane tank if you want to keep up with usage. Its also worth weighing them to know which supplier is giving you a better deal. Here in the US anyway, the tank swap places hide the rise in cost by just filling the tanks less full.

for what you got $200 is an absolutely amazing deal. ild say that normally for $200 you could get just the forge and maybe the burner. Also as many others have said, it is standard for the forge not to ship with regidiser and refactory installed. I bought a forge for $800 and it didn't come with it installed although it was supplied with it

Was starting to worry there for a minute, but you managed to get some #hacksaw in there regardless. Nicely done.

That is excellent value for that kit. a kit for a blacksmiths forge here in Australia is about 450 dollars and you have to supply your own own 9kg gas bottle to become the body of the forge. There is a lot of talk about ceramic fibre being a health issue on the good old interweb, but no where have I actually seen any data from air monitoring that actually shows it is a problem. It is however prudent to take precautions, lining material is relatively cheap, so I line my forge. Pro tip for the lining material - I use satanite, and you stick it in a big plastic bottle, add the water, screw lid on and shake, easiest way to mix it. The dual gauge isn't much use for propane, as it is a liquid fuel source which boils off until the cylinder pressure reaches the point where no more gas boils off, so whilst there is still liquid in the bottle, the pressure should not change appreciably. But a regulator that shows the pressure behind the venturi is definitely a must. Otherwise it is all just guess work and you get inferior results. I get about 9 hours of forging from that size gas bottle, and my burner is bigger than yours.

So glad I saw this as I was looking at a very very similar one on fleabay for about £140 uk.

Really appreciate your video. Wanted to be safe and careful before burning. This was very helpful !

Interesting video, VEVOR seems to be a supplier full of products... of variable quality. With this foundry you will be able to compete with your compatriot who wants to reach a ton of molten metals to recover.

your videos are pure gold!! keep it up!! Not enough people reviewing these entry level equipment and giving an honest review. Lets see you machine some aluminum cans and let us know how it goes.

The one I picked up is almost identical (as most will be), but without the dialed regulator, just a 0-30 psi pin reg. but the output orifice uses mig tips so changing sizes is super easy. Used fumed silica to rigidize the wool, then coated it in several layers of a mix of zirconium / aluminum / strontium oxides, and silicon carbide. First full fire test got it up to 1380C in a little over 15 minutes. They're definitely a nice way to get an intro to it without the need for any real fabricating.

I would build a forced air burner for this. It will help a ton. Both with fuel efficiency, heating times, and how hot it can get. They are also in my opinion, easier burners to build since there’s no worry about having to get the perfect Venturi effect

good to see An Aussie doing this as well !! Making youtube videos and metal casting from a forge .. Goo work mate.. :)

Really enjoying the content mate. I'm looking for a forge in the coming months so looking forward to your further thoughts.

GREAT VIDEO HOPE TO SEE MANY MORE ,,, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

I purchased the same forge after your review. Seems they have made some updates. The ceramic blankets in the lid are held in place but some steel tags. The container itself is 1.4mm thick so May be made more heavily that the one shown here. I did however also order ridgidizer and added a third layer of insulation to the lid. Looks great now and hope it works. Thanks for your review.

I saw the name of the valve and i cracked up, what a name for a company.

I was at a flea market about 15 years ago and picked up an electric pottery kiln for 35 USD. It sat in my shed for 10 years and then I got into hobby machining. I was surprised it melts aluminium very well. I also have a Lincoln buzz box and the hardware store had some carbon arc rods that looked like they had been there since the 1950s. I bought all they had for half price. The arc coming of them can melt rocks in a few seconds.

Nice job and a good first setup! If you really wanna go deep on forge designs Keith Rucker has a series where he builds a propane forge as well. It's about 6 years old or so, and something like 12-13 videos, but he includes a ton of very thorough and detailed descriptions of what he's doing and why, which I feel is especially helpful when planning and working on a diy project like this. As for a burner, Keith has one really good design, but I think the best overall burner design is the one by Brian Oltrogee of Grunblau designs (I think I got the channel name correct lol) and it's the third part of his beer drum foundry forge. Anyway, hope this helps you and others watching to continue to improve your forges and their designs!

I see that there're already suggestions about visiting BigstackD's n Myfordboy's channel. ArtbyAdrock n Veg Oil Guy have regular three-way melts with BigstackD. I would imagine you'd already heard of these channels since you mentioned that you had been interested in foundry work for some time. The tongs look like those of a blacksmith. Foundry tongs and pouring shanks are what a droog needs for melting. The above mentioned BigstackD n Myfordboy have designs and step-by-step to make some serviceable pouring shanks. I hope to see casting/machining adventures on your channel soon, mate. I love your delivery, nice n crisp; to the point. ALSO! You could visit "Makercise" for some inspiration. There are video playlists for making Dave Gingery's lathe and shaper from melted aluminium cans using LOST FOAM casting technique. You DEFO want to check out that method-it's VERY effective!

I just got a Vevor propane furnace to test out and review. I am looking at videos before I get started myself. Yours is very well explained and detailed. Mine is stainless steel and also comes with a bag of refractory cement. No gloves or molds tho so I ordered a mold on Amazon. Waiting for it to arrive so I can try this awesome forge out.

11:28 - Stuff some of the furnace glass fiber around the torch once installed to avoid all the heat escaping.

Very useful video. I get a lot of copper scraps & want to have a go at forging. But, I think I’ll go for the Devil Forge, their kits are a little more expensive but they come with the refractory cement & crucible tongues. I think they come with an ingot mould too. Great video though, it’s answered a lot of questions for me.

Looks like an ok kit! As someone who's been looking at doing some foundry work for years but haven't gotten around to making it yet it looks like a good option. For anyone interested, Christoph Lehner has made a diesel fuelled foundry recently for cast iron. Worth checking out

LOL at the Shyt valve. Absolute gold.

I did a lot of research when i got one few months ago and decided to go with the Devel Forge top notch for just a little more money and did not have to buy anything extra like gloves and Rigidizing and Refractory Coating mine came with tongs made to fit the crucible. good instructions too.. Thank you for your videos Artisan Makes I really like the C.N.C. ones to

1) CeraMaterials has a refractory coating that they claim is reflective. It appears it is applied directly to the refractory wool. 2) Flowering Elbow has a video onhear treating aluminum ingots. It's a surprisingly simple process.

Looking forward to some lost foam pours

Bought one and found it's great. only problem was the lid insulation, had to rivet some retainers to stop it falling into the main forge.

Just got a vevor portaband... Loving it now

What an interesting name for a vital element of your new smelting furnace.

looks quite good for the price i made mine from an old 9kg gas bottle and made water glass for the high temp binder with sand and vermiculite as the insulation but to start off $200 is great

I received a vevor 6Kg forge for $159.99 (lol) Similar to yours but unpainted SS casing and it came with the dry refractory as well. As I'm only melting Aluminium (Machining offcuts :) ) it will do for me.

I just bought the same one. they are on clearance for 125.99 Canadian.

Great video bought one today off ebay (same brand)...good to know it needs that refractory coating I would of had no clue otherwise.

so the coated blanket won't fracture apart in eventual chunks, esp. if dropped, like solid mix ? I guess that's the singular upside... here we have a clear 'glaze' for the blanket, but yours looks more functional

Hi, A recommendation is to use salamander crucibles. They are a bit expensive but worth every penny. Also if you Are looking for a better burner I would like to recommend devil forges burners

Just discovered your channel through this video. Very helpful. I'm looking at this exact kit as I have 2x44gal drums of aluminium bits & swarf to make usefull (or at least smaller). Where did you source the stuff you used to treat the insulating material (rigediser & refractory?) from & what was the rough cost? (I'm in Aus, central Vic).

TY for the video it helps take the mystery out using these forges. One question though. How much sodium silicate did you need for the inside? seems like a big swing in prices last I checked, want to purchase the right amount. Thanks again!

I spent the extra money and got a Devil Forge. Doing the refractory coating tomorrow!

Very informative, thank you. No matter what the vendor says, I don't think that meets the definition of a forge. "Furnace" is more like it.

You could heat-treat the part after casting to make it a lot nicer for machining. :)

I've done bronze casting for 25+ years with a furnace/forge that has bare ceramic wool insulation against the flame, no coatings what so ever, never had any problems with it. The wool is a consumable and I need to change it yearly, but that's the same with any refractory material if it sees a lot of use. Ceramic wools are body soluble these days and have been for a long time, obviously it's still not recommended to eat or inhale them.

Very nice demo. I hope to see you casting into sand moulds. I take issue with it being called a forge, I would call it a furnace, since it is being used to melt metal, and not heating metal prior to forging (hammering) it into shape.

In manufacturing aluminum engine blocks the aluminum isn't poured into a mold, but rather pushed in from the bottom of the mold up to prevent air pockets in the casting. Not sure how you could perform that procedure at home, but just a food for thought. Also, are you going to try melting in zinc in the future?

If you provide a vent for the volume displaced by the aluminum you will find there are less air bubbles in your castings.

I bought a cheap one to learn on. Ruined it, sorta, after several uses. Learned what i needed to learn and got a better one.

where is the best place to get the sodium silicate? is the powder best or liquid? What brand do you recommend? Great video .Thank you.

Can’t beat the price if you are only going to use it every so often or to melt aluminium into ingots or round bar for lathe fodder . Maybe the gassing was from the galvanising burning off?

What was coating and where did you get it to stabilise the wool?

I just got mine (it's a Vevor brand) and mine had retaining tabs on the lid to hold the fiber blankets.

That ball valve lol

Time to upgrade your hacksaw blade, sir. I couldn't believe the difference when I got some Starrett blades for mine ($6.39USD pair). They cut in a tenth the time. Those look like decent little forges. A friend made his and had spent the better part of a month getting it right, and spent an equal amount after all, so the kits seem well priced to save you the hassle. Love the brand name of the ball valve. LOL

Regarding the crucible not having a pour spout, would it be possible/feasible to take a Dremel or something to sort of carve out a little spout-ish channel? Or is it likely that that'd just cause the crucible to outright break?

You can use borax on the inside of your crucible when you temper it to essentially form a nonstick coating on the inside and it can also make your crucible last a little bit longer

wow didn't know about ceramic fibers: "The fibres themselves can irritate the skin, eyes and upper respiratory tract but the main concern is that the individual fibres are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and possibly lead to the development of lung cancer and mesothelioma."

I suspect your first cast failed because the mold had some moisture on it. Heat it in the furnace for a bit while the metal is melting before casting with it should take care of that issue and it makes it a lot safer because steam explosions are a thing. Also preheat your skimmers to remove moisture.

myford boy his set up

16:22 Isn’t the pressure constant until you run out of liquid? So not an indication of how much is remaining.

If you run very low on propane is there any chance of the flame pulling back to the tank?

I bought and the regulator required a lot of machining to fit an American propane tank.

All the diy refractory recipes will not hold up to the heat of melting brass, copper, ect. It may last a little while longer with just doing aluminum and lower heat metals but not brass heat and higher. Ive done over 20 on line diy recipes of diy refractory and they never held up. I use kaowool and/or manufactured refractory cement. The only way i got the diy recipes to last as long as they did for me was to coat them with Girtech contact 40 or green patch 421. Even then, when the coatings would crack some as they will, the diy stuff would start to fall out like sand in an hour glass. I build all my forges and furnaces using kaowool now and coat them with Girtech contact 40 which is great stuff, up to 3180’f, and is fire cured versus the green patch 421 which is air cured. Much faster with Girtech.

I wonder if you could file in a spot on the crucible for pouring ease

It’s probably not a right-a-way project but how about casting new frame pieces for your $200 CNC machine? Replace the weird mystery plastic parts with machinable rigid aluminum parts. Go old school and cast them to look like an old metal planer.

Bigstackd just posted showing tempering new crucible.

What do you mean spray the silicate? Like with a spray bottle?

it was probably some oil left over from the milling process inside your pipe. Just a thought.

fz knives shows how to make crucibles and with a few ingredients, thirty usd may go a bit further.

Is it possible to use this foundry to melt steel?

hi... you put spout were you need it. when you put the pot in your tool holders the way you like it ok.. plain and simmpel.

How many runs did it take before you ran out of gas?

Here's the magic search keywords I WISH I'd known for my Aluminum castings.... "Artificial Aging". Bake your castings in your oven for 18 hours at the same temperature you'd bake a cake, then drop them in room temperature water to quench. The difference in machinability is HUGE. Without it fresh castings machine like bubble gum. With it they actually turn pretty good.

This by far is one of the best informative video I've seen. Concise and intelligent. He answered the questions I had while watching. You could do yourself a favor and follow him.

can you melt bronze with this?

In spite of the name it actually feels pretty good lmao

when i seen the name "vevor" on the burner i was wondering what corners they cut. im sad i overpaid for my lathe from them. my xy table i bought for milling ops has bent screws, no bearings on the ends and the gibs look like afterthoughts ground on friday deep into overtime. if VEVOR has their name on the product its probably dangerous and/or needs some work before you can use it....

❤❤❤

Use the supplied tongs for *adding* bits of alumin(i)um to the pot when it’s under blast….

Full kit please

A “Forge” is used to Forge metal for Blacksmithing like with an Anvil and a Hammer. A Foundry is a building where metal work is done. What you have there is called a furnace. Good video for sure, but if we’re going to do videos on this, let’s get the terminology right! 😅

I am wondering what you feel about the toxic carcinogenic melting of aluminium

Those gloves probably help, better than just bare skin. My dumbass just burned my hands on my home made setup.

being a firmer vessel (clay) makes a difference.

Yes refractory plaster they don't tell us, but video's like this keeps us safe I run a business melting metal we must make this important black smithing law for safety only

I think the bubbles are from hydrogen absorption from the air. Its very difficult to cast al without porosity.

I had to buy my green patch 21 separate

Will this forge melt copper?

Funny how you will buy and import anything that is not a powersaw

Selamunaleyküm efendim Ocak sıcaklik kaç dereceye cikiyor

Watch some bigstackD for all of your melting and casting needs 👍

Does that make it the shyte pipe?

2:30 what is this counter clockwise threading? screams garbage to me lol, who and how was that piece threaded?

I once bought a $200 forge, it is great. Definitely not a good foundry though.

My Devil Forge came with a Bag of it ready to Mix up and apply. Looks like Satanite to me.

5:58 dead mouse leather.

I’m just gonna buy a desktop kiln