Looking to purchase my first forge in a few weeks. Could I get some recommendations on what brand and model I should look at? I want one that I can learn with now and be able to do very extensive work, like forge welding and such, in the future. Thanks in advance for the help.

forge master

Amen. Nothing better in a gas forge.

Used a Mankle for over thirty years and never a hitch. Comes in one and two bugle models, very efficient. John

I have used two Forgmaster Blacksmith model for fourteen plus years and they get better with age.
There is a new forge on the market that looks good. Hypona Forge.
Bill

I carry a NC Whisper Mamma (2 burner) in my van. Like it. Have had it 12 years. Heats fast, great welding in.

Mikel

cowboyjl,
NC whisper momma with side barstock ports are great. They can take some punishment. Not to bad on the pocket book.
Forge Master are a little more than NC's. I do not own one but have worked in a couple of them. They are second to none in my opinon. They will let you forge anything you want.

Proforge. Have never owned on have never worked in one.
Does anybody have anything to say about the proforge?

If I was going to buy a forge will be here in the future, It's a Forge master!

Don

If you plan to do a lot of forge work with handmade shoes the Forgemaster should be your first choice. If you are just going to heat and modify keg shoes and only occasionally do a handmade shoe, the 2-burner NC forges cost about half as much and use a lot less fuel. Note that you only have 6" of depth in the 2-burner NC and 8-1/2" of depth in the forgemaster. So if you are going to heat shoes big enough for drafts, you wo't fit the entire draft shoe in the NC and get th door closed.

The 3-burner NC lowboy has the same interior dimensions as the forgemaster - costs about $250 less, uses less fuel, and is much quieter. It's also much easier to replace the liner in a NC than it is in a Forgemaster. Also you will have a lot less trouble with the igniter in the NC. Forgemasters seem to have a lot of problems with the ingition system.

NC forges can run at much lower pressures - once a Forgemaster is hot you will have trouble running it at a low idle - they start huffing due to backpressure.

The Pro-forge does not have a very good reputation for durability. If you're going to bounce it up and down the road, you're going to put in a new liner fairly often.

I'm kinda partial to the Forge Master as well, although I've happily used lots of others, including Mankel, Valley, and NC. I've only used the ProForge a few times, and I've not been too impressed, but I've never owned one or used a new one.

Whatever you choose, one of the things to consider is where you'll be using it. I carry a ForgeMaster E1 in the truck because it only has a front port and I don't have to worry about back or side ports heating things up that I'm not intending to heat.

I like the forgemasters best. Only issue is the insane relining procedure. But I use the forge almost every day and reline about once every 3-5 years.

The two Forgemaster Blacksmith models in the shop seem to be holding up fairly well - I don't know how old they are, but they've got a few miles on 'em. There's probably a lot wrong with 'em, but they'll still get iron hot at 5-7 psi and weld at 10-15.

I won't ever go to hell for forge welding a barshoe in a shop full of welders, but I sometimes get a wild hair and play with pattern welded stuff. Lots of folks make pattern welded knives, but damn few make pattern welded hoofpicks.

I have welded a bunch in my Forgemaster at about 7-8 psi. I believe I have welded several barshoes in both of the forges in Mr.Tom's shop.

Both of those forges are "high mileage models" and could probably use a new liner.

My pro forge is 8 years old still has the origanal liner I have replaced the door liner my forge went through this wreck of my shoeing trailer the only thing that broke was the handle on the door the forge was laying 100 feet from the main frame of the trailer when it all came to rest.

did you get any of that on video?

Looks like everything got tight in a hurry.

Anvil 150, we gota hear the story
Bill