Induction forges / heaters

Will Jones - Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 8:46am

Wow. Just stumbled onto induction forges on youtube.
Extraordinary! Anyone had much opportunity to play with these ?
Anyone got d.i.y.instructions for me to built one with sticky tape and old microwave parts for a couple of bucks ?

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They do seem like really

bigfootnampa - Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 9:40am

They do seem like really nice forges! Very quick... especially for repetitive work. The drawback is that they are not cheap to get started with. Operating costs seem lower than most other type forges but quality units are pricey to acquire. Grant Sarver sells some nice ones. The electronics are a bit overly complex for me to contemplate making my own.

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Yep, those induction forges

Rich Waugh - Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 7:38pm

Yep, those induction forges are pretty damn slick for work that is suited to them. For someone doing a bunch of repetitive pieces of the same size there probably isn't anything else that is as efficient or as fast. I do a lot of small historical hardware and I'd love to have one, since it wouldn't heat up the whole shop like a gas forge does, which is a bonus here in the tropics. However, I can't afford to feed one - our electric rates are the highest in the US, over 60 cents a kilowatt hour. Gas (and sweat) is far cheaper for me.

Since you're in the UK Will, you might be able to save some money by importing directly from India or China. They're made in both countries, I believe. Of course, that would leave you with not much in the way of warranty protection, probably.

In the US, I know Grant Sarver sells them and at one time Paul Sperbeck talked about selling a Chinese-made unit, though I don't know if he ever got anywhere with that. It was supposed to be cheaper than Grant's unit, from what Paul told me. I know that Grant has been selling them for several years now and they seem to be dependable from what I've heard.

I'm waiting for the solar-powered model - we have almost unlimited sunshine here. (grin)

Rich

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Sounds like you just need to

Will Jones - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - 3:43am

Sounds like you just need to get a big old magnifying glass, Rich!
Don't think I'm seriously considering acquiring one right now, but it's the sort of thing I might justify to myself if the right job came in. On the other hand, I've been amazed by how often when I'm feeling guilty about buying a self indulgent new toy, hey presto, the work for it appears out of the blue.(BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!)
As Ries said the price isn't crazy, if they're gonna get used.....and while they're more likely to pay for themselves in time saving than fuel saving I do like the fact that they're only sucking energy when they're actually heating stock not while I'm at the anvil. 'Course I'm stuck with a domestic electricity supply that makes all the lights dim every time my 4hp compressor kicks in so that could be an issue. They recently ran a new overhead line out from the village so the kettle doesn't dim the lights so much now......
Most of the year round in here in Blighty the ineffeciency of my coke forge is a distinct benefit - in fact I've considered heat exchangers in the flue, or running radiators off the forge's cooling water to reclaim more heat!
But we do get a couple of days a year when I consider it to hot to be standing in front of a roaring fire! (normally time to go fishing then,I reckon)

Will Jones

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Yep, a solar forge would be

Rich Waugh - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - 9:38am

Yep, a solar forge would be possible down here, but there's the issue of it needing to track the sun - I'd hate to be chasing it around during the course of the day. (grin)

I did look into what it would take to build a solar forge using mirrors and it was too big to be practical for me. Interesting concept, though.

Rich

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