I guess this question is mostly directed towards spazola, bluesman, scottgoodman, and Bruno.

While at Charlie’s shop I was able to heat treat in forge built for the task. I’ve been trying to find info on building one and was able to glean some of the broad strokes of building one by looking at Charlie’s, but the more I research the more there appears to be to the how and why of things. Looking at materials I’ve been looking for metal 5 gallon buckets (not sure about the size but it seems like something larger is better for temp stability), figure I would line it with 1” thick ceramic wool and cover that with satanite to help protect the wool and myself.

So with Charlie’s he had the torch coming in at the back bottom of the forge with with some hog wire and a pyrometer at the very top, I assume the location is to get it as far away from the flame as possible resulting in more consistent temperature.

Is there a certain design for the torch that I should try and build? Best way to attach it to the forge? What’s the best way to get a reducing flame to help keep scale to a minimum? Is there a better layout to components, should I be looking at a different shape or orientation for the forge body? Is there a pyrometer that is quality but not ridiculous expensive (is calibrating with boiling water an accepted practice)?

My plan is to be able to heat treat simple carbon steels. Not sure if I left anything important out, please let me know if I have.

I’ve been bitten bad by the bug thanks to the recent razor meet, seeing what’s possible and in some cases better, to build what I need to make razors, knives, and wood working tools.