amyr57•7d agoTop Commenter

Changed my mind about propane forges after seeing a friend's setup

I was dead set on sticking with coal, thought propane was cheating somehow. Last month I watched a buddy fire up his homemade forge in 5 minutes flat and hit welding heat with zero smoke. That before-and-after difference in setup time was honestly eye opening, he spent like $300 on his whole burner setup. Has anyone else switched fuels later in their hobby and regretted it or loved it?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathanb717d ago

Have you considered how the noise level changes with propane versus solid fuel? That's something I don't see people talk about much. With coal you get that constant crackling and the blower humming, but a propane forge is almost silent except for the gas hissing. I switched to propane about two years ago and the quiet really changed my whole shop experience, especially since I work late nights. The other thing is humidity, propane burns cleaner and drier, which matters more than I thought for certain techniques like pattern welding. Your mileage may vary on this, but for me the lower noise and cleaner burning made the switch totally worth it.

aaron_wilson177d ago

That quiet change is a real thing. It's funny how we don't notice background noise until it's gone, like when a fridge stops humming or traffic dies down at night.