My new two brick gas forge

I finally got around to making my new small, 2 brick gas forge. I used some Insulation Bricks, 23GD - 230 x 152 x 76mm, so they are a bit bigger than ordinary bricks. It's easier to do the work in two halves, because you can carve the 1/2 chambers out much more easily. I used a spoon, as the bricks are quite soft, and  used a rasp to finish. My blow torch is not a beast by any means, but it does the job well enough. The fire cement has not cracked at all, so far anyway, but the bricks have developed a few cracks. I don't think they are much of a problem though.
 

Once carved, both halves of the chamber  are lined with refractory cement, then attached together, simply by using garden wire. I also removed the two bars across the chamber. The joints between both bricks received some refractory cement, that was a bit more difficult due to the relative narrowness of the chamber, but not too bad. Then I folded a sheet of aluminium around it to protect the soft bricks.

 

Once finished, I put the whole caboodle into the cooker's oven for a couple of hours to cure the cement. I fired it today and forged a couple of blades out of some 3/8" Silver Steel . So far, I am very pleased with it:  it gives out plenty of heat for small blades and I can use it inside my workshop, with the door open of course!  Until I can come up with a more imaginative maker's mark, I'll be stamping my initials JD on the blades.

The blades are 3" and 2" long

I did a bit of file work to tidy up both blades, as my forging is still in its enfancy. I have put the whole thing on top of some more reflactory bricks, to prevent any risk of scorching the bench. The outside of the forge does get warm but not too badly so there shouldn't be any  problems.