FLETCHER FORGE FT-100 DUAL BURNER

FLETCHER FORGE FT-100 DUAL BURNER

I set out to make a fantastic forge

When I first began thinking about building a forge, I had to decide what to focus on. As I thought over the different readily available forges I had used up to that point in my career, I began to build a picture of what I wanted in a forge. I wanted a forge that had a stout, robust body. I wanted a simple design. I wanted to be able to easily clean the propane jets and reline the forge. I wanted to have parts that were easy to find locally. All this and more has been built into the FFT-100. Below I will go into more detail on the design tenets.

Heat

What good is a forge if it isn't hot? But I wanted one that was really, really hot. The FFT-100 uses High Speed Linear Induction Jet Ejector burners. These burners are able to induce more air than a traditional venturi burner, resulting in a neutral flame (which results in a cleaner, more efficient burn) across the pressure range, but especially at the top end. The adjustable choke makes it fully tuneable. The unique gas jet assembly ensures that the jet is always aligned with the burner tube, thus producing a higher quality flame more consistently.

Simplicity

A forge needs to be reliable. In designing this forge I looked at the parts of forges that are prone to fail, and did my best to strengthen or, where possible, eliminate them. The main body of this forge is made from only 3 parts, with a minimum of joints.

Durability

As much as it's nice to buy a cheap forge, it's not great when they don't last long. The body of the FFT-100 is made out of heavy duty steel, and is designed to be relined about as many times as you like. The burners have their own expansion chamber and are designed to produce a perfect flame, even as the liner begins to break down.

Ease of maintenance

There are two main things that go wrong on a forge: the gas jets can become plugged, and the liner eventually needs to be changed. The gas jets on the FFT-100 can be easily accessed with no tools. To reline the FFT-100, the 4 external bolts holding the lid on are removed. The door, burners, and plumbing are all attached to the lid. Once the lid is removed, the liner is easily accessible for replacement.

All of the consumable parts on the FFT-100 are designed to be easily replaceable in a pinch. All the plumbing utilizes 1/4” NPT fittings. The lid bolts are regular bolts. If something goes wrong, you can go to your local hardware store and most likely they will have what you need to get you back up and running.

End Result

What we end up with is a forge that is simple, versatile, robust, and efficient. It has a great turn down range for day to day horseshoeing or light blacksmith work, and can also turn out very high temperatures for competition situations or heavy duty forging. It is easy to maintain, and very reliable. It has been a pleasure to see this forge come to life, and even more so, to begin using it in my daily work and see how well it performs. I truly believe it is an essential asset to any craftsman working with hot steel.