1

This is a great forge for someone trying to stay away from propane. There is a lot of good about this forge and a few things that could be done better.Pros: very versatile since you can use wood or charcoal and since you decide how big of a work area you want to use with the forge.Love how you can control how many holes are open for the air flow, has really helped with fire management of the forge.It is fairly portable, I purchased the full set including the stand.Things that could be better:First, have assembly instructions in the package, I didn't receive any, although super easy to assemble.Second, not all of the holes on the forge fit the hardware provided so I had to do some hand filing to get it to fit, not a huge problem though. And it was missing 2 bolts or screws for the blower to be attached to the forge. But it was easy to get.Third, as far as being portable it is but since it semi heavy fully assembled with fire bricks it makes it hard to move, so if it hand some kind of handles it would be so much easier to move.And since not all of it comes in one package due to the weight it would be nice if they made sure everything was sent at once, initially I didn't receive the manual blower but after emailing the company through Amazon a few days later I received it so not a big deal.So overall for the money I spent it just would have been nice if those few things had been fixed, but after using it for a week now it is definitely well worth it in my opinion because I know I couldn't have made something as nice.Definitely recommend any beginning bladesmith or blacksmith get this, I think it will be the only one I ever have as long as I take care of it.

I have been using my Whitlx forge for about 4 months now. It works great, but I won't give it five stars for a few reasons.Cons1. A weld broke on the cap of the airflow control pipe, allowing air to escape. The cap is tack welded on, and the tacks lack penetration.2. The flexible air supply pipe is larger than the fittings it connexts to, so you have to crimp it down and it slips off fairly easily.3. I could really use a handle to move it around with. Not a big deal, but it would be really nice. A handle in the right place could also work as a tool rest.Pros1. I have used my forge with wood, charcoal, and coal. It works great with all of them.2. It heats up quick, and I have used it to forge weld.3. The design allows you to put very long peices all the way through.All in all, this is a great little forge.

I am new to blacksmithing and wanted a forge that I could use wood/charcoal in. This does exactly that. I have used it with the hand crank blower to heat and work 1080 high carbon leaf springs. I was able to heat the steel hot enough to work it (glowing orange, almost white).The bricks, frame, kaowool, and parts came in several different shipments but everything came eventually.The family that make these in Oregon were very nice to work with and communicated with me while I was waiting for all the parts to arrive. The only thing I ended up having to buy were some nuts, bolts and washers at my local hardware store as I was short one of each.

An excellent item for a beginner blacksmith. While not a coal forge it can still be used with coal, but be prepared to clean it out. I did not like the hose that is attached to the blower, so I made one out of pvc. The only other thing is that I would have liked to see some sort of handle to make moving it an easier job. Would recommend to others.

Works Great...Did a test fire and forged a railroad spike into an axe in just a couple hours... with the ZOMAX blower this thing gets your work super hot while keeping the outside of the forge cool to the touch... Highly recommend this to anyone wanting to get into blacksmithing...

I feel like a few things could have been a little nicer considering the price, but otherwise it works really great.

I don’t have access to a lot of coal by me so being able to use wood is a plus. I’ve just started getting into making things and the Whitlock forge has been awesome to use.

This works AWESOME!If you're a blacksmith or are beginning to blacksmith and need a forge, look no further..The secret is to cut your pieces of wood into 3 x 4 inch chunks. Use 2x4 cut offs until you can get your fire hot enough to start consuming hardwoods like oak and ash.