I think it's a great heating method, particularly for production forging. This process has been around since the '50's and before in various forms. The main drawback for hobby blacksmiths is the cost of the equipment. A modern machine that will heat a 2" section of a 1" square bar to forging temp in about 15 seconds retails for about $14,000. This is about a 5 KW machine which usually runs on 3 phase power but can be run on single phase. Used machines are very much available in sizes from a few hundred watts up to about a megawatt or so. Machines in the 5 to 10 KW area can be had for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. These machines are very similar to a radio station's transmitter inside, so most of the older machines have high power electron tubes in them and use voltages as high as about 10,000 volts (inside the box). Our blacksmith club, The Guild of Metalsmiths, had a demonstration of one of these machines last fall. Lots of "oohs" and "ahhs", but cost is the main negative factor. I have an old 5KW unit in my shop that is just waiting till I get a round toit to wire it in and try it out.
Pete Stanaitis
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Arnar Haugedal wrote: