Forge vs Kiln

[J CARPY]

Is there a difference between a kiln and forge?
What can one do the other can't?
Is it just a traditional thing?
I have blades cut out and don't know which direction to go.

[Scott Roush]

With a forge (combined with an anvil) you can make all your dreams come true. Imagine something in metal, throw it in there and hammer it to shape.  I love, love, love forging.

A kiln, however, will give you more precise control of temperature for heat treating. Good idea to have both. Someday I will.. but as long as I stick to my simple 10xx steels, my forge will do okay.

A forge is also cheaper and a little easier to make yourself I would expect.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Start with the forge, it is far more versatile.  The forge lets you make steel into anything you want.  The kiln is good for one specific thing and that is getting your steel to a set temperature and holding it there.  The kiln allows exact control over your steel and the way it will behave during the quench, anneal, normalizing, etc....  I am saving up for a kiln and look forward to using it to step up the quality control in my process.  Note I made my forge first and it does the heat management job nicely, just not as precisely as a kiln would.

[J CARPY]

Thanks Guy's
Sounds to me like the forge is a lot of fun. I am like a kid, I want both. Maybe one day. If I decide to purchase a kiln first, can I do damascus?

[Ragnarok Forge]

Yes, but it will be far more difficult than using a forge to do the same thing.

[Wampus]

You get a lot more scale/oxidation with a kiln because there's more free oxygen in there to attack the steel.  The fuel burning process in a gas forge uses up most of the oxygen so it's not left to burn the steel.  You can adjust your forge atomosphere somewhat by changing the fuel/air mixture and pressures.  
You can overcome some of the scaling problem by putting charcoal pieces in the kiln to consume some of the oxygen or purging it with inert gas.