New gas regulator / 1st forge weld

[larrynjr]

I ordered a new adjustable regulator for my gas forge and it really makes a huge difference in the heat of the fire. It is a 0-20lb. gauge and I have it down between .5 and 1lb of pressure. Anything higher than that and the dragons breath gets so big that I would not be able to forge at all! I was able to get a white hot heat in the middle of the forge and got my first weld ever. It was not a completely solid weld, I folded the piece over and tried to get it to weld but was only successful in at the bend, then I folded it again and got a little more weld but as you can see in the picture there are some area's with scale that didn't weld. I'm still happy with the progress though.

One question regarding the change in regulators, obviously the pressue is about as low as I can get it but the force into the forge and the overall volumne seem to be much higher than what I got from the old regulator. Can anyone explain how that works in small easy to understand words? Also will I use more or less gas than before? If the volumne is indeed higher than I'm guessing more gas will be used.

[Valentin]

Hmm i never got that far ! Congrats on the forge weld !

[Sabre]

well good job!!!!!!!!

[ThomasPowers]

What were you using as a flux? How oxidizing is your forge?

[larrynjr]

it's a welding / brazing flux I got from the local Oxarc store. I've been meaning to try some 20 mule team borax but have not yet. With the new regulator I have to have my air door fan all the way open or again I get lots of dragonsbreath.

[djhammerd]

I would guess the old regulator had a smaller hole on the output side, resulting in less volume of propane to the forge.

It's not just pressure, volume is significant also. I use a 0-60 lb regulator, cranked all the way up and control volume with an Alcon needle valve. I have not had problems getting enough heat for forge welding since I moved to this setup....

[Frosty]

The old reg is in inches of water, not lbs. Unless I'm misidentifying the thing. It looks like the kind you see on Coleman propane stoves.

They deliver too low a volume and too low a pressure to work well in a forge if at all.

At least that's what I think I'm looking at.

I could be wrong.

Frosty

[larrynjr]

I looked at the old one before taking the picture but didn't see any marks that ID'd it one way or the other. It's been so long since I got that one, I forget exactly where I did get it, so it's quite possible it was from a coleman stove. I know it was hard to get a consistant flame in it and after an hour or so, when the tank got colder the volumne would decrease significantly. The new one I ran for at least a hour with no sign of decreased volumne. I guess I'll just have to run it and see how slow or quickly I go through this tank. Good thing I filled it recently!

[Frosty]

I'm just going by the general looks of it. I could be completely wrong but it's performance reinforces my opinion.

Actually what the old one is doesn't matter, the new one is working properly. Yes?

Frosty

[larrynjr]

I would have to say, YES!!! it is working properly. A very high heat output that makes forging easier. Though there is a higher amount of scale due to the increase in air flow.

I just need to remember that not everything needs to be welding heat hot before I hammer it!