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I Forge Iron

Quick, cheap, portaforge!


jacobd

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Hey guys I'm building a small portable propane forge. Mostly because I've never used one! I'm using 12" black stove pipe for the body, 2 layers of 1" kaowool and a satanite lining. My main question is, is a diffuser necessary in a NA burner? It's only going to be 1ft long so I'm using a small weed burner, it had a big bell shaped 2" burner tip on it. I took this off because it's huge. I'm gonna use the current threads and a 3" 3/4 black iron nipple and a 3/4 cap threaded to fit the end of the burner as a tip (this is my rough idea). I would drill a series of holes on the cap facing back at the burner in a circular pattern spaced from the threads. Then a series of holes along the nipple for the first half of its length. Just for it to draw air from. Never built a burner before, read a little on it, but had the burner and didn't feel like hunting all the parts to build a new one. So after my senseless rambling, is a diffuser necessary in the burner tip? I understand the turbulence mixes the gas and oxygen, but is it a noticeable performance enhancer? Feel free to berate, chastise or criticize. However, please explain what's better and why.

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Instead of trying to figure out how to build a burner why not read the propane burner posts under gas forges? At least you'd have a handle on how a NA burner works before you start.

 

The forge chamber you describe is pushing 600 cu/in not counting end walls, that's not a problem. However, the burner you describe is a hodge podge of parts unlikely to provide a flame good for more than killing weeds maybe.

 

Regardless, reinventing the wheel is a fine old blacksmith thing. Ron Reil and I brainstormed the things, tinkered and both of us came up with decent working burners, then Robert Grauman (sp?) misunderstood my description of a T burner and tinkered the side arm burner into a screaming hot appliance.

 

So, the decision before you right now is whether you want to build a working forge and start learning blacksmithing. OR do you want to play with your own burner design?

 

We aren't going to think less of you or anything if you want to play with inventing better mouse traps, I think most of us have a strong tinker with stuff gene in our make up. Just be careful will ya, propane is dangerous stuff and I don't have so many friends I can afford lose any if it can be helped.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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