kcrucible

Hehe. The burner is already taken care of. Trials and tribulations on this other thread... But you're right, using 1 or 2 high-volume burners (like they use on turkey fryers) would probably be a decent alternative, though you'd have to figure out how to make it work on your design. The grill didn't come with the burners anyway... probably they rusted out and rather than replace them the owners junked the grill. But the knobs seem servicable for a more convenient heat management system (1 gas input, 2 outputs.. same as the front end of a gas idler circuit... mostly.. rather than on/off on the main gas input it'd be variable, but variable in the "I can adjust it back to the same point fast" way.) But I'm liking the grill base idea... room for the furnace + spill area/sand casting table in one package + tools on the wings. Room underneath for the propane tank and hoses are protected from spillage, etc.

I recently salvaged a broken down gas grill to use as a base on my forge/furnace when I realized that there were already two valves on the thing via the grill knobs. I can't image that the valves on that thing would have any problem taking 30 psi, right? Could be a convenient way to dial up and down without needing to go back to the regulator. Obviously, I'd replace any hose on the thing with high-pressure propane hose to do this. I'm just wanting a little affirmation on the valves themselves. And then if that works, it looks like it'd be rather easy to set up an idler circuit by using the two knob outputs...

When I buy something I want it to last as long as I need it. Some things I need for a lifetime. Others for a weekend. I get annoyed at needing to replace things because it breaks down. I have a cheap air compressor. It may not be a top-of-the-line model, but I don't need to fire it up very often so it'll likely last me indefinitely. On the other hand, I bought a decent, but on-the-cheap-side front load washer... highly rated by comsumer reports, etc. 2 years later the spin cycle is broken (it dooes spin... in diagnostic mode.) I'm ticked. For that kind of money it should be much more reliable, even if it was one of the less-expensive of the expensive front load models (as compared to the top loader.) That company is never getting my business again. I'm relatively confident that they're designing these things to fail early to keep their repairmen in business. As for my personal ethic, I refuse to do things that are just inferior. That means that I spend much longer building a closet than I should. Part is not having the experiance to back me, relying on "thinking things through" instead, and part is simply not being content with "good enough." The fact is that I'm going to be looking at the results, and if I'm not happy with it now it's going to bug the heck out of me for years, so I do it right (or at least as right as I'm capable of) so that I can't kick myself repeatedly over the years for settling for an inferior job in the interest of getting it done faster. In the end it's the perfectionist's dilemma... you don't like putting out crappy work, so do you even start? Do you find other things to do and never manage to finish when it's not living up to your expectations? :)

Not that I have any experiance with hydraulic presses, but it seems to me that what you want is a basically an upside-down Hardy Hole socket with thinner walls than an anvil (1/4"? 1/2"?) and a bottom to push against the tool you've inserted. Insert your tool FULLY into the socket (so that it's pressing against the top plate) and drill straight through it from one side to the opposite. Insert a strong rod into the hole, and maybe put a ring on one end to tie a chain to and to grab. This key now serves to keep the punch from sliding out of your socket. Pull the key, pull out the tool, insert a different tool, re-insert key. It seems like it'd work great. Low-tech, but reliable.

And the pictures with the foam forms pulled out, after a little dressing up. Notice the arch over the forge ports for a little strength. Under that is 1" of inswool for extra insulation. The vents go up the sides around the forge ports. This is with the cap turned upside down, so we're looking "up". I'm pretty pleased. That could have gone horribly wrong.

Thanks. First I'll start with some aluminum to get my "sea legs." After that, a bit of copper and brass. Eventually I plan to get up to iron and glass. Glass is wonderful... beautiful and basically free. Perfect for art projects! (Not so great for machinery.) I used to cast silver and tin on a much smaller scale... looking forward to goin-large. Currently I have 3 small (4"x3") faces that I molded out of Baby Bell wax cheese wrappers from my wife's pregnancy (she ate a lot of cheese) that I've wanted to get into a more permanent form. I had also created a pretty detailed mobile carved from wood that I think would be good in aluminum. The same shape would also make a good wall hanging or interesting picture frame. Maybe I'll go into business. I've debated casting my own anvil with a lot of pretty decent high carbon steel scrap I have, but given some horror stories may not if I can line up a decent anvil at cheap price. Yes, I'm interested in pretty much everything involving high heat. Casting, smithing, etc. Full process is documented on my blog which you can get to by clicking the picture.

Well, burner is done as documented in the previous thread... The basic shell Top cap is now fully welded, painted, and insulation is now cast. The arm on the back has electrical conduit welded to it to form a 90 degree bend for a pivot/handle which will join with a bottom sleeve. You can almost see it in the picture at the back. Bottom shell has a burner port now welded in and the pivot hardware designed but not yet welded on. More to come! (I swear I enjoy the building more than I'll enjoy the using...)

Make a sheet metal hood that you attach to the exhaust extractor and push out the door/window?

The difference is that when large numbers of people were buying "the best", then you had economies of scale. Now "the best", "good enough", and "dirt cheap" segregate the market so much that "dirt cheap" gets the bulk of the volume, driving up costs on "good enough" and "the best" much further than they'd have to be given different circumstances.

Heheh. Metal-working on unconventional but common materials to create something dangerous? Check! The Low-pressure picture above was actually Mid-pressure. At Low pressure I was getting a lot of huffing. Yesterday I ground down the exit theads in a taper (innermost threads almost gone, etc, etc) to reduce turbulance and back pressure. Now, in conjunction with the choke, I can dial it ALL the way down to where it's just a blue wispy flame that rises. It's very cool. Work continues on the furnace body. Welded on a pipe collar to the base, a bit on conduit onto the steel arm to use as a pivot, build up the forge port shelf to be a bit more substatial and installed sheet metal screws at various points to try to keep the refractory from sliding out (wouldn't that be embarrassing?) I've got my lid's forms made, so now just wrapping up the paint job on the top before doing some casting. In any event, thanks to all who helped me get over the hump!

Yeah, I'd avoid concrete, at least within say 1ft of the fire itself and a bit more is safer. The heat WILL destroy it in short order. On my blog I have a link to suppliers that you could buy refractory from. The refractory is insulative, so would tend to make your firepot/brake drum hotter. Normally I'd say that's a good thing... hotter fire, but it might make it so hot that you start melting down the steel if it can't radiate the heat away! The cheapest place I've found for refractory "on the net" is Ellis Custom Knifeworks. Despite a shipping snafu it eventually got cleared up. You'd want the insulating 2600 probably. If you can find a local supplier you may be able to get it cheaper and no shipping. AF Green is one of the producers, so you can look up their distributors. I think you could use one bag of 55lbs to cast the firepot then surround that with normal concrete to keep the cost down. The heat that gets through the insulation should be much less severe and won't break down the concrete. Thicker is better, so could go with 2 bags. Building sides and a lid out of it would make it that much more efficient. This material is commonly used for gas forges. Probably not so much for coal, but there's no good reason why not as far as I can tell (other than it's "new fangled" which is a little antithetical to the traditional methods I guess.) Here's a better idea... if you're going to all of this trouble to cast a table, why not just cast your firepot directly into it? If you cast it out of insulative refractory material you can probably save money on fuel costs. So, more expensive initially, but should pay for itself in the long run.

Very nice. Is that set into the sidewalk, or something nearby? I nice the "grain" of the concrete is at a 45 degree angle to the plaque.

The asking price seemed a bit high, so wanted to get some idea of what "reasonable" could be considered. I'd run into the other thread here describing what people had paid, but that's not neccessarily the same thing as what is reasonable to pay since people that are "in the biz" have time to run across some great deals over the years, etc. Of course, even extravagently priced used anvils are a bargain compared to the new ones... yikes! Thanks for the info. Fisher Price... or maybe HasBro... a forged Mr Potato Head?

I may have a lead on a 140 lb fisher anvil that looks to be in great condition. What's a reasonable price, assuming that I can just pick it up. ANy suggestions on a reasonable low price, and what's the most you'd pay?

I just don't get Google Sketchup. That may be because I actually learned on raytracers like Silver and 3DS Max... more engineering oriented. Circle, radius 3.45. Select Circle. Extrude 5.4. Etc.

If you're worried about the rust you could enamel the recess. Drop some powdered glass in there and bring it up to heat, giving it a glaze. Surface wear should keep the top from rusting over I think. Of course, the enamel solution will work better in some climates than others due to the expansion/contraction of the metal.

Thanks guys. Foundry/Forge is only partly built at this point. Need a bit more TLC on the shell then cast the refractory. I have all of the lid forms pretty much built. The lower forms need more work, as well as a bit more welding to secure the burner, etc. In case it's not obvious, the black steel ring is screwed onto the top (with a few welds) for strength and to get a good lifting surface. The ring is at the bottom of the lid. There's a steel bar welded onto the forge port lip to rest items on so that it doesn't abuse the castable, and the castable will extend from that point another few inches before it opens up into the heating chamber. The crescents on the top are for exhaust (with a healthy dose of castable around it to help protect the metal shell.) Top is mostly kastolite except for a strip of inswool down the center strip. Designed it such that the area directly over the forge ports (and a crucible in the base) is opposed by insulating material so that the heat doesn't radiate out into space. There is a small dome overtop of the center for strength/support and should have the interesting effect of being an infra-red mirror focussing the heat into a smallish area like a magnifying glass bringing it up to heat that much faster. The two bits welded together underneath form the bottom, and will have basically a hollow cylinder of kastolite 30 (abou 1.25") wrapped in 2" of inswool. The burner inlet is obvious. There's a spill hole on the opposite wall (spilling straight down doesn't seem good to me, and this lets me put more insulation underneath.) I'm envisioning a tube coming off the handle to the vertical and pivoting on that point so that I can swing the top out of the way. Whether that comes to pass I strongly suspect is up to the various weights of the parts. All of the ports have plugs that can be inserted/overlayed so that I can bottle up the furnace for a slow annealing process. Longer pieces could be accomodated by adding an insulated pipe sitting on top of one/both of the crescents. Or at least that's the plan. I'm a feature-guy. I crave flexibility just in case I ever want to try something different than my initial use. We'll see how it all pans out!

Well, this is probably the last post I'll need to make under this particular heading. A picture of the burner "in-action." I'm seeing a bit more yellow than I had prior to the paint job. It got more pronouced the longer that the burner ran and I saw a little smoke curling out of the end. I suspect that it's still outgassing from the paint job and burning some of the fumes so not really a fuel/air question at this point. Low pressure High Pressure

Out of curiosity I decided to look up the MA laws... obscurely written! So tell me, where is the distinction between a sword and knife? The laws on the books seem to apply specifically to "knives", but what is a sword but an especially long knife that may (or may not) be dual-edged? The dual-edged knife appears to be illegal (maybe... very convolted wording!), but no mention of dual-edged swords (though cane-swords are out heheh.)

Nice knife.

Finished my paint job etc... the burner is complete. When I get a chance to hook it up to a tank and let er fly I'll post an action shot. I think I should have done a pre-burn of the pipe before painting. I think the oils, etc, burnt off at the end of trying to cure the paint and coated it with soot. I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser on it to verify that the color was still there. It'll never be "perfect like new", but I'm kinda liking this aged look anyway. Every time I see it I think "Half-Life" due to the orange color (it was supposed to be red.)

Yeah, really impressive build quality there! You could probably go into business making forges instead of headboards! The ITC-100 has the advantage of reflecting heat that the satanite doesn't, but it looks like you've got plenty of heat input so probably not so neccessary! (might let you use a little less propane to maintain temps though.) I finished my burner the other day. Now I just need to get a photo of it in action.

So, is there any particular trick to losening the pipe dope, or is it just a matter of applying more pressure to break the seal?

Oh, does it? I didn't even think to look! So, spin the gauge clockwise to unscrew it? Thanks.