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I Forge Iron

Mikey98118

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Everything posted by Mikey98118

  1. Yup! And since getting the two surfaces to mate perfectly would probably be a pain, ain't that nice? So, if he chooses ceramic board, or Morgan K 26 bricks, he could just drill small holes in the top plate of his forge shell, and drop screws through them, and screw them into a suspended ceiling, to hold it in place.
  2. I think you answered your own question, when you stated "...but the insulation was a bit lacking inside the forge." I noticed that it is the top of the forge, rather than the burner that is turning red. Therefore, it is unlikely that heat is backing up much between the burner and the opening. So, you will need to add another layer of insulation on the ceiling, with another flame coating over that. You might consider using ceramic board, rather than ceramic wool, for the purpose.
  3. If you set up the forge as a radiant oven, than perhaps nothing will be lost by the "cold spot," where you might continue to set your work. For, it would not remain cold, but would remain unlikely to be impinged by the burner's flames, and therefore unlikely to contribute to scale on work surfaces. Just a thought.
  4. Lee, Repurposing is just one goal. We all do what we can to simplify burner construction. Meantime, we do what we can, never knowing who in the wide world will come up with a better plan
  5. I suspect that manipulating the patterns of multiple flame orifice ceramic heads and stainless steel flame retention nozzles, will be the next big improvement in burner design. The clever part will be in keeping the construction simple enough to interest novices. So, repurposed parts will remain key?
  6. When it comes to burner design, I think you're on a roll
  7. I never enjoyed TIG welding. One of the things that was so enjoyable about oxyacetylene welding, was that it was just that little bit slower; slow enough for mirror welding. There is nothing like fixing nasty messes on the hidden side of marine pipes, to mollify a worried boss
  8. Is there anything we can't get addicted too? My last gas weld must be thirty years in the past; I still wanna...
  9. The temptation to "just weld it together" bugged me for several years. So, I gave away all my welding machines to friends; no more temptation...at last Okay, that's a lie. There is still some temptation left, but I can just lay down and be very still, until it passes
  10. We both resemble that remark
  11. So, how would you know what fastener to use and how to use it? Just Google "fasteners." Then Google each fastener that you are interested in; some provider while list instructions on pop-riveting, etc. in order to encourage you to purchase their product.
  12. Just don't weld it! Many people form the opinion that they must be able to weld, to build a forge. I suspect this is because it is common to see commercial forges that have been welded together. So, if welding isn't the best way to attach forge parts to each other, why is it so common? Welding is common in commercial forges for the same reason it is common in small steel shops; if you already have the equipment and the know-how, it is the fastest way to stick stuff together--period. It is not the best way to assemble a forge; it is more often than not the WORST WAY! But, monkey see, monkey do... Even if you have a welding machine, do you understand what part is safe to weld, and what isn't? There is a lot more knowledge needed for proper welding technique than just how to make a pretty weld bead. If you aren't familiar with how metal moves during welded, and afterward during heating cycles, avoid welding like the plague! There are machine screws, sheet metal screws, and pop-rivets to stick those parts together with, and all of them allow a certain amount of movement, during heating cycles; welds do not.
  13. To the guy who asked for answers to his questions about his forge, today: I was busy replying to your questions when I lost your email to me. Please try again.
  14. Frosty, Is it my imagination, or has the conversion been even slower this month than in January? Is everyone still trying to dig themselves out from under the snow?
  15. You are welcome. Answers is what we are here for. Each one of you who speak out about a problem, is only one of many more around the world, who are also wrestling with similar issues. So, when we write back to one of you, all those others have the chance for an answer too. That you get particular answers to particular questions is your reward for speaking out
  16. Most smiths prefer a reducing flame, to keep scaling minor; this is fine. However, this is one more example of "if some is good, isn't more better?" To which the answer is NO! A slightly reducing flame provides reasonable assurance that little super heated oxygen will impinge on the heating parts. Increasing the amount of fuel gas past this point adds nothing useful to this situation; it only lowers internal temperatures, and produces carbon monoxide gas into the exhaust. So, play with the flame, until you become familiar enough to see the point where the secondary flame envelope becomes minor, but is still present; that is the best balance of positive to negative factors. Four to five PSI fuel pressure is way to low for welding with this burner series. You need to understand that these tube burners are designed to produce high-speed flames; this is accomplished with smaller gas orifice diameters and higher gas pressures passing through them. Expect to run around fifteen PSI for welding. Lowering gas pressures is actually a losing proposition, since a successful forge operates as a radiant oven. A yellow-white forge enterior will heat the work far faster than an orange hot surface. So, increasing gas pressure saves more than it costs, so long as you aren't wasting gas with a flaming exhaust. Instead of adding bricks--even insulating bricks--to the forge, you are better off to add insulation over the floor, with Kast-O-lite 30 on top of it, so as to reshape the inside of the forge, closer to a "D" on its side shape. The reason is that you want the hot internal atmosphere of the forge to circulate without hindrance.
  17. Scrap art is my favorite form of metal sculpture. Nice piece.
  18. Once your burner can work properly, you will come up against another problem, for I see the cross angle, holding your brick doors is place, is already starting to overheat. You need to move those bricks about one-inch away from the edge of the forge opening, so that the exhaust gases can rise up between the brick doors and the edge of the exhaust opening. It is fine to leave the back doors where they are, because you want to encourage the exhuast to pour out the front opening; once it can without hindrance, it should stop pouring out past the back bricks. You would be wise to exchange the wood pieces near the back of your forge, for cement board...before they catch fire.
  19. One of your problems shown in these photos is that your burner is severely choked down; open it up. The photo also shows blue flame coming out of front and rear openings; this is carbon monoxide being burned off, which should have been burned away in the burners flame; it was not, because the burner is being starved of air. At least open the choke enough to completely burn its fuel. Secondly, using extra bricks to eliminate space within the forge, creates all manner of problems. Such a 'cure' is worse than the illness. However, one of the photos also shows that, at least the end of the part is white hot. Are you sure that your welding problem is due to low forge heat? Finally, open the gas valve comletely; it is a ball valve, not a needle valve. A partially open ball valve creates cavitation; this will enterfere with the gas jet, which is your burner's engine.
  20. Previously, gas burner design was driven by fuel cost and availability, so venturi (AKA wasp-waist) fan-blown burners were developed to do well with natural gas, which is pumped at low pressures. Propane has been around since 1910, but became more widely used in the nineteen forties; probably do to tanker car distribution by rail. That made naturally aspirated burners practical at a time when portable gas forges came to have a market with farriers. So, small manufacturers started designing forges with naturally aspirated burners. Back in the nineteen eighties, Australians started making home-built LPG burners (this is a mixture of liquid petroleum gases; primarily propane, or propane/butane mixtures); they mounted mild steel (butt-weld) pipe reducer fittings, on the end of pipes that they used as mixing tubes; these gave very good flow dynamics and were easy to assemble for people who could weld. Americans seem to have followed suit, as best I could determine from searching the Net during the late nineties. Threaded pipe reducers speeded up these burner's popularity. Since 2000, there has been a design explosion in burners...compared to the past. However, design, whether manufactured or hobbyist, seams to be driven at least as much by convenience, or even whim (guilty as charged), as by engineering factors. For instance, I started playing with tube burner design, simply because I did not care for large pipe reducers on the end of 3/4" and larger size burners. I had already figured out that that smaller than three to one air entrances hurt burner performance, so I was not willing to settle for smaller pipe reducers for the sake of appearance. Thus, came twenty years worth of tube burners. The desire for smaller burners, make the original objection irrelevant, and the need to press on to more intense flames, using vortex flow, brings linear burners back into the game; circumstances alter cases now, just like it did back in the forties. There are other very good burner types, I'm not discussing; but only because they aren't down my rabbit hole
  21. Using an AC 110V to 220V adjustable voltage converter (4000-watts and $23 through Amazon.com, or eBay), will allow you to plug a 220V tool into a 110V power outlet, and provide speed control, without engaging the built-in speed control circuit on a power tool (which has no fuse to protect it from damage due to overheating; which these do).
  22. A few months back 18V and 20V 3" angle grinders started appearing for sale, and since Makita and Dewalt had there own versions of them, they were to be taken seriously, despite there high prices. However, these are obviously designed strictly as cutoff saws; using them as grinders would be way too awkward. There are now 18V versions of the handy little 3” angle grinders, which were only available in 12V, previously; this fills the gap between under-powered 12V angle grinders and well powered but bulkier 3” 220V corded grinders. You can find them on AliExpress, But Harbor Freight Tools now sells their own brand of them. Of course, the nice thing about choosing the HFT model, is that you can take a lemon right back to their store. At present they are selling the Bauer brand batteries for the same price as the grinder; if you buy the battery during their sell, they have a list of tools for it you can get free. The 3" grinder is on that list.
  23. Why Multiple burners? Heat management only begins with flame temperature. The reason burners are aimed on a tangent, is to cause their combustion gasses to swirl around equipment interiors; creating a longer distance from flame tip to exhaust opening. Obviously, a lengthened exhaust path increases the amount of its hang time. Thus, depositing more combustion energy on internal surfaces. What is not so clear is that the heat gained is not added by super-heated gases blowing an extra foot or two at high speed; it is due to their continuing drop in velocity over that added distance. Combustion gases begin to slow, as soon as they leave the flame envelope. The flames of two 1/2" burners will use the same amount of fuel to produce an equal amount of heat as a single 3/4” burner; but they will drop velocity much faster in a five-gallon forge or casting furnace; increasing efficiency, because their flames can burn faster/hotter without creating a wasteful tongue of fire out the equipment’s exhaust opening. Ditto for two 3/8” burners versus a single ½” burner in a two-gallon combination forge/furnace, or two ¼” versus a single 3/8” burner in a coffee-can forge or casting furnace. Because the parts and tubing these burners are built from cost less as their sizes reduce, it costs little more to make two smaller burners than a single larger burner. When heating small parts in a forge, further efficiency can be gained by placing a temporary partition in equipment interiors; separating them into twin spaces, and shutting down the rear burner. This is something that cannot be done with a single large burner, which is centrally located. Combination forge/furnaces require the forward burner to be shut down during casting operations, so that its flame is not wasted from being positioned too high up the crucible wall.
  24. Sneaking up on Frosty, and getting him to start his own book?
  25. Good for Glenn. This generation has seen the mechanics of authorship grow easy, while the passion and expertise needed to know something worth passing on, has become scarce. Perhaps, publishers will take a page from the military, and station recruiters in likely locations to sucker the unwary...for the good of the country
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