Mikey98118

Actually kerosene, and then gasoline burners have been around for over a century, and both the original hand burners and the new oxy-gasoline torches are available today. The classic pump-up gasoline hand torch makes a single flame envelope of neutral blue, which is nevertheless rated by so-called experts as burning at a lower temperature than propane; I do not believe their conclusions. What made the old style gasoline burners dangerous were their leather seals. I don't think Andrew's burner design is anywhere near that dangerous.

Regulators at a glance Many torch regulators can be used with LPG--but never old acetylene regulators; some new acetylene regulators have seals that won't be dissolved by LPG fuels. Unless you have a gas equipment EXPERT telling you that a newer acetylene regulator has the right kind of seals, don't use it; gas equipment fires are not fun.There are more multi-fuel shop regulators becoming available on torch sets; they are safe with LPG. The most useful regulator is a 0-30 PSI (pounds per square inch.) LPG (liquid petroleum gas) regulator. The cheaper 0-20 types are good enough for forge use if you're careful with them, but don't kid yourself that all you lose for half the money is some pressure range. the 0-30 regulators are much better quality IF you buy the main brands; there are lots of cheap import look alights being passed off on the careless! Careful use starts with always closing off the pressure on your regulator when you shut down the forge. Open the regulator slowly when you start up the forge; you don't want full cylinder pressure slamming against your regulator and pressure gauge parts. BTW, look-alike equipment is also flooding the market on torch regulators too; if you don't see a well-known brand name on the equipment, it is probably junk. NOTHING prevents you from using any LPG regulator. It doesn't matter about matching up threaded fittings from different countries. Regulators can all be put together with any pipe fitting, using a short length of fuel hose, and barbed hose fittings. There is no free lunch. If you think a proper regulator is too big an item in your forge budget, make cheap with something else; not the regulator. Just about everything in your forge and its burner can be upgraded later, but regulators are only going to go up in price.

Many torch regulators can be used with LPG fuels, but the most useful one is a 0-30 PSI LPG regulator (the cheaper 0-20 types are good enough for forge use). Some shop regulators can be used--but never old acetylene regulators; some new acetylene regulators have seals that won't be dissolved by LPG fuels. Unless you have a gas equipment EXPERT telling you that a newer acetylene regulator has the right kind of seals, don't use them; gas equipment fires are not fun. NOTHING prevents you from using any LPG regulator you like. It doesn't matter about matching up threaded fittings. Regulators can all be put together with any pipe fitting you like, using a short length of fuel hose, and barbed hose fittings.

And it is still on the street for looks of reasons; not least of which is how easily it can be upgraded when its user wants more from his forge.

Well, before going to all the trouble to add more burners, I would change out the reducer fitting on this one. Reil started out recommending a 1-1/2" X 3/4" reducer on his original burner design, which I upped to a 2" X 3/4" reducer if you replace the drilled side hole in the gas pipe with a MIG tip

Yes, you certainly can use a drilled orifice (try .026" ot .028" diameter) ; I would suggest starting at 3/4" long for the gas orifice, and shortening by 1/16" or less at a time, until you are satisfied with the flame, using a 1/8" diameter hole on the rest of the length that a MIG tip would take up, if you were using capillary tube in a copper MIG tip, instead of deep drilling into half hard brass round bar. Understand that you flame is so close to right that it won't take big changes to go the rest of the way.

We will get to that, but first I gotta say you did a slick job on your forge shell and table; I love to see smart metalwork work. As to the burner; it's not easy to be sure about its construction in a flame picture. However, the flame itself tells me that you are very close. One of the things that causes a lot of confusion is proper size of MIG contact tips; they don't just change in accordance with burner tube diameters; they also change to some degree by mixture flow. Frosty runs a little bit large MIG tips in his burners then I do in mine. A 3/4" Mikey burner is meant to run with a MIG tip for .030" wire as a maximum and a tip for .023 welding wire as a minimum. So before we go any further, try checking out your tip options to see if you can make the magic flame the easy way

Why do I feel that this thread will soon be closed?

So, with a three-burner forge cooling from the excessive secondary air, can combine with high back pressure from too many burners, too make the third burner of little worth for the fuel wasted.

Your burner works well enough to use as is; that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

3.5% is what the author of the original article suggested for making refractory tiles, etc. He suggested 5% for making finish coating. what other guys making these products use is a different matter.

Your forge temperatures look good. But that very large exit flame is so reducing, that it is blue; not good. I hope you have plenty of cross breeze going in your shop. Just becuase the forge is done, that doesn't stop you from pulling the burner out and improving it in your spare time...

That sounds like a manufacturer or industry group designation for a particular coating, I can tell you that I have run many of these pipes in burners without any problem. I believe you could run zinc coated gas tubes in burners with little or no problem for the same reason; this part of the burner grows cold while it's run; not hot.

Zirconium silicate with 5% bentonite clay makes a way better choice for a whole lot less money.

The burner part most often left off No matter how well you build your burners, you still need to limit air induction through the space between the burners and their burner ports, from being induced by the flame. In fact, the better the burner the greater the air entrainment will be, while the acceptable amount of secondary air intake will shrink. To check out how much secondary air your forge can use, stuff different amounts of leftover ceramic wool around the burners, temporarily. A simple permanent solution can be had with flat washers, which are held in place with nuts that are silver brazed onto the washers and thumbscrews to keep the washers at the right hight. Why adjustable? Because how much secondary air is entrained/induced will depend on flame force. But some secondary air will be needed for most burners. Excessive secondary air from burner portals can reduce forge temperatures as much as 10%, while greatly increasing scale on your work.

The overall dimensions are good, and the burners are well positioned.

okay; no matter how well you build your burners, and what I can see of them looks good, you still need to limit air induction through the space between the burners and their burner ports from being induced by the flame. In fact, the better the burner the greater the air entrainment will be, while the acceptable amount of secondary air intake will shrink. To check out how much secondary air your forge can use, stuff different amounts of leftover ceramic wool around the burners, temporarily. A simple permanent solution can be had with flat washers held in place with nuts that are silver brazed on the washers and thumbscrews to keep the washers at the right hight. Why adjustable, because how much secondary air is entrained/induced will depend on flame force. And sine secondary air will be needed for most burners. Congratulations on using a steel frame, rather than encasing the forge in a shell. But don't consider the forge as finished, without at least using hard firebrick to make a movable exhaust baffle wall.

yes; while the inside and outside surfaces of your forge shell are only a few thousandths of an inch apart, the outside is cooled by shop air; a break the inside surface isn't getting.

Kevin, If I was you, I would stop by Porters place tomorrow, after calling ahead to Contact me PM for his number. If the guy doesn't answer your first three ring call, call again right away. He will let you use one of his books. If you are nice, he will even make you Seattle style coffee, while you quiz the author. When you are done with the book, you can pass it on to someone else. You are one of the very few people I would advise building the five-gallon forge in Gas Burners for Forges, Furnaces, and Kilns as a first forge, and this only because you will end up doing decorative work in the Seattle area. Our architects like to come up with diabolical problems for metal artists. Then, get smart and join the Northwest blacksmiths; they have loads to teach about how to use a gas forge, and where to buy hand tools.

You have it right; a 3/4" Mikey burner is on the large size; fortunately, these burners have long turndown ranges. You have a guide plan so far. Remember that vinegar in water is the easy way to get rid of zinc coatings. That should read "...good guide plan..."

You can turn down the gas pressure on a 1/2 " T burner to serve, but stuffing a half brick in there is going to make it pretty hard to contain the flame in the forge.

8" is about the right diameter for a #10 tin can, as for instance a coffee-can forge or casting furnace.

All good info; the best kind

So, if we want the smaller orifice sizes, drilling your own hole in half-hard brass is the surest way, followed by needle tubing as the next best method. MIG tips are a long way third for coming up with orifices under .030" consistently.

I find all of the work going on with ribbon burners to be very impressive; I just don't want to disappear down that rabbit hole myself