Mikey98118

Thanks for the additional info, Tim. I have always forced dried this stuff, having little patience.

You would be better off saving the leftover refractory in a sealed container. You will barely finish the forge before you think up an improvement, or decide to add the next larger size of forge to it

It is well worth taking a look. Burners are like shoes, - no one pair fits all.

Rich flame in equals dragon's breath out. On the other hand, lots of such burners heat forges up just fine, as you stated. This is one of those factors, that isn't necessarily a problem. But something that needs to be understood; not just excepted on the one hand, nor argued about on the other.

It is unusual to find someone who has done so well at building naturally aspirated burners to go on and experiment with forced air burners...BTW, what you have already learned about flame retention nozzles still applies with this kind of burner.

Michael J. A tube forge is usually placed horizontally; if you arrange for it to also be placed vertically it can be used as a casting furnace. The biggest of various minor changes needed for this is a change in your planning. A casting furnace has its sizes based on the largest crucible you intend to fit in it, plus some additional diameter for the burner flame to curl around. You also must place a single burner within a couple of inches of the bottom end of the "furnace," rather than the middle of the "forge." So, to get the based performance out of it, as a forge, you should place a second smaller burner farther toward the exhaust opening, and leave it off when casting.

NO; three inches is not enough hight. Since you want to build the forge wide, place the burners horizontal and well above the floor level. Place additional thermal protection in the side wall that the flames are aimed at.

The photo shows a heavily reducing flame. Apparently, this person doesn't even know enough to see what a bad flame is.

Just add water to thin.

I'm waiting for the photos and considering your next step. I want enough information to avoid causing you extra effort. There are three different ways to provide that last bit of performance that would give you a perfect flame. (1) Insert a short length (1" long or less) of capillary tube of approximately .028" inside diameter or (approximately 1/2" long of .026" inside diameter in a MIG tip that is drilled or filed from the nearest wire size to fit its outside diameter. This will give the strongest effect, but for that reason is the trickiest option to get just right. (2) Replace the present flame nozzle one with a 1/8" larger inside diameter; this will make less of a change in flow dynamics, and is, therefore, the easiest change to manage for effect. (3) Reverse the outside bevel of your burner's air intake for an inside bevel; this will give the leat improvement for the most work; I would save that for last.

Going back to the photos on the first page of this thread, have you ever got rid of the flat area at the small end of the reducer where the mixing tube and reducer come together? Becuase that ridge is a big impediment to gas/air flow. Bevel those surfaces. It would also help to show the flame in low light (shadow); not in the dark. And yes, the flame improved from your last change. You need to understand that it is very close already.

Pneumatics are a whole other topic for newbies to wrap their minds around.

I am too old for this stuff to matter anymore, but I hope the young bucks are paying close attention.

I mention them for a specific purpose; as to heating, I have never used one hard enough to cause any. Let the tool match the task. It would be hard to beat the standard 4-1/2" angle grinder for general shop work, but I wouldn't even consider using one to cut out rectangular air openings on a 1/2" or 3/8" burner. On the over hand, the average rotary tool is underpowered at the same task. Rotary tools who aren't underpowered become hazardous in use because they tend to jump out of the user's hands when their cutting disks jam.

That should work out okay.

You have a valid point about how much more handy 110 power circuits are to find, except for in a modern garage. I'm not suggesting them as part of a general toolkit, but as a big help in building burners, forges, and shop stands. I will add to your objections that the disks can also become hard to find once you run out (nowhere near as hard as they were two years back though). Furthermore, although my units came with accessories that allow them to become powerful right angle rotary tools, I made no mention of it, because these are only being sold as grinders, so those accessories may no longer be included. Finally, you could object that there are other 3" and even 2" angle grinders on the market...for $150 and up; I have both kinds. So getting back to a workable. affordable tool to help beginners build things like Mikey burners easily, more safely, and much more cheaply; they have free choice, and I welcome your objections. Let everything be made as clear as possible My single Freshman circuit theory class was twenty years ago, but you seemed to have left out impedance, and how much torque it robs something like an electrical motor when you double it along with AC line voltage. I already have two of these tools; they are far stronger than their wattage would suggest; in fact, I consider their torque to reach the maximum SAFE limits for delicate handwork (like cutting rectangular air openings in a pipe). If you watch that video again, that should be made very clear by how fast that 3" disk makes castle cuts through the pipe. I also wouldn't advice using gloves when running these tools; you need a firm grip.

What he said times three!! Silica rigidizer does many good things to ceramic wool, but the most important thing is to freeze it in place, so that your hot face layer has a stable surface to rest on.

You probably have enough burner; if not, substitute a larger reducer (2" x 3/4") on its air intake.

Note that, will the flame is not obviously unstable, as in snuffing out easily, it has an exaggerated tendency to run from lean to rich as its gas input is varied. Even a short funnel shape or pipe reducer fitting mounted at the burner's air opening should cancel that problem. 3” mini angle grinder: What makes this 280-watt tool so surprisingly strong is that it runs from 220V, instead of the much weaker 110V circuits: https://www.ebay.com/itm/220V-Angle-Grinder-Polishing-Machine-Cutting-Machine-280W-3-Inch-Angle-Grinder/281462089757?epid=2135458581&hash=item418872a81d:g:z8AAAOSwAHZUNKXy

Clever burner builder Here is another example of someone with his own simple burner design, which is doing a very good job.Don't miss how easy one of the 3" angle grinders are to do fine work with, or his clever design for a flame retention nozzle is:

I recommend a two-gallon forge using a non-refillable freon or helium cylinder from a party store or HVAC contractor for its shell. If you just cannot resist the temptation to overbuild your first forge, go for a five-gallon propane cylinder from U-haul. Use one 1/2" burner for a two-gallon forge, or one 3,4" burner for a five-gallon forge. What design? A "T" burner or a Reil burner with the full MIG tip modification described. There is nothing wrong with the 2300 F ceramic fiber, so long as you use colloidal silica rigidizer with it, a 1/2" hot face layer of Kast-O-lite 30 from Wayne (use fording in some silica bubbles are still a good idea). No (TC; use Zircopax with 5 % bentonite; DO NOT USE KITTY LITTER FOR THIS. As clay powder it is nearly colloidal; litter ain't. These paths will both give you a very satisfactory tool forge with minimum fuss. You ver' lucky; miserable Mikey no like talk of easy path...only do this for tool forge

Just input the name, and if you want the largest list of present pirate sites, follow the name with "pdf".

Well he has good taste in tools; now if he only had a brain...

Those are pretty broad questions. Let's try things another way; why don't you tell us something about what you are looking to do with the forge, so we can pick and choose among those materials, to see what is best for you.

Thanks for the photos. There is no such things as too many or too good when it comes to photos of commercial forges. Sorry about your back. I use a back brace when it gets out of hand; they have come a long way...