Mikey98118

Well, you choose the only smart choice of clamp for creating a gas-tight seal on rubber hoses placed over barbed fittings. Most hose clamps on the market are meant to be fluid-tight; not gas -tight. You are right that people want to buy a high-quality clamp too. One good clamp from an auto part store beats a whole box of marginal clamps.

One of the reasons I'm tolerant of people's choices in heaters is that they can always be upgraded. So weed burners can be switched out for forge burners whenever someone decides they don't like a large fuel bill.

It would be interesting to experiment with the salvaged burners. It would be practical to listen to their advice instead.

You need to find a steel (preferably stainless) pipe or tube that will fit tightly over the brass flame retention nozzle on the little propane torch and cut off a part that is a little longer than your present nozzle. Gently tap the part over that nozzle, and use the torch as your forge burner that way; otherwise, your present flame nozzle will probably melt in short order.

I hope you mean worm gear drive hose clamps.

The easiest way to provide a strong light forge shell is with steel containers. Just as coffee cans make tiny forges, steel drums provide shells for large forges; everything from lube tanks to oil drums. Automotive garages can provide everything from 15 to 50-gallon drums.

You thought wrong.

There is the "superior" and the "acceptable"; they have no problem with each other. We have a problem remembering to pick between them deliberately. Deliberate, then take your choice, and don't sweat the difference. Also, accepting good enough allows you to take a later run at the problem without all that self-generated pressure

Large tanks are fine to use, but not so fine to move around to get them filled. Smaller tanks can be ganged together, to slow draw rates and avoid freezing just as well as large tanks.

Not the end of the matter A fuel rich flame in equals dragon's breath out. On the other hand, lots of such burners heat forges up just fine. 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 worried about on the other. Dragon's breath will produce more heat in your shop, and increase pollution in its air, increasing the need to blow out old air and replace it with new air. A CO monitor becomes critical. Also, all of that dragon's breath is wasted fuel. If you do these things, dragon's breath is an irritation; not a game stopper. There comes a point when you FEEL like you have a crisis on your hands, as you try to tune a new burner; and that is likely an overreaction. Sometimes it is better to accept half a loaf and revisit the problem later.

Perhaps a "D" shape forge would work out better for you.

Great flame photos. The first shot shows the secondary flame circling in a cold forge. The second shot shows how well a heated forge uses up the secondary flame.

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.