Mikey98118

Well put, Tim.

I do admire the braided stainless steel covered fuel hose, now that they don't want your first born for one of them.

No; we changed apparent positions from my usual stand of " do everything just so", to your usual position of "good enough is good enough." While that gave me a grin, it wasn't really what was going on.

Of course ribbon burners tend to give a more even temperature range in the forge. Whether that is desirable, or hot spots are, is up to the user.

Charles R. Stevens wrote the following on another thread: "As you already have tools and skills using them I would advocate building a forge. Not only is the cost in your favor, so is future maintenance. Mike and Jerry have a wealth of knowledge on gas forge and burner construction and are happy to share. Wayne has a nice side gig sourcing non industrial amounts of refractory materials. Guys with "gassers" find out fast that one size dose not fit all, and wile 90% of smiths will do 90% of their work in a 8" deep forge. But then their are the other 10% who either need a bigger forge all the time, or the 100% who need a bigger forge some times. Having the confidence to build allows you the opportunity to own 2 or 3 forges for the same money. You may have a soul can forge for small work, a 10x8" for general work and a 10x12 for longer twists, scrolls and knife heat treating. This will really help with fuel efficiency." This advice is too well put, and too valuable, not to save for more than the usual month. Drain holes These days, I recommend drilling a small hole (1/8") in the bottom of the forge shell. The point is to provide a sufficient exit for steam, water vapor, and liquid water, no matter how well sealed the hot face surfaces of the forge ends up. From the beginning I designed all my equipment to be built without need of a welding machine, or anything more than hand tools. Nevertheless, hot water could be seen running out of some forges, after long periods without use. Because wire feed welders are being used in ever more home shops, forge shells are also becoming more water and steam tight, so the time has become ripe for water drain holes What do you want to build first, when constructing your forge? Whatever part of it that can also be used as a tool; the burner, of course! You will find lots of forge parts that are made of steel. Heat them up, and GENTLY hammer them into shape, and you can reduce your work load, during construction.

From the beginning I designed all my equipment to be built without need of a welding machine, or anything more than hand tools. Nevertheless, hot water could be seen running out of some forges, after long periods without use. Because wire feed welders are being used in ever more home shops, forge shells are also becoming more water and steam tight, so the time has become ripe for water drain holes

Me too, Frosty. On the other hand, a guy has to take into account his own preferences in case of emergency. The main reason I don't place the shut off valve next to the burner, is that it is where I like to place a needle valve. A regulator is needed for safety, but I like to do the fine tuning on a burner with a needle valve; also just a matter of preference.

You're right; that was quite a score. And you are even more right that bargains on ceramic supplies are out there; just waiting to be stumbled across.

Okay, the "problem" doesn't actually exist. In the video, he was using the choke to change the hardness of the flame; this is used to fine tune flames from oxidizing, through neutral, to reducing. You will seldom use your choke for this, as changing the incoming gas pressure is what is used to change flame AMOUNTS. The other thing air chokes are used for, is to close the burner off, to prevent chimney effects, after forge shutdown. Tuning any burner is like riding a bicycle; it only seems complicated until you do it once; afterward your body does what is needed, without even consulting your mind

Frosty, Well, we seem to have traded places on this issue. However, I am all for careful preparation at every stage of a build. So, from know on I will recommend buttering before rigidizing. But this brings up a separate issue. These days, I recommend drilling a small hole (1/8") in the bottom of the forge shell. The point is to provide a sufficient exit for steam, water vapor, and liquid water, no matter how well sealed the hot face surfaces of the forge ends up.

Generally, a few thousandths of an inch oversized mixing tubes are better than undersized. But a few thousandths of an inch undersized is no big deal. The difference between sand blasted and polished surfaces fall into the "no big deal" classification, too But, beveling the inside ridge will make a positive difference. What is the thickness of the mixing tube wall. I can't give you any help with building the flame nozzle without knowing that. inches or millimeters; it doesn't matter which.

Move the burner nozzles back inside of the Kaowool. Rigidize the insulation with fumed silica (from eBay) in water; a cheap way to make colloidal silica rigidizer. Get rid of those hard fire bricks, and add a Kaowool pillow and/or Morgan's K26 insulating fire bricks (from eBay), to raise the floor level back up to where it is now. Then add a flame face made of Kast-O-lite 30 LI castable refractory, from Wayne Coe, over the pillow and/or K26 bricks. Use those hard bricks, K26 brick with a zirconium silica flame coating, or a round high alumina kiln shelf with a small centrol opening--to pass stock through for heating--as an adjustable external baffle wall, to allow exhaust gas to exit, while bounciing IR radiation back into the forge interior. Then we can have a better look at a properly completed forge, and judge what your burner is doing under ideal conditions BTW, I like what you have done with the steel work on you forge. That should read "... a zirconium silicate flame coating, or a round high alumina kiln shelf with a small center opening..."

Everything he said about the burner was true. I would use a larger reducer fitting, for an even stronger flame. But anyone who bought one of his, would be getting there money's worth, and then some.

Colloidal silica is the most popular rigidizer used with ceramic blanket insulation; not the only one. there are two different alumina based rigidizers; one colloidal, and the other not. The colloidal alumina rigidizer ($$$) works in a similar fashion to colloidal silica, but should toughen it up against shrinkage and crystallization aging. Alas, this product costs more than a change of blanket. Non-colloidal alumina rigidizer works very similar to a coating of castable refractory, but gradually thins out as it penetrates deeper into the blanket. The idea being that it is that it is supposed to form a boundary layer between a solid surface coating and the insulating portion of the blanket. But, the reality is; this plan flies in the face of ceramic blankets ability to delaminate in that direction with no trouble at all. Spritz it on after tucking the Kaowool into the tank. I don't wet the blanket first, because the rigidizer spreads by capillary action. Wetting solid surfaces before coating them, is smart. On the other hand wetting the blanket first won't hurt anything. Rigidize the blanket in strips, and use the burner to dry, and then cure it; this way gravity is your friend; not your enemy. The best angle to set the burner into the tank, is from about 2" away from top dead center, and aimed so that the flame will impinge a little way in from the floor's nearest edge; not at it's center. Use common sense. If you have an extra wide floor, modify the position of the the burner opening so that it is still aimed inward at a tangiest; not outward.

To err is human. Supposing you get too darn "sane" in your burner and forge build, and it does not get hot enough? You still have two parts that you can improve. Just decide which of them is easier to modify, and try again. No; it doesn't have to be the burner. Half the parts people get wrong on a forge are external. What I call an add-on, which is just as easy to change as the burner.

Reality check I place a lot of emphasis on getting every last erg of usable energy from a burner, so that the forge doesn't have to be built perfectly, knowing that it is just as easy for people to fall short in the forge build, as in the burner build. The idea is to offer more than one chance to "get it right." Right means hot enough to do the job-not to work perfectly. All the winners get from building everything just-so in a burner and forge, is the ability to turn the burner down lower, and save more gas. Well, okay; some of us get a lot of personal satisfaction out of the deal, too. Saner people make saner decisions

Frosty is dead on target. I place a lot of emphasis on getting every last erg of usable energy from a burner, so that the forge doesn't have to be built perfectly, knowing that it is just as easy for people to fall short in the forge build, as in the burner build. The idea is to offer more than one chance to "get it right." Right means hot enough to do the job-not to work perfectly. All the winners get from building everything just-so is the ability to turn the burner down lower, and save more gas

How thick is the wall of your mixing tube? What. OD., and what I.D.? Remember that a stepped nozzle is built with a center ring in order to end up with enough increase between the mixing tube's inside diameter and the nozzle's inside diameter (approximately 1/4"). I have a hunch that you may notl need a ring.

I am always impressed with a white hot equipment interior. Love that heavy duty stainless steel stand too.

I don't believe you can, Wayne. The high shipping costs to SA are only matched by the low probability of the package actually being delivered.

All to true, but involving this forge is kind of reminiscent of the bread always falling on the buttered side; really irritating Oh well, there is always an oval shaped Devil forge for Xmas; then I can up date it with some of the new materials, and come back with a reasonable alternative for overpriced turn-key commercial forges.

All very good points, Buzzkill and Thomas. This leads to your first bad news. I am a fan of coffee-can and two brick forges; these tiny models push the envelope; that has always appealed to my inner maniac. Five gallon bucket forges were probably made popular, when Larry Zoller Forge did a tutorial on how to build them, But common sense stops at three gallon forges made from an empty Freon or or helium non-refillable bottle, or a half-muffler oval forge. All three containers can be acquired free, with a little work. It will cost you more to make your five gallon paint can forge, as to build one of the recommended mini-forges. But the mini-forges are all made with blade smithing in mind, after you go through the trouble and expense to build it, that will make all the difference.

You have no more or less control, between fan-blown and naturally aspirated burners. Fan-blown is usually easier to build, and tune right, in the forced place. Naturally aspirated burners are easier to change output levels on. Either kind of burner takes time to understand, and understanding your burner is the key to tuning it; not what kind of burner you are learning about. All of this is beside the point for you, because you want to build a very small forge. Yes, it is possible to build a very small fan-built burner to mount in it, but why would anyone go to the bother? The ideal burner for a one gallon size forge would a a 3/8" linear burner; the easiest burner for you to build, at this time, is a 1/2" "T" burner; it can be turned down low enough to work in your forge.

Your burner is presently running with a reducing flame, BUT is very close to right. At this point you could mount it in a forge, and successfully kid yourself that you are happy with it. The forge will probably even reach welding heat. Or you can keep on refining it, until it is running completely right; you will be able to feel when that happens, because of the happy grin plastered all over your mug There isn't any right/wrong decision here; just which way you want to go. After all, nothing prevents you from taking it back out of the forge, and fiddling with it from time to time.

I'm sorry you feel that way, since they are a good forge. However, that is your right, and sorry or not, I understand it.