Mikey98118

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.

Faked up photos? Yes, but they are of no concern. Some importers of butane-air (blue flame) hand torches will re-color their secondary flames, so that it matches the blue of the primary flame, making the torch look reminiscent of a junior light saber, which doesn't prevent you from, using the photos to learn from; just don't get all exited and buy their junk.

Three set screws allow you to force axial alignment, and to keep the two parts aligned, even if you chose to weld or braze these parts together, the screws will keep it aligned during welding; which otherwise will be likely to warp the parts out of alignment through contraction. The exception to the rule is an interference fit, which doesn't allow the parts to move from contraction. File the screw ends smooth, to keep them from scratching part surfaces; gouges on part surfaces cause a lot of trouble. When you look down through the end of the reducer's large opening, you don't want to see an internal ridge; so if you see one, bevel the part, to provide better flow dynamics. Since you have access to a lathe, it would be a good idea to replace that external bevel on the reducer's large opening with an internal bevel, for better air flow. BTW, good looking burner, thus far.

Mr. Racist has backed off, and taken down his words, and is merely blustering to hide the getting shut downf. Anyone who still wants to buy a Diamondback forge, should do it quick, before he goes off the deep end again...

The smallest amount of zircopax you can buy, and one- half pound of benotinte clay will be more than enough.

A half inch hole for what? A half inch pipe burner size has about a 5/8" inside diameter in its mixing tube. Look up schedule #40 pipe sizes on an online chart.

Ups! The comments on the "burner of many feathers" are for you. the comments on the the very hot part is for Blacksmith-450.

to begin with, everything that everyone had to say was dead-on good advice. But what you seem to be asking for is how to buy as much progress for as little coin in a highly useful first forge as you can get; and the answer would be a Devil forge from eBay. These forges are not completely turn-key, which is a boon, for it allows you to do the finish work with the newest materials out there. Follow Frosty's advise and become familiar with them buy reading all about them in the Forges 101 thread on this forum. Don't choose just any Devil forge; choose one of their oval forges. Do not choose one of Devil's box forges; they want too much money for them. Save lots of money, and gain a first forge that will make you grin from ear to ear, and never end up collecting dust in a corner!

The best way to become savvy enough to tune an air-fuel burner, or is to look at as many flame [hphotos as you can, and study them until you understand what you are seeing Start by discounting any sales ad for a burner that doesn't include a picture of its flame in action. It is becoming commonplace for burners to be shown running, in order to produce some proof that their burners are worth buying. dare anyone claiming to have a good burner to "show you the beef." Either they will change the oversight, or they really have nothing worth showing. Nearly all butane blue flame lighters, and air-fuel torches have perfect flames. Ignore their needle flame shape, which is due to a much lower fuel pressure than propane torches. Concentrate on the total fuel combustion in a primary flame envelope, and on their shade of blue; never blue-green, which means a reducing flame; and never dark blue, which means an oxidizing flame; they are always a light to medium blue, which is in the ballpark of neutral flames. You will find faked up photographs of imported blue flame torches, but they shortly become easy to identify as the frauds they are. Finally note their lack of secondary flames throughout half of their pressure range, and very small secondary flames, even when turned up to wide open.

The best way to become savvy enough to tune an air-fuel burner, or an oxy-fuel torch is to look at as many flames as you can, and study them until you understand what you are seeing Start by discounting any sales ad for a burner that doesn't include a picture of its flame in action. It is becoming commonplace for burners to be shown running, in order to produce some proof that their burners are worth buying. Call anyone claiming to have a good burner to "show you the beef." Either they will change the oversight, or they really have nothing worth showing. Nearly all butane blue flame lighters, and air-fuel torches have perfect flames. Ignore their needle flame shape, which is due to a much lower fuel pressure than propane torches. Concentrate on the total fuel combustion in a primary flame envelope, and on their shade of blue; never blue-green, which means a reducing flame; and never dark blue, which means an oxidizing flame; they are always a light to medium blue, which is in the ballpark of neutral flames. You will find faked up photographs of imported blue flame torches, but they shortly become easy to identify as the frauds they are. Finally note their lack of secondary flames throughout half of the range, and very small secondary flames, even when turned up to wide open.

A couple of the guys on IFI have gained my permission to display any part of my book on this forum, which they may care to; what is preventing them, I don't know. In the meantime, thetr is one pirated version of the book, which I run across now and then, that doesn't come with strings attached; next time I run across it, their URL will appear on this thread. That is the best I can do while the book is out of print.