Littleport22

Well, I finally made some mods to the burner and added the ITC-100. Here it is after the first firing. I couldn't be more excited to feel that heat roar out of the forge! Thanks for all the help on this forum. You guys made this possible. I have a 1/4" x 12" ceramic plate that I'll use as a "table" for the stock, but I just wanted to throw this in there to test it out.

Thanks Mike. I used the nipple mounted across the opening and drilled a hole with a #58 bit like on the website. After seeing other designs, I saw how far down the first design really was and started going after a different one. I'll post pics soon. Thanks again.

OK, so I got ITC-100 today. I thought I read somewhere that you mix it with water to make a thinner paste. Then you spread that mixture on the kaowool. Am I correct? If so, what's a good mixture ratio? Thanks! Also, I was trying to light the burner outside the forge, so that's a problem. When I get the ITC-100 on, I'll mount the EZ Burner and try it again. I feel confident because the EZ burner really was easy, LOL!

That's usually what I do. If I can't find something, I'll google that item in my city (ex: "iron pipe phoenix"). Even if I'm pretty sure the person I'm calling doesn't have it, they usually know who does. Usually it's because they get so many inquiries about it. One call will lead to another and you'll find exactly what you need. Good luck!

That EZ Burner looks about as simple as they come. I'll have to give that one a try. Thanks Frosty for the guidance here to a newbie!

So I tested out the burner today. Good airflow, the jet is nice and centered down the pipe, and the propane is shooting out. But there is no ignition. I had it at around 7.5psi. Even opening the valve slowly wouldn't ignite. If I opened slowly and tried to ignite from the jet, it would sputter, then burn out. I am using a Bernz-o-matic torch to try and get it lit. OK, so is there too much air and not enough propane, or maybe vice-versa? Too high PSI, not enough? Any help is immensely appreciated. Thank you!

Also, I know it looks like a short burner, but that's because I used a longer holding sleeve than necessary, I'm sure. The length of the nipple is 9", plus the reducer. About 11" in all. And I've heard to set it about an inch back from the edge of the kaowool, so as not to burn up the end. Correct me if I'm wrong.

It does look funny, but I made sure it's aligned pretty well. Depth was something that concerned me as I'm not positive how far in to set it. That would be an easy fix though. Grind off an inch of the sleve (the first set screw) and pull it back. What's a good way to tell I have sufficient, but not too much depth?

Just an update. I finally got a burner put together. My first, so I don't expect any magic here, but I'm pretty happy with it. I put the nipple in a sleeve so it can slide in and out to get a better flame. Stays in place with 2 set screws. The jet assembly was somebody else's idea that worked great. I put a coupler and an end cap on the nipple, then drilled and tapped the cap for a .038 MIG tip. I do have one question; I see a lot of burners with flares at the end, and some without. What are your opinions? Should I put a flare at the end to make it work right? I wanna get this stuff sorted before I put gas to it and blow myself up! LOL! Thanks guys.

Very nice! The logo is really cool. How are the individual pieces attached to each other?

Pretty cool. I like the handle on this cart because that's a nice built-in tong rack. Plus the lower shelf is perfect for holding 1 or 2 propane tanks and tools. And it's mobile!

That's interesting. I didn't think about the temp of the gas. Now I'll have a plan "A" and a plan "B", thanks!

Yeah, the back will be bricked too. I have to build a little platform for the bricks to sit on so they'll be good and stable. I'm going to build another forge just like this one, but without cutting the bottom out of the bucket. I'll have this one for long pieces of stock, then the other for small work, so I don't waste fuel making a hook.

LOL, I thought that picture of a baby playing in a bucket was hilarious. Now it stands for, "Don't let your children play inside the forge!"

Thanks. I'm trying to apply the KISS rule as much as possible. Whenever I get confronted with a problem, I tend to overthink it. Fortunately, I have a buddy building it with me, so two heads are better than one. Should be ready to fire up by next weekend if I can get the rest of the stuff.

Here's my first attempt ever at building a forge. I'm obviously not done yet, but I'm pretty happy with the way it's going so far. I can already picture a bright yellow glow in my back yard! Thanks for the help I've gotten so far. keep the advice coming. For the burner, I have a thread in the welding/fabrication page. I've gotten some good help there too. Anyways, here's some pics. So far we have the forge mounted on stands, ceramic wool liner installed, and a burner inlet mounted on top. I know the wool looks thick, but it's 1.5 inches. One layer was too thin, but two is pretty thick. Better to over do it than not have enough in my opinion. The cart came from Harbor Freight for $25 on sale. I still need to apply the coating/paste over the wool. What's the best type to use? I also need to build a small platform for the bricks to sit on. In the pics, I just stacked other bricks to test the fit. That's not a permanent situation by any means.

Mike, that sounds like a perfect idea! Thanks, I'll tap that out tonight! Funny how you never think of the simplest things. lol.

Maybe a link to this site will clear up what it is I'm trying to do. I have built the entire burner, and it looks fine, with the exception of the MIG tip. And I mistyped earlier. I'm trying to get the tip into a 1/8" nipple, not 1/4". The tip just does fit inside, bit slides through. I can't find that connection that's listed, so I was wondering if there's another way. It's the section half-way down called "Guru's Burner": Gas Forges : Building Your First Gas Forge The big question that would make this a little easier is, what is the temperature of the burner at that upper end? Is it relatively cool compared to the 2000F inside the forge? By cool, I mean around 200F. I'm the first to admit my lack of experience. That's why I'm counting on you experts to help me not screw it up. Thanks for the help, guys. I know I'll eventually get this done!

The reason I'm using a MIG tip to start with is because I saw a good design for a burner using one. That design called for a fitting that I can't find to join the nipple and MIG tip, so I tried an alternate method of making it "fit". This didn't work, so I was asking for help. Thanks Larry for the new burner idea. I think I'll try to have another couple goes with this one before I try that one. Mostly because this one's all put together, minus the jet tip. Would standard solder melt at this stage in the burner, or is it far enough up the pipe that it would hold? I've soldered copper pipes before. Is it the same stuff here, or is it a different material/process?

Wouldn't a solder melt? Or is it high enough in the pipe to avoid the extreme heats? And thanks for clearing up why the weld wouldn't stick, LOL!

So I decided to build my own forge and burners. The forge is going fine, but I hit a snag with the burners. I got the whole thing together except the tip (jet). I have a MIG tip going into a 4" length of 1/4" iron nipple. There is too much space inside the nipple to tap it out and screw the tip into it. So I thought of tack welding it in just a spot to hold it in place. Not working so well for me. I admit I'm not the most experienced welder, but I understand it pretty well. It's an arc welder with an automatic (w/ trigger) feed of flux core wire. Even though the wire is flux core, it won't stick to the metal. The only adjustment on my welder is temp high/low and wire feed speed. My question is if there's anything else I could do to get it to stick. Would flux paste help? From another angle, does anyone know if there's another way to put together a burner tip that maybe doesn't need weld? I thought about JB Weld, but it only holds up to about 600F. Not sure how hot that portion of the burner gets and I don't want JB dripping into my forge. I'll be the first to admit it's not the best welder in town, but getting a new one is out of the question ($$$). Thanks in advance for the good advice! ;)

OK guys. You set me straight on my idea to use a beer keg for a forge. Now, somebody mentioned a 5 gal steel bucket. Here's a website with it in use and it gets over 2000F. Seriously doubt I'll need it that hot, but hey, it looks like it works. Cheap too. less than $10 at Sherwin Williams. I'll let you know how it goes. If I melt it, I'll post those pics as well, LOL! Plans to build a simple gas forge

I think I'll go the 5 gal steel bucket route. Is there anybody with words of advice on this design of forge? Stable enough? Need to add stabilization to the sides or anything? Seems like those buckets aren't very thick. Do they keep the heat pretty well? Of course, I'm no expert, I was going to use aluminum, LOL! Thanks again.

I love the 5 gal steel bucket idea! looks incredibly simple (and cheap). Now if I can figure out where they sell them. None at Lowes, HD, or Ace. Maybe back at the scrap yard. Thanks!

Don't even ask how I missed this, but in the sun I can see that on top it's stamped 15.5 not 7.5 gal. It doesn't look that big. Little larger than a 5 gal bucket, not 3x. Oh well, maybe I ned glasses. At that size, I'd need 10' of kaowool to get a smaller diameter inside. Looks like more work than it may be worth. Moving in a new direction, what's a good diameter of pipe to use? I want plenty of room for more than tent stakes, but I probably won't be forging helmets any time soon either, lol. The yard where I got the keg has all kinds of pipe that I could get them to cut. As well as other containers. But obviously my eye-calipers need calibration, so I'll bring a tape measure when I go back We live and learn right? That's why we have these forums. So I don't have to make the same mistakes others have made. Now I can trade in that keg for a pipe, or some other container I could modify, so I can get to it! Thanks for the guidance, folks!