raypa

Here is a pic. the center is about 12" dia and cast steel. Should i put clay on the outside?

Here is the picture. Where the fire is now, that is all cast. the outer pan is not. so I should put clay on the outer pan. right.

My center is approximately 12" dia and about 2" deep and is cast steel. That is where I have been making the fire. I have not made a fire that has been larger than that yet. I foresee when I try something larger I will need some clay. I need to get a picture up here.

do i make it concave and cover to the top of the ring or do i put down a thin 1 inch coat on the bottom? I've never seen a forge with a lining. I just see them in use with coals in them. (I'm a newbie, can you tell>)

I just picked up an old hand crank forge. It is round about the diameter of a 55gal drum made by a forge company in lancaster, pa. The old guy I purchased it from said I need to put a clay lining in it. I looked around for pictures of what I need to do and can;'t find anything. the lip on the side is about 6" tall and the blower blows from the bottom middle. Anybody know of any pictures floating around?

Well, there is something to be said about the size of your orfice. I had a 1/32 drilled in my endcap. I overdrilled that with a 1/16 and bada-bing a functional burner. I could not go over about 4 psi with out a flame out. Not an efficient burner, but a functional. Once it worked, I did add a make shift burner flare end using a 3/4 copper fitting to see if that helped and it did. So I chopped the 3/4 nipple down to about 6" then added a 2.5 in steel flaired end to it. Well, i lost performance. I was able to jump the pressure to 10psi but the flame was very erratic and had an ugly pattern. I'm going to try another 12" 3/4 with the end flare i made to see what happens tonight. Ian, thanks again for Reils site that is helping the learning curve. Nate, i will try to refine my flaired end with your recommendations. Heck, maybe I will have this thing working before i find an anvil. Ray

well, I'm going to give it one more shot and then buy a burner. I think my problem is just lack of knowledge about forges in general. Ive never seen one other than pictures on a website. Once I get the hang of how and why they work I will venture back into building the burner. No need to catch my garage on fire. I will be moving the jet back toward the rear as suggested to see what happens.

OK. I built one with a new bell that goes from 2" t0 .75". I fixed the leak. Now i just cant get it to burn out the end of the tube. it wants to burn in the tube right off the nozzle.. (yes i know that is dangerous and i shut it down). Question. Is my 1/32" nozzle hole a good size? I'm thinking it may be too small to get good flow. I get it to burn at very low pressure, but at high pressure it is a flame out at the end of the burn tube. Ian, I will check out Rons site and see if it sheds some light.

Well i am back home. I am going to try a 2"x3/4" bell with a 3/4 burner tube. I will post later with the results. How important is the fullered on the burner tube that is the blue prints? ray

The regulator is adjustable from 0-10psi. I found the plans on this site with the changes listed in my other post. What do you think Thanks ray

I used the plans from the 200 section of this site to build it. The only difference is that I used reducers from the belled end because I couldn't find the 2" to 1" bell. I wonder it I could use RTV to smooth out the transition. I am getting a blue flame that seams to float out past the end of the burner tube when the pressure is up but doesn't leave the forge. I drilled a 1/32" hole in the brass cap for the nozzle. The other modification is that I did not hozzle the 1" pipe like in the directions because I didn't know how. I checked my connections and did not see any apparent leaks. Is there any other buner designs I can try if this one is going to give me issues? As far as lowering the pressure, I was under the impression that I would need to run at least 10psi to opperate the forge. Thanks for the help. ray

here are some additional pics The setup is 1/4" necked down to 1/8th" with a 1/32" hole drilled in the brass cap. Why am i smelling propane? Thanks in advance ray

OK. so I made a replica gas forge from the plans on the site here. It is completed except for the kaowool (which im waiting for payday to buy). ANYWAYs. i firgured I would fire it up. It burns ok, but there is a very un burned propane smell. I'm running at 10 psi with a reg from a turkey fryer. I'm thinking I should close up the belled end a tad to allow it to burn more efficiently. ?? ray

That is what I needed to know. I was thinking the cement would be cheaper but looks like it may be more costly in the long run. Thanks for the help guys.

I'm still reading around on how to build a forge. I see that some are using refractory cement instead of Kaowool. What is your opinion on this. I am planing on using a steel pipe that is 3/16wall with a 11.25 ID. I have not determined what length Im going to use yet. Also with the kaowool, I've seen it being sold in 1" thick sheets. Is this enough or should i plan on doubling it. BTW, I plan to run this on propane. I'm not sure what I'm going to be forging yet. I just think trying to build my own forge would be fun and challenging. I'm a pretty good self taught mig welder and fabricator. Thanks again for the help ray

Thanks for all the help. I will check all the resources.... If work lets up to give me some time. Thanks again, ray

I'm in Jeannette, PA which is aboout .5hr from Pittsburgh. I'll update my info. Thanks for all the help!! Ray

A guy I work with tinkers with a store bought gas forge and it peaked my interest. I have seen the gas 10" pipe blue prints on here and deceided I would try to make one and get into the hobby. I have looked around for the kaowool to line the pipe, but I'm only finding 1/2" thick matierial. Any suggestions on where to shop? Also, would I be able to use a larger diameter pipe? 10" seams small once you get your insulation in. Any additional advice is more than welcome Thanks!