Square Nail

I heated a small piece of leaf spring about 8' long and it turned almost the whole thing red in less than five minutes. But that was before the kastolite and metrikote. I haven't put anything in since then because I'm still waiting for the lining to cure. So I haven't really pushed it yet. It's only been a few days so just wanted to make sure it was good and dry before using. Turn it on long enough to see the difference after making changes to the burners There is 361 cubic inches in the chamber. 4 3/4 X 4 3/4 X 16.

On the bright side this thing gets hot inside in a hurry! The down side is obvious in the next few pictures. My forge is outside but fairly well protected from wind so hopefully that doesn't come into play. At this time I am only running at about 2 psi. I have cranked it up to 5 psi and it just magnifies the same issues shown here. This is just a few seconds after starting This is about a minute after starting This is about 2 minutes after starting The same time as the last pic just a few seconds later

Sorry all, didn't mean to ruffle any feathers or go where I shouldn't have gone! I should have put all this on my Forge Build post and not this one! Sorry Mikey, I didn't mean to put you in a bad spot. I will continue this on the other post. Thanks again truly for everyone's help and support!

Mikey and Frosty, at the risk of getting flogged for bringing up this situation again, I am lost as to what to do with my Frosty 3/4 T burner. According to Frosty his burner can be tuned in the forge. Which when I first fired my forge the burners looked pretty good or so I think! But after the forge was lined and fired I get extreme dragon breath and cannot see much blue below the opening in the kastolite. I have adjusted the flares down to 1 1/4" over the end of the burner tube , but don't want to adjust the mig tip yet. Because of not wanting to change a bunch at once. With my limited knowledge I think it is way lean because of the lack of blue flame and the large amount of white and orange flame. I have a picture that I will post as soon as I can get it off my phone. Do I need to start from square one outside the forge or is there something I'm missing! Thanks for your help!

That's actually kind of funny, given the trouble I had finding most supplies, our local welding shop sells individual tips for a buck each! Go Figure!

Or you can do like many have suggested on this site and just go with a reputable supplier from this forum. Having no viable source for material any where close, this became my only real option. Larry Zoeller sent flares and a pressure gauge as requested for a very reasonable price, Wayne Coe was very helpful, prompt and courteous with his shipment. All my supplies from him were packaged and labelled and again very reasonable. I would recommend either of these men for supplies if you find yourself in the same situation as I did. Not only do they take the guess work out of ordering but their experience is something to not ignore. I thank all the suggestions from everyone, and I for one will pay a bunch more attention to the experienced folks on here and not try to second guess myself!

Finally have had a chance to work on the forge again! the following pics will show some of my successes and failures. This one is the initial firing of the "Frosty Burners" This is after trimming the tip a 1/16th on the first burner I decided to finish lining the Forge. Two 1" layers of Kaowool with a heavy 1/2" of Kast-O-Lite then a final coat of Metrikote. I used a collodial silica rigidizer on the wool before the kastolite. Let dry a little and then fired the forge to dry the rigidizer and after applying the Kastolite let sit over night before applying the metrikote. Now will let it sit for a few days to cure and get rid of any residual mosture before firing again! This looks like only 3 sides of kastolite but I did finish the top also. I did 1 side at a time, rolled the forge 90 degrees after it set did the same for both sides, let dry over night and turned it over to do the top the next morning! 1 1/2" ABS pipe worked well as a form around the burner openings! And the finished product. From what little the burners have been running it seems that the fairly good flame is going away with the more the interior space is cut down. I also had been using Larry Zoeller flares in the original test burn but found some of the thread protectors that Frosty mentioned in his "T burner" instructions so I changed the burners to those. When I did the drying burn for the rigidizer there was a small amount of Dragon breath and orange flame. Regretfully I did not get a pic of that but will document the rest of the tuning.

Thanks Frosty! Thats about what I was figuring, I like the idea of the screws!

Thanks Mikey! I had wondered if galvanized wold work for plumbing up to the burners!

I finally have a break with family and other responsibilities to get back to building my forge but have a question before starting with the Kaowool. Is it better to wrap the inside of a square forge with one piece and just fold it around the corners or cut 4 pieces and place them in one at a time? Or maybe one piece with miters cut at the corners? Thanks for the help!

Just received all my supplies to finish the forge! Now just find the time to finish. Summer family time is seriously cutting into my free time!

Thanks Frosty!

Google it. Spinning lathes were/are used to make metal plates, bowls and other things like that. bells on bugles, tubas etc. or maybe burners!

Thats my kind of store Frosty! Almost what happened to the hardware store here. They had everything from horseshoes to canning supplies, then the dad retired and kids took over and now its a Best Buy! Still a huge selection but just like any big box store!

Pretty much the same here! Everything has turned into an Ace or Best Buy, But there is still one that sells good parts but cost twice as much as the other stores.

I was very surprised as to the difference in quality from store to store! The US made parts all though considerably more expensive were the better parts!

I don't suppose there is any chance of getting a picture or a link to a pic with labels showing the various parts for us burner challenged people. I mean I think that I can visualize what is being discussed, but it would be nice to be able to put a face on the the discussion.. Mikey you have referenced your book many times but i have never seen a name of the book to search for! I'm sure it's been listed but I've missed it somewhere!

I have found Loctite 561 ( part # 37127) that I am going to try. It is labelled for use in gasoline, natural gas ( not over 300 psi), petroleum products and propane and butane in less than 2" pipe. A little spendy but if it works it'll last forever!

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who was going nutzo trying to find a 1/4 28 mig tip. I thought I was totally inept at threading a pipe, until I found the same thing, 1/4 27 works fine!

On pretty much an unrelated topic, I have read somewhere that you shouldn't expose your forges to freezing temps. With temperatures here routinely dropping below zero for a month at a time with lows to -20 or lower, will this hurt the ceramic blanket or refractory? My shop is for the most part unheated!

All I can say is that I'm getting very excited to get mine fired for the first time! Can't wait for the material to get here!

Feeling self conscious and wondering if I missed something while reading or misinterpreted something, sometimes makes it hard to ask questions. For example, is there a recommended way to test a burner? Do you clamp it in a vise, does it have to be tested in the orientation that it goes into the forge. Does the feed line have to be the same one you use for the permanent or can you use anything. I'm ready to start testing but am unsure as to the proper procedure.

I can only hope that someday I will gain enough Knowledge to even begin to understand all that you are saying! I am trying to follow but get lost very easily! Keep it up and I may gain some from just plain osmosis!

Hooray, after some help and suggestions yesterday from Mr. Coe, I just sent an order for all supplies needed for my forge from Wayne Coe, and for considerably less than what it would have cost me to travel to get it! Thanks Wayne!

I do believe I will send Mr Coe a note and tell him what and how much I need and see how bad the shipping is on this stuff. You are correct Frosty about the next time I need furnace work done!