Old Boiler

You are a patient man.

Well done!

Photos?

I'm looking at a straight pein hand hammer, to lengthen bars over the horn of the anvil.
Probably a small radius pein on one side, and a larger radius, pein on the other.

Considering using the head of a railway track for a hammer.

Any advice re suitability and or how to go about it?

Jim.

Thanks for the replies.

Letting her paint it was the easy option I wire brushed it but could have wire wheeled it.

I don't think she knew what to make of it, with no batteries.

It's now in her dolls house.

Jim.

First time on this section of the forum.

Made this for a 3 year old girl.

Left it raw but would like some guidance for future finishes/coatings.

Merry Christmas

I agree with all precautionary replies.
It was outside with the wind blowing towards the forge. That is, the front of the forge.
I won't be doing it again.
Now I'm more worried about the yellow residue on the refractory.

Jim.

Heated some short gal reo lengths (hot dipped) for a mate (well ventilated and protected) which snapped when trying to bend it. They would however, tolerate a cold bend.
What happened?
Did the burning of the zinc change the metallurgy of the steel?

Jim.

Finished the hot cut. It's a bit rough, but does the job.

It's secured in the hardie hole by doubling it twice. Took a bit of tailoring to get it tight enough to not pop out, and to be stable.

Makes it easier to work with two hands. One for the hammer, and one for the tongs.

Back again.

Made some changes.

I relocated the burner port to nearer the rear to eliminate the cold spot. I also angled the port to circulate the flame, which has helped.

I have blown the burner with a vacuum cleaner, which has made all the difference. No huffing and I estimate 1100-1200C which is a yellow heat for the spring steel that I have.
I suspect that the bore of the burner that I made, at 21 mm (13/16) is too narrow to achieve a workable heat by natural aspiration.
The salesman at the gas and welding shop where I purchase the bits and pieces has given me another couple of 9 kg (20#) gas bottles to make a bigger forge, so another one could be in the pipeline (he's an enthusiast as well!). If I do I will try to use larger bore fittings to achieve naturally aspirated workable heat.

I have almost finished a hot cut, and I'll show it when it's done.

The forge is up to functional temp within 10 minutes, and probably quicker if I upped the pressure earlier.

Words are unable to address your loss, but my thoughts are of you and your family.

Regards,
OB.

I suggest you put the whole thing in the car, along with your regulator, hose and any other equipment you have, and bring it down to my place (Picton) on Sunday. I am absolutely certain we can get it working for you. If you are interested send me a pm I will give you my phone number.


Corin

A fine invitation, but unfortunately I'm not able to accept this weekend.
My daughters home for the week and I will be seeing her off on Sunday.

Another day perhaps, when we both have the time. I work a roster.

Thanks Corin.
Jim

Back again.

Been playing with some pipe and fittings, using Tweco mig tips.
.8mm burns OK with better diffusion of heat, but still not hot enough.
It scaled the steel, so I moved up in mig tip sizes to try to reduce the oxidisation.
I have used .9mm 1.0, and 1.2mm, but they huff like crazy.

Any suggestions?

Sorry about the side on photo.

Sorry just realised it is open both ends. Block the back end with a fire brick during testing (it will heat a lot quicker, still about 30 minutes to full, but 10 should see you toasting marshmallows. I am guessing here but I want to see what this mud does when it gets hot. I am really curious about this mud and its properties. New technologies work great, but people were forging and even casting steel before asbestos, and ceramic fibre.

Sorry re the delayed reply. Been off line for a few days. Technical difficulties.

Have not yet given the clay a heat as its been 4o+C for the last few days. Thermometre topped out at 43C.

Will trial it when the weather is a little cooler.

I've located a local source of refractories, but I'll see how the clay goes first.

Talk to ya later.

Jim.

OK, I now have a silly grin on my dial.

Clearly not yet hot enough but far better than previous.
I lifted the nozzle about 20 mm and got an instant improvement. I'll experiment to tailor it further.

Hope the photos attach, but my 'pooter skills are about as good as my blacksmithing skills.

Thank you Corin!

Thanks for then reply Corin.

I have no idea what the pressureis. I regulate with the valve. I haven't been able to get the reg yet.

Re the secondary air. I will certainly try this when I have a bit more time.
Uni just started back so a bit intense currently. Especially for an old fart like me.

The venturi setup of your forge is remarkably similar to the example of the blacksmith I discussed my plans with. When I found the burner that I'm currently using I thought it may be a better way to go. Clearly not.

Just a thought.
If I were to remove the hood from the burner, and feed it into a pipe leading to the fire box, allowing for greater primary air flow, do you think that this would be closer to the desired result?

Jim.

It's designed for LPG. I bought it at the local gas and welding supplier with the expressed purpose of heating a forge. They seemed to think it would suffice. I observe that some members seem to use LPG without difficulty, but our LPG may not be exactly the same. Having said that, the blackie that I spoke with made his own LPG jet and venturi setup with good effect.
I've heated some light gauge sheet stainless with it, without difficulty .

Jim.

Old Boiler, where in the world are you?

I think the word you are looking for is venturi, but I could be wrong. Can you post a few pictures detailing the burner?

Phil

Hunter Valley, Australia. Vineyards, surfing, hunting, motorcycling, 4x4ing, spearfishing etc. Populations growing though.
Oh, and we talk different here.

It is a venturi unit. I simply used the term expressed by the salesperson. It's 40 mm dia. (1 9/16) I don't know what the jet dia is but it is ample.

Sorry about the horizontal image. the programme won't rotate it for some reason.

Old Boiler, where in the world are you?

I think the word you are looking for is venturi, but I could be wrong. Can you post a few pictures detailing the burner?

Phil

Hunter Valley, Australia. Vineyards, surfing, hunting, motorcycling, 4x4ing, spearfishing etc. Populations growing though.
Oh, and we talk different here.

It is a venturi unit. I simply used the term expressed by the salesperson. It's 40 mm dia. (1 9/16) I don't know what the jet dia is but it is ample.

<a href="http://s725.photobucket.com/albums/ww254/Beerdead/?action=view&amp;current=P1220157.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww254/Beerdead/P1220157.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Old Boiler, where in the world are you?

I think the word you are looking for is venturi, but I could be wrong. Can you post a few pictures detailing the burner?

Phil

Hunter Valley, Australia. Vineyards, surfing, hunting, motorcycling, 4x4ing, spearfishing etc. Populations growing though.
Oh, and we talk different here.

It is a venturi unit. I simply used the term expressed by the salesperson. It's 40 mm dia. (1 9/16) I don't know what the jet dia is but it is ample.

Hunter Valley, Australia. Vineyards, surfing, hunting, motorcycling, 4x4ing, spearfishing etc. Populations growing though.
Oh, and we talk different here.

It is a venturi unit. I simply used the term expressed by the salesperson. It's 40 mm dia. (1 9/16) I don't know what the jet dia is but it is ample.

 

It's just called an blower. For want of a better term. It doesn't have forced air induction.
I've turned the flame down with no improvement.

I'll start looking for a better refractory.

Doesn't appear to have any sort of *insulating* refractory as such you are trying to fill a bucket with holes in it---you are losing heat as fast as you dump it in.
You have to either pour it in faster than it can leak out or add some insulating refractory---either soft light firebrick or something like kaowool.



Anyplace near you that does boiler repair? Many folks have been given enough scrap material to line a forge when they talked with the boiler maintenance people with a box of doughnuts (or a 6-pack of beer---depending on your situation...)

Hadn't thought about boiler repair I'll look around.
The refractory is light end. Combustion heater brick. Having said that, the combustion heater that they are used for is capable of bring steel up to cherry red, but I get dirty looks from the boss.

I do have gaps between the clay and the casing. I was hoping that the gaps would not be accessible from the firebox.

Re the blower, I don't know what the jet size is, but it is quite capable of flames over a foot long from each end of the fire box. It is a venturi unit.
After further research I'm considering a different design. I designed this one for longer pieces. A door at each end so I could pass the work through, but given the result a closed end may be more successful.
I also need to reposition the blower to the side to prevent the overheating of the hose.


For a former steel town there is bugger all around to support these pursuits these days,. There is one operating blacksmith shop further up the valley who has been helpful. I'll have another chat to him.

Try again.
Jim.

Unable to insert image for some reason.

The old bush blacksmiths used termite nests for forges apparently.
I could be on the wrong track from my result though.

I'll keep chipping away at it.

Jim.