Andy98

Ok, thanks everyone for the responses.

I'm pretty surprised with the pushback on the metal box idea - which, probably means I have underestimated how much I don't know. Not it matters, but my overall plan was to essentially construct the thing per the 5-gallon-bucket forge from Larry Zoeller's site (http://www.zoellerforge.com/simplegasforge.html), again with the interior round even though the box is square. I did intend to have the burner enter sideways rather than from the top (which seems to be a common customization), and I'm lacking ITC/Plistix but hoping the bubble alumina helps enough.

But I'm happy to change gears - my goals are to have a forge where I could:

• Heat treat a ~10" blade I've already forged.
• Make additional, smaller, knives.
• Make some tongs.
• Possibly try to make a hammer. This is the largest thing I could imagine making in my forge.

I'd be happy to follow a single burner+forge plan - can you guys recommend one? If I include (what I judge to be) reputable sources, then my options seem to be:

• The standard propane cylinder forge - way too large for me.
• Two-brick forge - but all the plans out there are all based on soldering torches and I'm pretty sure I'll get limited use out of one.
• Paint-can / coffee-can forge - Too small to help me with my existing blade - plus all of the turn-key plans are also soldering torch based.
• Wayne Coe's plans - This is based on castable and for various reasons (short forging sessions, need to move the thing a lot, don't want to wait forever for it to be cool enough to pack away) I'm inclined to use kaowool instead.

..which leave me with a Freon tank forge, or a 5-gallon-pail forge both from Larry Zoeller's site. Are there others I should consider? I presume if I build the 5-gallon-pail forge but use a T burner instead of a sidearm, nobody will say that's too much of a variance (?). In either case, I'd be tempted to just buy some sheet metal and make a tube, since I don't have any access to either Freon tanks or metal pails.

Thanks in advance.

On 7/2/2016 at 1:28 AM, Mikey98118 said:

Dont confuse the higher pressures with much smaller gas jets found on naturally aspirated burners with the much larger gas jets and lower pressures found on SOME fan burners. 4 Lbs pressure on a 3/4" burner is likely to be the bottom of its turn down range.

Ah - that's interesting. It never occurred to me that there would be a minimum, but it makes sense. I guess why I was confused was that so many of the burner designs (including on Ron Reil's page) go on about how stable various burners are at low pressures (at one point IIRC Ron was talking in the oz's range) so I assumed a good/great burner would work at anywhere 0+.

On 7/1/2016 at 5:36 PM, Buzzkill said:

I went with a regulator that has gauges for both tank pressure and outlet pressure.  It's not necessary, but the price was decent and the POL is already installed on it.

https://www.amazon.com/Devardi-Glass-Propane-Regulator-Beadmaking/dp/B0108FI4M2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_236_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Ge09vU4FL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=21YQVN4473XFHZZ6QACW

So far so good with it.

 

 

I've now ordered one - thanks for the steer. I'm picking it up in Dallas and flying it back to Canada in my carry on. I feel like I might have an interesting airport security experience, with the regulator and 7lbs of mystery refractory material.

48 minutes ago, WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.c said:

First don't build a forge to a square design.  Second, go to the Forge Supplies page on my web site and study the attachments.  This will show how I like to build a gas forge for a long lasting, efficient forge.

Let me know if I can help you or if you have any further questions.

Just to be clear, the box is square (well, rectangular) but I intend the actual interior of the forge to be a round tunnel. Basically. I intend make a kaowool tube that just happens to rest inside a rectangular box.

I have explored your site (quite a few times!) but I will for sure go back and check again. I seem to forget 5 things for every one new thing I take on...

21 minutes ago, Buzzkill said:

I went with a regulator that has gauges for both tank pressure and outlet pressure.  It's not necessary, but the price was decent and the POL is already installed on it.

https://www.amazon.com/Devardi-Glass-Propane-Regulator-Beadmaking/dp/B0108FI4M2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_236_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Ge09vU4FL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=21YQVN4473XFHZZ6QACW

So far so good with it.

 

 

That's a really interesting option. Do you find it works well at lower pressure ranges (1-6psi?)

What is the pressure range on it (amazingly, it's not listed in the posting...)?

Hi,

I'm trying to decide if I should buy this regulator (c/w hose and pol): Bayou-Classic-5HPR-40-Adjustable-Regulator - $30.

Or, I could pick up a 0-30 regulator from my local Praxair - they sell one by "Rexo-Therm" (model 567hbtz) - the only info I can find is in this pdf: http://www.vulcandemo.com/PDF/RT250TT.pdf

...The regulator itself will be ~ $35, and when I add a hose and pol it'll have me at ~$60. It does give me a guage port, so that's good I guess, and will make it easier to also add a cutoff valve (which goes before the regulator not after...right? Or does it not matter?)

From the Bayou classic reviews, it seems like the thing will be no good at low pressures (their market is, afterall, people who want their fryer hotter not cooler). I'm assuming the rexo-therm is more of a "real" regulator and will actually work across the whole range.

Note that I can't find generally-accepted fisher regulator for less than like $100 right now (I'm in Toronto, if that matters).

Anyone have any advice?

Hi,

I'm attempting to make (my first) forge, and I'm hoping to get some help and advice.

I have an old..metal box. I'd call it a tool box, but it doesn't have a top handle so I'm not sure what it was used for. It's 20" x 10" x 10".

This is probably not going to make any sense, but I'm thinking of making basically a 10" long tunnel forge right in the middle of the box (2" of kaowool) and I'll make a front&back (inside the metal box as well) out of either soft-firebrick or more kaowool. That'll leave a gap of about 3" between the forge and the sides of the metal box. I plan to cut holes in the metal box essentially to act as tool-rests.

I intend to mount the burner so it enters from the side, near the middle. 

My plan is that while operating the forge, I'll have the metal-box's lid open so that the dragon's breath can escape without melting the box. I'm *hoping* that the sides of the box near the entrance/exit don't get too hot - but if they do I can cut them away a bit as well. When I'm done with the forge, I want to be able to remove the burner, close the lid and store the box out of the way (with other stuff stacked on top of it as well. 

I intend to coat the top 1/2 of the forge with satanite, and the bottom 1/2 with bubble alumina (from  www.hightemptools.com). That should give me a roughly 10" long by 5.25" diameter tunnel.

My goal is principally knife making, including heat treatment. I'm really not going to use the forge a lot - just not a lot of spare time at the moment.

My questions are:

1. Is this crazy?
2. Do I need to worry about the paint that is already on the box? Do I need to strip/grind it all off, or burn it off, or just ignore it? At some point I would like to repaint the forge with high-temp paint to try and make it look a little nicer, but I figure high-temp paint over "regular" paint won't work since the "regular" paint will just bubble if it gets hot.
3. I intend to mount the burner horizontally, in the middle, entering near the top of the forge (e.g., forcing it to swirl, not blowing directly onto the work piece). Am I on the right track?
4. I am considering mounting the burner so it slightly points rearward. In my head this makes sense, but I can't help but notice nobody does this - any thoughts?
5. I plan to build either 3/4" T-Burner, or a Z-Burner. In my mind the T-Burner seems superior (more induced air) but for some reason I'm freaked out by not being able to adjust the mig-nozzle, and I'm also worried about being able to cut it cleanly). For all intents and purposes, difficulty of construction aside, is the performance of these two burners basically the same? 
6. Does anyone have a better idea of how to turn this box into a propane forge? Should I abandon the box?

I also have some questions about propane regulators, but I'll post that in a second thread - hopefully that's not contrary to accepted etiquette.

Any and all advice and guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.