Howling dog forge

Five years later and it still works. The pedestal is a bit clumsy and I managed to drop the forge from about tailgate height but it came through needing just minor repairs. In fact the repairs were to re repair the first patch and re do a bit of the other end. it did crack at the burner bur not seriously. So I suppose I can safely say the dog box travels well even at a high rate of speed in a vertical direction.

"That's an idea well worth experiments. Goooood idea. . . for a Texican. " We do have our moments. I suppose I could dig out the old rock tumbler , if I can find it and a hand full of ball bearings to polish. On the other hand is the aggregate serving a purpose once it is pulverized? I have always considered the aggregate of such mixtures to be a structural component which would just become an inert filler If powdered. Would you voice an opinion on a small percentage of powdered Bentonite in the mix to increase the liquid suspension and increase the mixtures fluidity. It does not seem that course until you put water in it and then the it starts to separate almost immediately. Can you think of something to mix that would make a more homogenous and fluid mixture?? OK so time for the dog to say some crazy stuff, I am pondering the possibility of using dura board refractory for the "core" of the ribbon burner with a Kasto lite 30 shell and/or face surface. Drill the dura board, put in the plugs, put a level face on it with the plugs in place and when all is cast pull the plugs soak the holes with rigidizer and reinsert the plugs to keep the surfaces of the holes as smooth as possible. This makes the burner much lighter, and hopefully not as inclined to transfer heat to the plenum. And of course making a 1/2" layer of Kastolite/Mizoo fill around the plugs will be a lot easier than forcing it into a rather large heavy brick. Please understand I am standing out on the bleeding edge of what I think I may sort of understand but in fact have no clue what I am talking about. All I do know for sure is that casting multi port burners is frustrating, at best and not something you really want to do a lot of trial and error experimentation with. But in the search for a small, efficient, quiet, (that's a big point) burner that travels well . this is the most obvious direction to head at this time. As always gentlemen I appreciate your input.

Any thoughts on pulverizing the castable to make it flow into the form easier?? Any thoughts on using something else??

D.Rotblatt What size do you consider your NARB with, I am guessing . a 3/4" tube and 1 1/2" area of nozzles?? I hope you can see my point. If this is a 1 1/2" burner it is running very well at extremely low delivery pressure. That is a truly awesome flame , by the way . So uniform, well done. Was there a ratio involved in your nozzle size and number??

That is a bunch of little holes. I am guessing you maintained the free area of the burner??

Does the light brick improve the overheat at low pressure thing, I can't call this a problem really. You are using a 3/4" T burner if I recall?

your still using the cast block??

I have not been paying attention for quite a while, I have done quite a bit of reading to catch up. I have not seen the epiphany that solved the long use, over heating, back fire problem. Is this because it has not happened yet?? And of course the previous entry is a dead give away. My grasp of the obvious remains impeccable.

I thank you for your response gentlemen. Just what I needed to know.

Does anyone have an opinion on recuperative burners ? I have an old ABANA forge I built 30 years ago setting on a shelf. It's a clever little box with a pretty cool door, the refractory was nothing to brag on when it was built and the burners were a disappointment by modern standards. I can't decide if I should leave it on a shelf, give it away or upgrade it with new refractory and better 1/2" burners. I guess the deciding factor is, does the recuperative burner concept make enough difference to make it worth the effort??

thank you Mr. Frosty.

When casting the ribbon burner is there an advantage to using Mizzou over , perhaps, Kastolite 30?? It would seem most use the Mizzou but having never used it I have no point of reference for comparison. The Kastolite does seem a bit grainy, course and dry for casting, wondering if the other refractory would be a better choice.

did you fire it long enough for it to go entirely ceramic? If so, I am surprised and impressed it did not shrink enough to loose the seal at the plenum, this is good to know.

This sounds like a great idea, what did the plug look like?? and the finished cast hole?

And tell me, how do you think that hole got in the MIG tip?? and if you say majac I will be rolling on the floor for the next 5 minutes laughing. Another point would be how the MIG tip was shortened that could be pretty ragged.