Howling dog forge

Picked this up today, more than likely paid too much but what the heck, they don't grow on trees and I don't know of anyone making new ones. I buy tools, not collect antiques but history is fun too. anybody tell me where I could look for a makers mark or any other marks? looked it over pretty well and saw nothing. It is pretty dirty so maybe after it gets cleaned up a bit. Jaws are in good shape and they line up real well. Kind of wondering what those points for and aft of the jaws are for.

At 3 oz water per pound it just rolled off, mixed a bit wetter than I had originally planned at 5 oz per lb.

two pounds of Kastolite mixed with 10 fluid Oz. of distilled water covers 72in² at 1/2" thickness. Now we see if it will stick to the Duraboard. This is where the whole thing could fall down. and have to be rethought. in retrospect I think 1/4" thick may have done the job.

First layer refractory cut and notched, trial assembly. notching fixture what to do with these??

confidence is high enough to weld out support frame.

Makes two

I think I can do "G" rated.

Kiln shelf is for floor in burner zone. Doors are duraboard with kastolite just like interior walls. right now I am thinking of sliding 1/2" black pipe on 1/2" allthread. pretty sloppy fit. door shell is about 2" away from shell and on the back of refractory will be interesting to see how distorted they become, hopefully minimal. I think I could see the counter weight and cable for a forge a bit larger than 300 in³. right now I am thinking a couple of nuts on the allthread to set the opening height.

I am hoping that being in the center of the flame is not as important as it has been or has seemed to be in the past but you make valid points. So I am thinking "how about one of each?". I get a quick open and shut on one end and a diagonal pass through in the burner zone, if so chosen, for long stock. I think this is a very constructive idea, I thank you for your input. Something to add to this is that the "Doors" do not make contact with the shell, they are purely reflective. There will be a 1/2" gap between the door refractory and the shell refractory.

I was a commercial HVAC and refrigeration tech for 25 yearsI get the pressure drop thing but I would have thought the heat conducted by the mixing tube would have over powered the pressure drop on the other end. Guess not.

I do hope Mikey didn't take that the wrong way. Had a note on my last post that it would have to be approved by a moderator. I guess I shall have to curb my sarcasm. And please call me Dog , it's shorter.

How do you propose to hold it in position?? Not sure I see an advantage but I shall ponder this further. the only things I can think of that would be a good pass through situation are bar stock and I think that a vertical door may result in me getting burned more often not least is it is a lot easier, I would think some type of counter weight system would be needed to keep it neutral and the door just isn't going to be that heavy.I am not feeling it but please convince me otherwise.

Now thats interesting, I guess I could see this as true. I have on occasion thought of checking temperature along the mixing tube and never quite got around to it. Is the fan powered of just there to direct the air stream? free wheeling.

And this, of course, makes you a xxxxxxx xxxxxxx Foul language and insult removed,

I thought I would start with things vertical dead center striking a kiln shelf, I have a couple thoughts on swirling the flame but I want to see if I get the results I need from this before changing things. Right now I am thinking sliding doors, I think this offers the best option for reflection back into the box at all "open" positions. The mechanics are still on the drawing board . I have made one attempt at this and had so so results. It slid well enough but I decided a solution that did not require a milling machine would be much more elegant.

I call them disposable people, they consider everything to be disposable. Good example is someone that wants to borrow the 9/16" inch wrench I bought in 1977 because he can't find,lost, left his someplace and has parts of 5 sets in his box, on the floor, in his truck. in the back of his truck. They have no sense of value for their own property and I have to imagine even less for mine. I think this is what Harbor Freight's business plan is based on, make it cheep enough that it can be used for one project and discarded. I have bought tools at HF with the idea that I just don't use something enough to own a good one and am pleasantly surprised if the occasion to use it again arises and it still works.

In regard to your vortex burner project : I Have no dog in this fight but I feel like the kid who wanders into the middle of a movie. The first question would have to be What is the object of this exercise?? Is there a base line that this improves on? How do you know when it has met your expectations? Yea I know , that is three questions, so here are a few more. Is the muffin fan for added air or are you trying to swirl the air to better mix the gas? The aluminum block/ spacer in your illustration is for a transition from the fan to the SST?? I would offer that you may want to rethink the through bolt holding the three together, the aluminum is going to expand, a lot, and the weakest part of that sandwich is the fan, it is going to crack. This site seems a bit strange in that it keeps changing my font size and editing is a bit of a challenge. The space bar deletes letters? Hours and hours of entertainment.

But if your using a 1" layer of Duraboard LD and 1/2" of Kastolite it is a lot closer to 350 in³. I am thinking I will try a final layer of Zirconium silicate and Bentonite for reflectivity.

I have done a lot of welding in a t shirt and thermonuclear grade sunblock. The only time I ever burned my eyes was the one day I left my glasses for repairs and went to work. No scientific basis to either but I hear melanoma really sux and I can say that burnt eyes are kind of like rubbing a slurry of sand, salt and dish soap in them.

Are you aware of the rather high expansion coefficient of SST? work hardens with heat cycles as well. Not saying this won't work or even that there is a better alternative , just the first thought that comes to my mind when I think about turning stainless steel bright red.

I do wear eye protection , and it still is not line of sight. and I am pretty sure that I look inside my gasser a lot less than most guys look at a coal burner. I like the idea of traveling over reasonably rough terrain, and being able to travel in the back of a truck is something most forges I have seen don't do incredibly well.