Casting Timmy

If you manifold 2 20lb tanks together to guard against freezing and one is fuller than the other, do they automatically equalized pressure between the two? I assume since it's a liquid turning to gas they don't equalize the fill between the two bottles, just the pressure. Has anyone noticed that you can use an empty tank as a as reservoir? A local club member was telling me that people have discovered they can do this. Anyone else have similar experiences?

On the files in Blacksmithing for Beginners I found this as part of the propane file: Tank with OPD valve have A NON FREE FLOW LIMITER so if there IS NOT a POL fitting attached to tank there will not be any flow from valve…. You must use a fitting in POL valve of tank to cause anti-free flow valve to open and have “flow”. Just because you open tank valve without a POL fitting attached and do not get a flow it does no mean the tank is empty. To test if tank is truly empty take screwdriver and open dip tube valve on side of tank valve, and IF there is NO HISS SOUND it is pretty good indicator that tank “may” be empty The local club meeting is later this month, I might ask some of the guys at the meeting about this. Maybe it's a historical issue and no longer seen with the new valves.

The hoses don't have a regulator, but a really simple gauge on them to show if the tank is full or not. It looks like RV's have a regulator manifold that switches between tanks when the one gets empty. I'm not sure if it really if it allows drawing from both at the same time or not. I have been reading here and other places, Zoeller's website calls out about different bottle fittings having different flow rates. I can find the lefty screw into the internal threads labeled as full flow, but don't see that for the RV tank hook ups. So far my idea is to run two flexible RV hook up hoses into a tee to a solid mounted regulator, after this regulator it will be lower pressure and ran through hard lines as the tanks will store in the bottom of the forge stand. Alternatively I would have to get two high flow fittings and two high pressure hoses to go into the gas regulator, not a big deal.....but I kind of like the no tools method of hook up as well as the full or empty indicators of the RV hoses. Zoeller does sell a hardline manifold kit, but really hoping a flexible one with these plastic nubs that use the outside threads of the propane tank flow good enough. I'll probably buy a set and then convert if it doesn't work.....ideally if I knew a single 30lb would run two burners I could trade the extra hose off to recup some cost of the forge set up. Q. I fired up the forge with no problem it put out a nice flame, but then I went to fire it up again later on all I got was just a minimal flame (looked like a cooking flame) with no pressure registering on the gauge. As soon as I shut off flow to the burner the pressure would come right back up any ideas? A. It sounds like you are running a 20 # LP cylinder with an excess flow device , and that is what is causing you your problem. When using a tank with an OPD valve with the excess flow device or check valve, it is better to light the forge, starting with all of the valves turned off. Then turn the triangular hand wheel one complete (360 degree) then turn the forge on and light it up. From here you can adjust slowly for a higher flame. There are a couple of other things that can cause you to have similar problems, you need a full flow POL (tank fitting). There are some that have an Excess Flow Valve built into them and there are others that have a fixed orifice, these will not work. The other thing is to make sure that you have the proper LP regulator like the Fisher model number 67CH-743, you can not use the regulators that they sell for gas grills and small appliances; they do not have the BTU ratings that you need. After a forge is up and running and one of the burners starts to flutter, it may be so that the burner is sucking in exhaust fumes from the forge openings.

I'm not sure what you call it, so I haven't been able to search this out very well. I was starting a guided burner build with my local blacksmith club and am trying to learn what it takes to run two side arm burners. I was thinking about hooking two 20lb tanks together using RV hook ups as they use the easy to screw on fittings to the tank. My question is if these easy screw on style fittings flow enough or not as I don't like the reverse thread hook up and idea of taking a wrench with a portable set up if I don't have too. I'm good at loosing stuff and don't want to have to lift the whole mess into the back of the truck at once if I don't have too. Also do these more typical gas grill/ rv connections have a name? I do like these hoses as they have 1/4 NPT threads on the other end as well as gas gauges for each tank to know how much gas you have left. Let me know if you have any experiences ro know what these are called and thanks for taking the time to read. Tim Remove commercial link per TOS

I got a new new anvil!! Not only in this Cliff Carroll wide face anvil new to me, it's brand new in general. First impressions as I wait to build a stand for it, I do like it. I wanted a movable and new anvil as I think used anvils are kind of expensive and I'm just starting out. The Cliff Carroll wide face anvil has sharp edges on the main face that I will leave in for a bit to see what I think of that. I do like how the heel of the anvil has a slightly increasing radius from the factory on it. It is a Farrier anvil, so it does have a clip horn on it. I think the horn is cool looking, but haven't been able to try it out from a practical stand point yet. It's a bit flatter on top than other anvils I've used at the hammer ins with the local blacksmith club. It does seem like the Cliff Carrolls and NC tool anvils go for a hard face and a softer horn that should work harden with age. So it will be interesting to see how that goes with a newby like me using this as my first anvil. I do really look forward to making a stand for it and taking it with me to our hammer ins. I'll update my review in the future, but wanted to start something on this anvil as all my search efforts I can't find a dedicated topic for just Cliff Carroll. Thanks - Tim

That is a really nice set up Charles. I'm not going to lie, if that Cliff Carroll thing was a $100 or more so cheaper I would probably get it so I could spend time forging instead of building a stand. Still kind of curious of how well they work out with aluminum legs, but I think the wood top looks really nice. I'll probably keep with my original plan and get some tubing and build my own stand, just need to clean up the garage a bit to do that. (I do my forging out in the backyard). I'll keep it simple and just build a fixed height stand.

Has anyone tried the Cliff Carroll Anvil Stump? I don't really like the price on it, but I think it looks really nice and like the idea of adjustable height. I don't know how well those aluminum legs hold up with pins to set the height over time. I would think the holes could oval with using it as a light blacksmithing portable stand. It looks like Emerson and Delta make stands about the same as well. Commercial link removed. I'm probably going to make my own stand, but I do wish I could find a use CC anvil stump cheap, but also don't know how well they hold up over time either. I can see places listing them for sale, but I can't really find reviews on them. All the places with them for sale seemed to have copy and pasted the same sales ad as well.