Alphafarrier

So we talk a lot about rigidizing and coating and treating ceramic blanket. When it comes to box forges insulated with Ceramic board, should this material be coated as well? Even if it is not needed for safety, is satanite or similar still a good idea for efficiency and protection?

So what happens when a burner nozzle is placed too close to the flame’s first surface of impingement? Say you had burners mounted too dead center in a forge, and interior forge height was only 2” or so?

Where I am ultimately going with this discussion: Could the slots on a Mikey burner be significantly shorter, if a neutral burn is achieved with choke covering a lot of the slots anyways?

Is there ever a time when you would want an oxidizing flame? In Mikey's book he talks about a neutral flame being the hottest, hotter than either oxidizing or reducing. I was messing around the other day, and when I ran my burners with the most oxidizing flame I could, steel seemed to heat up FAST (and then scale up badly and then start burning if I left it in there for any time after it hit yellow, of course...). Is this just my imagination?

Thanks Mikey As per usual, I am probably overthinking this.

Hey Guys, So I’ve been building some 3/4” and 1” Mikey burners. I’ve been having some trouble with flames blowing out. The 3/4” burner, for instance, runs great with a .035 MiG tip across all pressure ranges, but anything smaller it blows the flame out with the choke open more than 1/2”. The 1” burner is the same story, but I have a .045 MiG tip in it. Any thoughts?

Ok, thanks Mikey. Yes, I think I’ve been overthinking this

So I am building a 3/4" mikey burner as per the instructions in Mikey's book. One difference is that I am making it out of schedule pipe instead of a pipe nipple. The book calls for 4 air slots, however I believe since then Mikey proposes an odd number of slots? My question is this: assuming I go to 3 slots, what size to i need to make them? As close as I can figure, the plans call for 4 slots, 1/2" x 2 3/4". I added up the surface area of the slots on a 1" burner. Proportionally, It seems to me that on a 3/4" burner, 3 slots at 1/2" x 2 3/4" should be enough. Thoughts?

The flare on that fitting is exactly 1:12...what would you recommend for flare amount/length for a flame retention nozzle on a 3/4” burner?

Ok, cool! Decision made. Here are some flame photos from initial testing...not very confident as to alignment on this one, burner build was not very precise. I will have my brother turn some custom alignment rods and tubes to make sure everything is right on the money for the next test and I’ll post a follow up.

That makes total sense. I’ve never seen anything other than top mounted, so I never thought about anything else as an option. So then to the other question as to performance: if a Venturi-style burner still has several desirable features for my application, is it worth the cost in performance versus a jet-ejector type? (To barrow these broad terms down, it would be a Venturi burner constructed with a weld reducing fitting and a MiG tip, versus a mikey style burner). How much of a difference is there in a well constructed burner of both types?

I have done a LOT of reading. I'm glad, I think I'm starting to see how little I know. Funny how that works. SO. I am pretty sold on the general awesomeness of jet-ejector-type burners. However: two large considerations are ease of maintenance, specifically when it comes to cleaning out the jet, and size. I have come to the conclusion, based on much reading, that a straight tube is simply going to be far more efficient than putting a 90 degree bend. But, a very long burner will simply not be feasible for many portable farrier applications. A 3/4" burner gives me a 6" (or so) pipe length, maybe even more if you count the straight portion of the reducer. That is totally feasible. The question is, how good can a linear burner be? Is a jet ejector worth the extra hassle of construction and maintenance, and extra size, for an application where reliability and maintainability are more important that that top 5% or 10% of performance? I would love to hear some thoughts on the comparisons of these two types of burners. I hope to get some pictures of my prototypes and the flames, will post up soon.

Read! Commercial links removed; the forges referenced were Colleoni, Forgemaster, Hall, and NC tool. All decent forges, but just to give an idea of what type of Venturi burners are on other farrier forges.

Hello everyone! I'm new to the site, and have really enjoyed learning from the information and knowledge here. I live in southwestern Ontario, Canada. I have access to most fabrication equipment. I am a farrier, and am hoping to build some farrier forges. We come to the burners: I could buy em', but would love to build 'em. Here are my considerations: 1. Most farrier forges have a 90 degree bend in the tube, to save on height. If at all possible, I would like to include this as well, as the straight pipe designs would make the forge too tall for many portable applications. What are the implications of having a 90 degree bend? 2. It is not imperative to have the most efficient burner. It must be a. Relatively efficient, b. Very reliable c. Low cost and relatively easy to manufacture/produce. d. must be able to get up to forge weld temp, but also be able to run fairly low. Most farrier forges only run well from 6-15 psi. If one could run from 2-3 psi, but sometimes get turned up to 15-20, that would be great (yes, I know psi does not = temp, the idea is to have a decent operating range in terms of temps...especially to be able to turn it down low for very light work). I have looked at other burners from other farrier forges. I would love to get your thoughts on them. Most, to be frank, don't seem to be the 8th wonder of the world, but maybe there is more going on. Here are some links to popular models: [commercial links removed] I have attached a copy of what I have been messing around with. It's sort of a modified reil burner with a mig tip. It looks ugly, and it is, but alignment is very good, it seems to burn great, a good neutral flame. One other question: none of the farrier forges have a burner flare. Any thoughts on this when going into a fairly enclosed forge box? OK, lots there Thanks guys!