Charlotte

Hope I what I gave you helps. My first paying job was running heat treating furnaces for a major steel company. We used high pressure natural gas with open burner ports for most work.

High alloy furnaces were positive pressure units with very precise control. But not ribbon units.
This was back in the sixities when much of the decison making was done by the operator following a temperature profile drawn by the engineer.

Frosty, btw the Carlise folks seem to max their individual burner lengths to something on the order of 18". ( If i remember the info correctly) I'd guess there is some sort of either manufacturing, practical, or marketing limit there. It appears that after that they use multiple units. This is just my understanding of their propaganda, and I could be misreading.

For blowers I'd guess you will need something on the order of the blowers sold for Johnson forges.

The same equations apply for btu, propane consumtion and air consumption as any other burner.

I'd guess two manifolds feeding four burners will get there. two right two left and about the size of the single burners already shown.

Carlise Manufactruing recomends, for their cast iron ribbon burners," The recommended premix burner pressure is 1 1/4” W.C. When
using a premix system at a pressure higher than 1 1/4” W.C., a
restriction orifice can be installed in the feed inlet of the burner
to maintain the correct pressure."

A very nice piece. You may see the flaws but we see good workmanship and hours of effort that paid of a fine work.

Sorry that I cann't find the Hammers blow issue, but a couple of years ago they showed a step by step build of a top down ribbon burner.

Some one here mentioned that they had built one.

I'll look some more tomorrow.

PS. Couldn't go to sleep until I found it. Winter Issue 2006 Hammer's Blow. Article by John Emmerling "Building a Ribbon Burner"

His burner was 3x3x3/16 x 10 long 2 " pipe With a baffel welded at the pleneum entrance. 3 rows of air holes cast in place with crayola crayons. Holes about an inch apart two rows of 9 with one row of 8 in between.

He used Mizzou or HPV-ESX castable (comes in 50 lb bags) He used one of the centaur forge electric blowers that has a Baldor motor. He used a 1/16 inch orifice for propane and thought normal house hold gas and 1/4" would be adequate. Gas introduction should be 9 times the pipe diameter or 18 " for natural gas and maybe shorter for propane.

You seem a little over concerned. The bottom line here is that if the flue is cleaned regularly and no build up is allowed your construction is more than adequate.

When I lived in East Tennessee many of my friends lived out in the country with coal fired heating systems and little or now maintence. Most of the fires I read about in the area were started by antique wiring or some one smoking in bed.

When you think the problem through you can see that there are good reasons for the LG hammer to have a square "tupp" in the era in which it was first built.
When you think of the tire hammer's history you can understand why it started square.

Given the size, application, and era of the tire hammer, using a round "tupp" is excellent economy.

Here's a link on finishing wood as it relates to food-safe finishes. Basically says all are safe once cured. Of course this article relates to varnishes, etc. However, says all modern dryers are safe.
Popular Woodworking - Flexner on Finishing

I've also used walnut oil...found it with the cooking oils at the local Kroger. Supposedly it will not go rancid. bart

I guess I'm a little bit of a crank about this because I fought tooth and nail through a New drug application manufacturing set up where I used to work.

Your are liable for blame if you offer something for food service use that is finished with something the FDA has not cleared. If it comes from the hardware store you have no defense. If it comes of the grocers shelf and is offered as a food item then you can pled ignorance.

Walnut oil was also used as a drying oil by painters in the 19th century and may still be used today.

As a practical matter used in this application. Boiled linseed oil or tung oil would be ok.

I'm suprised that no one commented on the obvious danger of heating any of these oils near the smoke point.

Regular kitchen type oils will in time become rancid. A rancid knife STINKS! Once dry (about 30 days ) ANY commonly available finish is inert. I use a lot of boiled linseed oil straight from the hardware store.
Finnr

Let me make this a litte clearer. Veggie oils will become rancid,yes.

Will the oil absorbed into the wood after prolonged heating near the smoke point then cooled and washed smell or become rancid NO!
Does it harden to a varnish finish? yes over time.

I said at the out set dispose of the oil after use.
Linseed oil is not food safe! It is not food safe because of the way it is processed. Think about the uproar that was caused by a few stray fungi in some peanuts a few years ago and then think about the equipment and storage facilies that are rarely cleaned in processing Raw or boiled linseed oil.

Flaxseed oil sold as a food is safe because of the differences in processing.

Heating oil to the point that the oak in the oil darkens produces the same effect as boiling it. That is, it advances the cross linking of the molecules.

Eyes, hearing, back, lungs, now add feet. I learned about wearing steel toe work shoes in a steel mill 40 years ago running annealing furnaces. I've worn them ever since a piece of 2"wall 8" stainless tube bounced of the toe of my left foot.

My strength has gone down a lot since my automobile accident. It is a lot harder to recover from an accident at 60 than it is at twenty.

Just a thought, remember to check the oil level in your compressor regularly. Not having to drain it means you might not pay as much attention to it as needed.

Thank you for excellently written reminder.
There are also a hundred or so safety reminders that could added.

I think Ted summed it up very well.

"I feel as long as a person does not represent his work product inaccurately, and is honest about the process used to achieve the end product, that no harm is done.

At my age, coupled with physical limitations, I have to compensate in any way possible to achieve my goals to produce a product. I will use any tool available for my use. But I never have misrepresented anything I have produced (process or material).

By drive through, yes I mean the punch or the drift. A plug would also likely fall through.

Removing the stakes? It is usually not that tough in my experience. I normally just tap a little left and right on the bottom and they come out. The tools you put in the hardy hole or prichel hole should not wedge them selves so tight as to be a problem

I make things with longer rather than shorter shanks when I can.

Do you need a hole? meh? It's up to you. You might want one if you do a lot of punching and drifting at the hardy and pritchel hole.

Mr. Hofi and Mr Haberman point out that it allows you to drive through and into a bucket of water cooling and dealing with the hot items while you go about your business.

Have I wanted one from time to time? Yes. Do I have one? NO.

Burning a hole through 2" plate is easier than drilling.

What's wrong with raw linseed oil for food applications? It's quite commonly used on wooden worktops, carved spoons, bowls, cups etc. It'll dry if you leave it long enough. All my hammer handles are treated with several coats of it, as are several other wooden objects inside and outside the home, and I have made canvas oilcloth with it on many occasions. So-called 'boiled' linseed oil should of course be steered well clear of; it tends to contain heavy-metal dryers these days and polymerises a lot faster so is more likely to be a fire risk. If you're really worried get some 'flax-seed oil' from the supermarket or healthfood shop; it's exactly the same stuff but guaranteed to be food-grade. Heck linseed is a food; it's the seed of the linen (flax) plant. In general I much prefer a linseed finish to a varnish (especially a modern nitro varnish); it nourishes the wood, it allows the wood to 'breathe', it can be reapplied easily, it gives a much better tactility and looks so much better. Besides which it's 'natural' and has been used for millenia.

If you can find flax seed oil on it that says USP on it then by all means use it.
We are not discussing what the theory is but what is practical and available.
For me I think about potential liability of food grade items the same way I think about lighting fixtures. I use bee's wax and grapeseed oil on forge products that may wind up in someone's kitchen, and I don't make lighting items to be rewired for electricity.

I happen to like raw linseed oil and have used it many times on many different occasions. Boiled linseed oil does not necessairly have heavy metal dryers in it. Boiled linseed oil is simply that in most brands. The process starts the first phase of cross linking. In this case heating the wood in the oil would achieve much the same result. How ever you don't know the source or the processing of the oil and so may be exposing your self to a number of toxins.

The one thing I know about "flax seed oil" is that it is processed differently from linseed oil and that it is not as stable as other vegatable oils.

Works for me.

Very Nice Job. I think that anyone would be pround to own that Machete. One luck Grandfather.

ok i have to agree about the rancid part that is annoying. but i will be using this knife as my primary boy scout knife (i am a boy scout and 15). the linseed is not good for food. and who said it was virgin oiliv oil? i would buy the cheap stuff that is just olive oil. although mineral oil would be great. the cvs in my area only sells the super scented stuff and i don't want to have a knife that smells better than i do! but i used cooking oil and it stopped smelling after a week or two. so slow setting epoxy it is. maybe even bacon grease after my mom cooks (or i do) breakfast. Charlotte: by solid white shortening do you mean crisco or shortening? i have heard of shotening just not solid white shortening. just asking. thanks again for the posts.

Yes crisco or similar, is what I used. The mineral oil I'm talking about is in the laxitive sections and marked U.S.P. People drink it. Usuall costs about 2 buck. The left over can be used as a quench medium.

If you search the posts in the knife section, there is a thread about veggie based oils going rancid, from natural decomposition.

Steve, in this application the oil doesn't go rancid. I've used it on food grade handles for many years. What actully happens is that it will polymerize like linseed oil only at a slower rate.

Linseed oil is my personal first choice for no-food grade applications.

Tung oil is even better but sort of expensive and difficult find when you use once and throw away.

These oils cross link and make varnish in more or less time.
I have avoided playing with the dryers, like japan drier, because they can cause toxic or allergic reaction.

An hour to set is slow setting epoxy.

Well the first time I oiled made handles I used Solid white shortening.

Actually for a pocket knife you could use boiled linseed oil. But be sure to dispose of the oil afterward.

You could use olive oil. The reason for food grade oil was only food contact.

Mineral oil is available at the drug store in bottles costing a buck or so. Much less than olive oil. Agin a suggestion just based on common house hold items.

Boiled linseed oil is relatively cheaper than olive oil and usully sold in pint or quart cans at hardware store. Using linseed oil would be better than the other oils.

Dry oak will make a good handle for every day use if you soak it up with slow setting epoxy.

In times past I've make handles for cookware by putting the wood in mineral oil and heating it gently to the point at which the wood starts to turn brown and then letting it cool. Heating drives out air and water and the oil soaks in.

Afterward I would just wipe off and wash with detergent. (All this After final shaping)

Many of the handles of folders I see use Corian scrap. ( Stuff from making kitchen counters. A kind of mineral filled plastic)

I checked out a local Festenal store today. Looked like they had may things not commonly available at most hardware suppliers.

That is the up side. Another up side is that they have no min purchase.
The down side is that their prices seemed to range between barely competative with the local Ace hardware to the slightly outrageous.

The wanted $9.41/ft @ 12 ft for 1x1 cold rolled 1018. They also had some 304 and 316 stainless as well as a limited amout of 1045 and 6061 AL. I didn't price those after the cold rolled 1018. Another down side is that nuts and bolts go in complete packages.

However on the up side they had grades and sizes of nuts and bolts you don't see anywhere else. They also carry stocked taps and dies packaged by the each.

I assume that they have a multi-tier discount system as may industrial supply houses do. They are on the web with a catalogue so failing all else you may be able to use them occasionally

Very good find! Reminds me of the Smokey Mtns. Wish I was back in the tri cities this time of year. :)

Using a machine like this is an insult to the very concept of blacksmithing. Cold bent steel is not, in any sense 'wrought ironwork', Anyone can knock out that kind of rubbish.

I agree with you in spirit! However, there are people that need some sort of commercial edge to make a living in the business.

Essentially it seems to me that the ornamental smith has basically three options. Develop a reputation in a locality for being an Art Smith and hussle the aspiring elites for commisions, or two, Compete in the local market against weldors who order there scrolls and ornamental fittings by the hundred weight from else where by offering custom designs and economizing his time and physical strength for those touches that make designs special or, three go broke and drive a truck to pay the bills.