Baconchsbrgr

You mean bigger as in, diameter? I cut this stump to height based on some of the recommendations I saw about height of working surface. I can try either some large nails or I can try making a few to put in place. Goal is still to get thicker steel and I’ll upgrade when I get the chance. If it works as another surface, though, then I’ll keep it around. I saw your advice about the silicone on another thread as well. Thanks, I’ll give that a go. Any prep work needed for the metal or wood before applying?

Got a nice piece of steel I cleaned up, cut a stump to size and chained it up. I don't have a drill press or I probably would've looked at bolts as a better alternative. I was able to cut small slots so the chain would align and bite to hold the plate in place and then lagged the chain into the wood in about four places. Worked pretty well for about 20 min, but the repeated vibrations pulled the plate out of the chain on the left side of this picture. Any tips on how to secure this better until I can get some thicker metal to use? And before you get all hot and bothered, no, I'm not making anything significant out of the rebar. Just using it to heat and bang on to test the "anvil's" ability to take some hits.

I've got a basic set on order; should get it this weekend. If I get it in time or not, I'll be firing up the forge again this weekend so I can tell if removing some of the tape helped out. More to follow...

Roger, and will pick up some next time I can get to the store. I've been limiting store visits until it becomes essential due to the COVID precautions. I can also check if Amazon carries them.

Quick update: took it apart last night and found some of the tape was a little too far down the tip and may have been blocking the opening some. Not sure why it took multiple hours of run time before it became a problem, but that might be it. I also ran a thin needle through the MIG tip to see if there was any blockage there, just in case. No issues with that test. I was home a little late, so didn't get a chance to run the forge, but will do so later this week or this weekend when I have some time. Got a 18-month-old at home, so time is a bit limited during the week... I got a little too trigger happy on the tape; it's the yellow, propane-rated tape, but I applied too much overall and got some comments on that in another post on the forum. Coming back to bite me once again.

Thanks to both of you. Yes, I'm using a .023 MIG tip. I went with the smaller one to try and keep a better ratio for the smaller burner. I'll check the tip later today when I get back home and let you know if I find any blockage. Didn't think to check that. I haven't run the forge again to see if it would happen when starting from cold; this happened to me yesterday for the first time. I didn't think that the tank was getting cold enough to start freezing... no visible frost at least. I can try the water bath next time I run it. I'd like to upgrade to a bigger tank later down the road anyway, but it's quick and easy to get the 20lb bottles and refill them locally without many questions. I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to deal with the freezing issues others have faced since I'm not pulling that much propane in the small burner and forge.

Hi all, I'm a newbie who's built a basic forge and have just recently started. I did a lot of research online on how exactly to set up a starter forge and built a passable version of Frosty's T-burner for it. I've fired it up a few times and after some small modifications I have a good heat (as far as I can tell), good pressure, and can work steel with it. My issue came up yesterday as I was working on a piece- the forge sputtered for about a second or two and then went back to normal. I checked the lines, pressure, and amount of propane in the tank (approx 3/8 full) and everything seemed normal. I went back to work, thinking maybe a breeze messed with the airflow for a second (I work outside) and when it happened again I decided to stop and secure the forge until I could figure out what was going on. I do NOT want to risk too much with propane if I don't understand what it's doing. The sputtering looked and sounded like a loss of pressure or a change in the gas/air mixture- I could hear the difference (sounded like the vortex stopped in the forge) and I got 3-4" light yellow flames licking out the mouth of the forge. I do not get dragon's breath on this forge when running normally. The vortex then returned and the flames stopped. My setup has a standard bbq bottle (20lbs?) running through a gauge, 30psi regulator, hose, and into t-burner. The burner is 1/2" diameter, but is scaled down in length to match the math Frosty listed in his diagrams. I am usually running the forge between 11-14psi and an hour or two at a time. At the time that it started sputtering it had run for about 45 min- 1 hour with no issues. No indication of icing; I read tank level at about 3/8th full. The parts are all relatively new so I don't expect to have a worn coupling, hose, or regulator. Not saying I don't, just that it seems unlikely. My question to the group is what's happening here and is it a normal occurrence or something I should watch out for? My initial guess is that the tank level is lower than it should be, I'm losing pressure in the line and just need to refill. With low pressure I get no venturi effect and therefore no air coming in the burner, which would explain the dragon's breath. I assumed the gauge on the line would be correct, but in hindsight almost every gauge I work with at work needs calibration, so why shouldn't this one as well? If it did need calibration, shouldn't it just be a little off, though, and not enough to give me even a warning? At what level do most smiths with gas forges change out their bottles? Erring on the side of caution until told otherwise. Side note: I perused through the forum looking at other problems people have reported with their new forges and burners and I didn't find a thread that quite matched this. I could've missed it, so please forgive me for starting a new one if I did.

Got it; I am only running this outdoors already due to a healthy fear/respect for propane, high heat, and toxic gasses. Will probably continue that way unless I open up my garage to work. If it's not going to hurt anything and just give me a less-than-ideal mixture I'll keep using it for now until I get a new one made up. Just wanted to check here and make sure. Thanks for the note on the thread tape- that's easy to fix and I'll remove it. Tape was cheap and I got a little tape-happy, ya know?

Big thanks to Frosty and the group around here for the insight and guiding new people through the process. I've been reading through these forums for a while now; finally signed up to get the T-burner designs and started a basic forge for a proof-of-concept. Built a down-sized T-burner (used the ratios in the blueprints to go down to 1/2" instead of 3/4") but am a little lacking in infrastructure here - I don't have a drill press and am using a smaller, handheld drill and a vise attached to a stump. Drilled and tapped holes, but am off about 10 degrees on the MIG tip. Fired up the forge anyway, did a leak test and operated fine at about 15PSI. Heated metal well and got a good air-gas ratio with a little adjustment. No dragon's breath and no issues with the burner found. My question for you is whether or not this misalignment will slow me down or seriously damage anything or is it serviceable to run until I build a more long-lasting forge down the road? Is there anything I can do other than getting a new T-fitting and re-drilling it? Side note, yes, I know I'm using a bunch of fittings there; I had access to them and a propane regulator on a hose and it seemed to work instead of getting the tubing. Will probably go that route instead with the next forge build, just wanted to get something working for now so I could get a feel for this craft and learn. Appreciate any feedback or recommendations. I've already learned a ton just reading everyone else's questions.