ymber

Alright I'll take some measurements of the forge and run the numbers. It's kinda long and thin so it might lend itself better to multiple burners. I might just take the excuse to build a new forge if I'm doing a burner already. Where you talk about the air intake carrying capacity, what is that? I understand a 1" wide air intake would work out at an area much bigger than 2x3/4" so is it fine to have oversized air intakes as long as it doesn't cause a problem for getting the jet gap down to 0.5D?

Ah apologies, I was looking at that document so long my brain started filling in diameter where it says area. I'm working with BSP nominal sizes to build this from British plumbing parts so I've got to run the numbers myself because it's different to NPT sizes. Before I go and redo all my calculations, is a 3/4" burner a good idea for a single burner forge meant to work on things up to the size of a large knife? I was considering going down to 1/2" but I'm building this for an existing forge made from a cut up propane tank and the non working burner it had already is a ~1.1" modified Frosty T burner design even though it's not a particularly big canister and the insulation cuts the interior volume down more.

I'm looking at building a 3/4" T burner and the build document is confusing me. If the air intake diameter is supposed to be twice the pipe diameter why do you use a 1"x3/4" T and not a 1 1/2"x3/4" one?

Tim Gunn on here had promising results with a burner built around an Amal injector in a small diameter forge. I reckon a 1/2" injector burner would be workable in a small can forge. It's mostly something I'd be interested in for a future build when I've got enough space to build something permanent. The reason I'm still leaning towards a Mikey burner is that it runs off a blowtorch so the system can be smaller and more self contained than an Amal burner and fuel supply for it. Fuel efficiency is also a concern when I'm going to be running this on really small propane canisters.

This burners thing is a real rabbit hole. I'm looking at the Amal atmospheric injector designs some people run now and they're promising but I'm not sure about running one without a big propane tank. A Mikey burner on a blowtorch might still be my best bet. I'll see what I can build and report results.

If you get rid of most of the torch tube and just leave the threaded section to mount the Mikey burner on does that mean the only thing the original torch is doing is supplying propane to the burner assembly? That would mean that just about any propane fueled blowtorch would work the same once it's refitted with a 1/2" Mikey burner, right? The design for the 1/2" burner in the book looks ideal for what I need.

So you reckon the design is workable if I make a custom steel flame tube for the torch?

I'm looking to build a very small, light, and cheap forge that I won't be keeping for long. I want to forge small mild steel pieces and try lower temperature metal casting. I saw this design and it looks quite interesting and very easy. Reading the burners 101 thread though I'm concerned about inadequate airflow keeping temperatures down from a lack of oxygen in the flame in that design because there is so little ventilation. Does it look like that would be a problem for it? I'm also curious what torches people use for these kinds of designs and what fuel efficiency is like in them. The TS8000 he's using in the video is hard to come by in this country and way more expensive than it is in America if you can get one at all.

Where do you source wrought iron in Britain? I could only find one place selling it and they weren't set up to send out small orders.

If I can get the same look in mild steel I'll be happy. Bright mild steel bar stock is really easy to come by in this country. I'll have to go learn more about finishes.

It was at a traditional skills demonstration and I think I remember the guy saying the rod was iron. I might be misremembering now though. Non-cast iron does seem quite hard to come by. If I worked with some common mild steel like EN3B in a gas forge would I get that black oxide layer to protect it without deliberately blackening it afterwards?

Years ago (10ish?) I forged a pendant and I'm trying to work out exactly what material it is. I'm sure it's some kind of iron and not steel. It's just a bent bar with the top flattened and that black oxide was on it straight out the forge. I messed up filing some bits so that's how the rust you can see on the picture got to it. I understand steel types and grades but not much about the different irons you get. Is there any way to tell what I forged this from back then? I want to get more of it now that I'm looking to set up my own forge.