tatertatum Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 (edited) i have a two burner gas forge and i have two beautiful blue flames from my burners i run my propane pressure at 9 and the best I can get is 1/2" round stock to yellow no matter how long i let it soak it will not get to white hot. So the pressure seams high to me but orange is all i can get if i take it down to 5. I put two more fire brick in front of the large opening to keep more heat in but that didn't help. any ideas I'm still trying to figure out pictures on here but once i get it I'll be sending out a few to show what mine looks like running. thanks Tater Edited August 16, 2009 by tatertatum add picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 If you are running it with that whole side open Theres your problem. Try 2 more bricks in the open side. Same as the back. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatertatum Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 I did put two bricks in the front opening making it the same size as the back door when I get how from work tonight I'll take pictures so everyone can see what it looks like running I'll even throw in some 1/2" round stock and heat it up so everyone can see how hot I can cant get it. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Tater, Should work, I run a diamondback artist forge. Has open ends and open front with a door. I close the door and most of one end. Will run 2-18 psi. A low grill tank would cause low heat. I run mine on a 100lb tank. Any relation to the TV guy tater salad? More GRIN. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatertatum Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Ok here are the pictures of my forge running and the color of the steel at full temp only the metal is alot more yellow in person than in the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonjic Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 What she lined with? Hard brick linings take forever to get hot. Is it a home built forge / burners, or have you purchased it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welder19 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 If it isn't very well insulated it could be some of the trouble or like John N said your not giving it enough time to heat up, especially if it is dense firebrick and not insulating/light weight firebrick. welder19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) It looks like you are using hard firebrick soaps for your forge. A redesign in order. Keep you bricks and surroun them with insulating blanket. aka KAO Wool or similiar. Put you metal shell around that and you should be good to go. Paint the inside with ITC and you will have an excellent durable forge that will serve you for years. Personnaly I like hard brick on the inside of a forge to take the abuse. Insulating brick or blanket on the out side for stop heat transfer and a light metal shell to keep the blanket from getting beat up. I built my first gas forges shell form light gauge angle and duct work sheet. Edited August 17, 2009 by Charlotte spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatertatum Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 this is a purchased forge by a well known forge maker with a good size following, its is fire brick inside and the two i put in the front are fire brick as well. i don't know if fire wool will help much the brick are very tight together inside, i think I'm going to cut down the front fire brick and put them in permanent and cut down another piece to cover the pass though door in the back when I'm not using it. all i need is little more i heat to get to welding temp and wife to be is just wanting me to scrap the gas forge and buy a coal forge. I think I'll play with this a little longer but if cant get the heat i need with a little redesign I'll just go buy the coal forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 What is the volume of the inside? What size burners are you using? Insulation is very helpful for getting a forge to higher temps simply because it limits the heat conducted to the outside through the liner. However, if there is more volume than the burners can efficiently heat it isn't going to get as hot as it should. Here's a trick you can use to get to welding heat. Take up some of the forge volume with a light firebrick. That will reduce the interior volume about 90 cu/in and increase the temp. Also, it's entirely possible to weld at low yellow with the right flux and technique. I've watched farrier/smiths weld at low orange but they were a lot better at it than I. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) The first thing I would do is get the maker on the phone and tell him wot is happening. If you can e him the pics you showed us to give him a clear idea of wot you are seeing. Secondly I don't believe in guage pressures for this kind of operation. The guage dial reading and the flow volume of the orifice have to work together. I have owned about a half dozen lpg regulators with dial pressure guages and non of them seem to read the same. If I switch two guages with out changing the pressure they read differently, I have also never found one that lasts any period of time. If 9 lbs does not heat I would raise it a few pounds. If the maker of the forge set it up at a different altitude that may cause a need for different pressures or flow. I can assure you that the maker of the forge is on the same page as you are. They want it to work. Edited August 17, 2009 by Rich Hale ............................................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Some folks who have forges lined with hard firebrick (it comes in several varieties you know) have to let their forge run for an hour or more to get the bricks up to temp before they can weld. Edited August 17, 2009 by ThomasPowers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatertatum Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 well i took the ideas and this what happened I put a fire brick along the back on the inside and i split a brick in half (almost) and filled the front space now it only has a 3x4 opening in the front. then i fired it up and i let it set a half hour and put some 1/2" round stock in to let it soak it got real close the what i was wanting but not quite. I reset my pressure to 15 and tried again and guess what BAM white hot in no time. So i will bring it down a little at a time till i find the right spot to set the pressure on my gauge. I knew i asked the right people thank you to everyone for the input but now that i can get all the heat ranges i was wanting I'm going back out to the garage and do some work! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looper567 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 That "well known" forge maker has been peddling these Firebrick forges for quite some time. Although he states in his ads the the liner is, in fact, NOT firebrick, the fact is, it's just plain old dense firebrick. Dense Ceramic firebrick WILL NOT insulate, period. It has a very high thermal conductivity, which means heat passes through it quite efficiently. He had been touting that firebrick as the best things since sliced bread until we started selling on ebay, he has since started producing some forges with adequate insulation, but still offers those firebrick gas wasters. You want to get that forge to perform? Step one: Remove the dense firebrick (or "Steel mill furnace liner" as he calls it LOL) from the walls and ceiling and place it in the nearest trash can. Step two: Replace the dense firebrick with some Insulating Firebrick splits, preferably the 2600 deg variety. These are the white bricks, very light in weight and easily cut with a hacksaw. The splits will be 9" long x 4 1/2" wide x 1 1/4" thick. I believe Larry Zoeller sells these on his website. Step three: Close the forge back up and use a 1 1/8" holesaw to cut the holes through the ceiling for the burners. Step four: Don't believe ANYTHING someone says on the internet, especially if they are trying to profit from it! This should make a HUGE difference in the performance of that forge. An extra brick could be used to reduce the end opening size for even greater performance. This is the easiest and cheapest way to get some real performance. The IFB is the same size as the Dense Brick that is already in there, so it is a direct replacement. There are much better alternatives, but they will require modifications to the forge shell. If you really want to get the maximum performance out of it, a complete reline with quality materials will work wonders. If you are interested, call me at 704-948-7676. I ain't trying to sell you anything, but I can direct you to where you can get the materials and can offer advice on maximizing the potential of what you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 If you replace your bricks, save those bricks for when your Vogelzang wood stove cracks a brick, or you need a sacrificial brick for fluxing, or need to set red hot metal down to cool. I bought a box of 6 of those bricks for $20 last year at the local big box store, and they have utility. 2 are keeping my wood fireplace grate in position. Hot borax seems to do nothing to them at least, although I only have used borax once. I *was* going to use them as a gas forge floor, but I'm going to order a 12x12 from Zoeller and cut it to fit. Just my $0.02. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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