Gas forge

[ironstein]

By the way, the blueprint burner is almost exactly like the ones on my forge. They work great.

[Glenn]

I sense some frustrations on both sides of the issue. May I suggest we back up and address the original question again.

I need advice on how to finish the forge itself. I welded up a basic shape, and it's a box, has a handle and even a door. The issue is that I need to drill a hole for the torch head itself. Any thoughts?

Bottom locations are not used as it will stir up dust, slag, and junk and deposit it onto the metal. Drill the hole above center 10 o-clock or 12 o-clock for best operation (from what I have seen and read). I will let others speak to left or right of center and which way to aim the torch, centered, toward the front or toward the back of the forge interior.

The burnz-o-matic torch does not produce enough heat for a gas forge.

Nothing wrong with a square shell, unconventional - but nothing wrong with it. Once it is lined with refractory it will most likely be round-ish to round anyway. Refractory is needed for both insulation, heat retension, and best operation of the gas forge.


BP0192 Gas Forge
May I suggest you build this forge by Garey Ford. It is simple, easy, and works. It should answer many of your questions, and get you a working forge to use. The cost is small as it uses a freon tank and commonly available parts.

If you still have questions, please ask and we can provide answers, based on real information from a known design. From there return to your forge and build it to please you. Modify, change, and rebuild as needed to get that forge to work to your satisfaction. Then come back and tell us what you did, and how it worked out, so we can adjust and modify our forges to work better, based on your designs.

[dothacker]

I was just referring to burner placement and articulation. The burner body (intake tube with bell) should not get hot. It is drawing air for combustion into the forge along with the fuel. This mixture is combusting maybe an inch into the forge and creating the jet-like flame. My forge burners stay so cool you can put your hand on them and they are barely warm.
You can plasma cut and roll your tubes, i was just stating that you should make sure and keep everything smooth. Aerodynamic is the key to an efficient design. If you have a jagged tube it will create turbulence and your flame will be all over the place. Good luck. Just remember that it needs air to combust properly.

Alright, so if we have this here: http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints01/BP0192gasforge/4PICT0057.jpg there is space between the pipe and the inner opening? I can weld the reducer to the outside then, as well?

*edit*
Two replies since I hit the reply button, ok. As for freon tanks, those are not considered common here, as are pipe fittings, though I can go to a store far away and get some. It did answer some questions about the burner, which I was unable to find sufficient information about on the rest of the forum. I will try to make some progress on the burner tomorrow. Thanks for the input. Edited November 16, 2009 by dothacker

[Glenn]

The freon tanks can be located in a auto garage for the AC units on cars, HVAC shops that service air conditioners, or disposable helium tanks at some stores to blow up party balloons.

[peacock]

My parts list and the prints are a little different. The 3/4 square would be the same part as the 1/8 pipe. You can turn it out of soild, cut and roll it, forge it, or put it together from parts it makes no difference. The print is a guide use it any way that works for you. 16 ga would be a little thin. 11 ga would be much better. You should not use 3/4 pipe for the cross tube with the orfice in it. It is too big and will restrict flow on each side of the bell. DO NOT change this design it has been proven many times.
Phil

[Mainely,Bob]

Can`t be of much help with your metal box forge but if you Google simple forge or torch forge you should be able to come up with pics of forges/furnaces made with stacked firebrick and a torch that maybe would be helpful as far as burner placement goes.
Good luck with it.

[Boysen]

New Member here,, hello,,, and please correct me if I am wrong, but cast refractory may be able to take the 3500 degrees, but it is meant to only one time before it becomes brittle and flaky. Will it just begin to erode after several firings? I have used it for glass molds and love it because you can practically break it off the glass with your hands after firing.

[dothacker]

Cast meaning you cast the shape, rather than the wool-resembling forms or non-solid forms. Glass casting uses different materials, at least as far as I've seen anyway. It does get hard and brittle, but so does cast iron. Many forges still use this type of refractory, though it is less convenient than woolen types. They can be used for a long time.

[maddog]

I know this thread is over a year old but it's priceless. It's a classical example of a certain type who shows up on forums every now and then. If I were going to write a spoof on this kind of character, I couldn't have done better! I couldn't stop laughing while I read thru this thread

In his own words: he's read everything that Google can find on gas forges: he admits he doesnt know much about gas forges; he went ahead and built a heavy welded steel shell anyway; only now does he wonder where the burner should be situated and he has given no thought to matching burner output to forge size; nor has he ever heard of simple atmospheric burners, even though these are all over the web; again, while he admits that he knows very little about gas forges he is adamant that refractory is entirely optional, in fact it's a luxury like music or TV; when half a dozen experienced smiths suggest changes (and they all say pretty much the same things) that might make the forge actually work, he accuses them of being trolling hypocrites and requests that they "move on" so that we can make some progress on his issue.


:):)