Mark K Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I started lurking here a month or two ago. I took a couple of blacksmithing classes at Homestead heritage in Waco, TX. Great bunch of folks. I've acquired a Hand crank coal forge for work at the parent's farm. I live in Dallas and space is a premium so I decided to build a propane and natural gas powered forge. A pair of interchangeable burners for the two fuels. I have natural gas at the house so it's the fuel of choice. I've found tons of info on LPG but not natural gas. I tried a naturally aspirated natural gas burner similar to a LPG setup but had no luck so I decided to build a blower burner. I built the forge with 2" kaowool and fire bricks for the floor. I used a portable air tank for the body. It's long and about the right diameter. My burner works really well in testing but I want a better/adjustable fan the hair dryer actually has too much flow. I disabled the heaters in the dryer, constricted the input and added bypass vents to get rid of yet more air. Burner Parts: 2" black pipe nipple 4" long 2" hose clamp (to adjust air flow) 2" x1.25" reducing bell 1.25"x3/4" bushing 3/4" x 10" black pipe nipple 3/4"x 1.5" reducing bell (nozzle) 1/8" x 5" black pipe nipple 1/8" cap (for nozzle -- drilled to 7/64") I have hoses, adapters and such to attach this to the natural gas lie for the grill. the burner works well. It'll take 3/8" round to working temp in under 3 min in a cold forge. I'm worried about the longevity of the blower I would love to get it to work without a blower at all. Does anyone here have experience with this? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlreif Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hey Mark. Unless you have a high pressure line Plummed to your shop you are stuck with using a blown setup. There is just not enough pressure to get a naturally aspirated burner To go. Look at blacksmith depot for your blower. Also put in a gate valve to adjust the air flow. If you do that you are golden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knots Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 My Propane forge furnace has a Dayton ?C440 blower that I purchased in the Mid 80's. Blower reference No. U21, 3" squirrel cage blower wheel, 1/25 HP motor. I purchased it at Grainger. The blower has seen moderate service over the years. Longevity seems not to be a problem. I mounted mine using a bolt down pipe flange. to connect the blower to threaded pipe. I trimmed the flange to size to make it pretty. I have been thinking of buying another for a second forge but the 3" Dayton is no longer available at Grainger. The following seem to be the close equivalent: FASCO 6fHX4, PCS 1TDN7. Each of these has a built in junction box as mine does. I drilled the side of the box and installed a toggle switch for convenience. Mine runs a t 1750 RPM they say that these run at a higher RPM. They all have a built in air flow control plate over the intake. This controls the air flow nicely. Perhaps MSC or some of the other suppliers have a similar blower. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 My Propane forge furnace has a Dayton ?C440 blower that I purchased in the Mid 80's. Blower reference No. U21, 3" squirrel cage blower wheel, 1/25 HP motor. I purchased it at Grainger. The blower has seen moderate service over the years. Longevity seems not to be a problem. I mounted mine using a bolt down pipe flange. to connect the blower to threaded pipe. I trimmed the flange to size to make it pretty. I have been thinking of buying another for a second forge but the 3" Dayton is no longer available at Grainger. The following seem to be the close equivalent: FASCO 6fHX4, PCS 1TDN7. Each of these has a built in junction box as mine does. I drilled the side of the box and installed a toggle switch for convenience. Mine runs a t 1750 RPM they say that these run at a higher RPM. They all have a built in air flow control plate over the intake. This controls the air flow nicely. Perhaps MSC or some of the other suppliers have a similar blower. Good luck Thanks! ...now to google Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 I found both of them. They are ~60 cfm and cost ~$80. I have a heater core assembly from a car. I may scavenge the fan from it. It's made for continuous duty and a 12V supply is easy to come by. Oh, and it's free :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Rider Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 http://cgi.ebay.com/EBM-Blower-G2E120-CA17-115-Volt-AC-60Hz-5-Blade-150cfm-/350273556131?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item518dee4ea3 this is the blower I got off ebay. I used a fan reo-stat to slow the fan and a simple gate valve to fine tune. I was told on a squirrel cage fan that it is better to restrict the out flow than the in flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I started lurking here a month or two ago. I took a couple of blacksmithing classes at Homestead heritage in Waco, TX. Great bunch of folks. I've acquired a Hand crank coal forge for work at the parent's farm. I live in Dallas and space is a premium so I decided to build a propane and natural gas powered forge. A pair of interchangeable burners for the two fuels. I have natural gas at the house so it's the fuel of choice. I've found tons of info on LPG but not natural gas. I tried a naturally aspirated natural gas burner similar to a LPG setup but had no luck so I decided to build a blower burner. I built the forge with 2" kaowool and fire bricks for the floor. I used a portable air tank for the body. It's long and about the right diameter. My burner works really well in testing but I want a better/adjustable fan the hair dryer actually has too much flow. I disabled the heaters in the dryer, constricted the input and added bypass vents to get rid of yet more air. Burner Parts: 2" black pipe nipple 4" long 2" hose clamp (to adjust air flow) 2" x1.25" reducing bell 1.25"x3/4" bushing 3/4" x 10" black pipe nipple 3/4"x 1.5" reducing bell (nozzle) 1/8" x 5" black pipe nipple 1/8" cap (for nozzle -- drilled to 7/64") I have hoses, adapters and such to attach this to the natural gas lie for the grill. the burner works well. It'll take 3/8" round to working temp in under 3 min in a cold forge. I'm worried about the longevity of the blower I would love to get it to work without a blower at all. Does anyone here have experience with this? Thanks!! Most guys I've talked to use a motor and fan off of a pellet stove for the blower and you can add a reostat to control your air flow. Most pellet stove outlets have used motors for $25-50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 After getting my railroad anvil and base built I had a bit of time to play. All is good until the hair dryer gives up. It's holding up well. when the forge is running the heat is manageable nothing really even warm to the touch. IT'll take a railroad spike to working temp from a cold forge in less than 5 min. reheats are under a minute and it looks to be hot enough to weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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