Mongo Burner - Any thoughts?

[Ben van Leeuwen]

Just curious, has anyone here made one of Ron Reil's Mongo burners? I am thinking of making one myself, but it seems to be pretty large. I believe he says somewhere in his write up that it would be suitable for 2 cu. ft. of forge. That's pretty big. Maybe I should think about the Mini-mongo instead? I haven't picked out what I am going to be using for my forge yet, but I am really doubting that it will be 2 cu. ft. From everything I have read, it seems like 1 large burner in a big forge is less effective/useable than 2 smaller and more controllable burners. Is that anywhere near the truth?

Whaddya think? It would be great to hear your thoughts on this particular burner, or any other scratch-builts that you have had success with. I am pretty green at this, so fire away!

[Frosty]

I'm not familiar with Ron's Mongo. What's the dia of the burner tube?

How large a forge chamber do you think you'll need? 2/cu' is pretty big, are you starting a spring shop? Here's the rule of thumb for burner size and quantity. "One each 3/4" burner to every 300-350 cu/in volume." This is based on the area of the burner tube so if you use a 1" burner it's twice the area and will heat twice the volume or 700 cu/in. and so on.

What's better, bigger burners or more is a good question and deserving of consideration. A lot will depend on what you want to do. For instance say you're heating a melting furnace. This puts most of the heat at the bottom circulating to heat the entire crucible before exiting the exhaust port so one big burner is the better choice. If you're working long sections, say hand twisting fence pickets you're looking at using a long narrower forge chamber so more burners evenly spaced will work better.

Like so much of this craft it depends on what you want or need to do that counts. I just hope this makes it a little more clear.

Frosty The Lucky.

[pkrankow]

If this is your first forge, and you are still learning and do not have a specific purpose in mind ("Eventually I want to ..." is not a specific purpose) I recommend making a small forge between 150 and 300 cubic inches for a single 3/4 inch burner. I recommend a slot up the side that can be closed, a door in the back that can be closed, and a door in the front. Closing the front as needed is good, but not necessary.

This small of a size is easy to feed, easy to store, and cheap to build.

When you get to a point of outgrowing this forge, you will know enough to build a bigger forge very easily, and hopefully have a steady income stream from your work to feed the larger forge.

Phil

[Rich Hale]

Folks on here that have built forges and had trouble with them almost each and every time its the same thing: they changed something of more than somethings from the working original design. Those that put their plans out for folks to build forges put the right info in the links. Build a forge, Put the burner in like the link says and start heating.
Its as simple as that. Answers you get in here in cluding mine may not be from someone that has used a mongo burner. There are folks llike Frosty and i that have built gassers. I think there may be a link to his,,I do not share how I did mine. Wotever design you use stick with the plan.

[RandyScott]

I'm not familiar with Ron's Mongo. What's the dia of the burner tube?

Here is the link to Ron's 'Forge and Burner Design - Page 1' http://ronreil.abana.org/design1.shtml check about half to two-thirds down the page.

The Mongo has a diamenter of 2.5".. that is a very healthy burner. I've seen a 1" Mongo style with a 2 foot dragon's breath.. don't know how you could survive a full size Mongo in a forge vs. a furnace.

[Ben van Leeuwen]

"One each 3/4" burner to every 300-350 cu/in volume." This is based on the area of the burner tube so if you use a 1" burner it's twice the area and will heat twice the volume or 700 cu/in. and so on. What's better, bigger burners or more is a good question and deserving of consideration. A lot will depend on what you want to do. For instance say you're heating a melting furnace. This puts most of the heat at the bottom circulating to heat the entire crucible before exiting the exhaust port so one big burner is the better choice. If you're working long sections, say hand twisting fence pickets you're looking at using a long narrower forge chamber so more burners evenly spaced will work better. Like so much of this craft it depends on what you want or need to do that counts. I just hope this makes it a little more clear. Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, I should have mentioned that the burner was 2.5" dia. I have read many of your posts giving the 3/4" burner guideline, and so I was thinking that the Mongo was really big. Not knowing much about burners though, I thought maybe it was just a product of the design, and that it could be comparative to a 3/4". Seems to be that isn't the case. I read a little more on Ron's website and there was mention of someone using this burner to fire a kiln, so I think I oughta follow your advice here and stick with a 3/4".

If this is your first forge, and you are still learning and do not have a specific purpose in mind ("Eventually I want to ..." is not a specific purpose) I recommend making a small forge between 150 and 300 cubic inches for a single 3/4 inch burner. I recommend a slot up the side that can be closed, a door in the back that can be closed, and a door in the front. Closing the front as needed is good, but not necessary. This small of a size is easy to feed, easy to store, and cheap to build. When you get to a point of outgrowing this forge, you will know enough to build a bigger forge very easily, and hopefully have a steady income stream from your work to feed the larger forge. Phil

Phil, it is my first forge, and it is just as you say. I don't know what I want it to do, other than heat up some metal so that I can start figuring out how to make it move. I definitely want to keep it small, as there is no point in burning more propane than necessary.

Folks on here that have built forges and had trouble with them almost each and every time its the same thing: they changed something of more than somethings from the working original design. Those that put their plans out for folks to build forges put the right info in the links. Build a forge, Put the burner in like the link says and start heating. Its as simple as that. Answers you get in here in cluding mine may not be from someone that has used a mongo burner. There are folks llike Frosty and i that have built gassers. I think there may be a link to his,,I do not share how I did mine. Wotever design you use stick with the plan.

Rich, thats just what I was hoping to do with this Mongo burner, although it is evident now that it is larger than what I need. I don't know enough about forges and burners to start trying to change things on it before I even get going. I like to find a plan that has worked for others, and copy it to a 'T'. If the design ain't broke, I ain't gonna try to fix it.

I'll have to keep looking around here to find another smaller design that I am comfortable to try out. Thanks for the input! Great as always.

[kwp]

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• © 2012 CloudFlare, Inc. Phil you said the forge for one 3/4 in burner could be 150 to 300 in. If it was more toward the 150 range how would it effect the metal? I guess im asking would it get too hot or is there no such thing?