Smiths Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I'm wondering what the best way is to build one. I haven't been to town to look in the hardware stores yet, but thought I would ask you guys before I go looking. Per some great advice I received here at the forum, I want to make a "ram rod" or plunger type air restrictor for the tywere I am building. I'm pretty sure the tywere pipe will be 1" ID set in a v-trough fire "bowl". I want to be able to use the plunger or ram-rod to shut off air jets for making smaller fires, while leaving me the ability to have longer, larger fires on occasion. So what would be the best way to make this plunger? Is there anything ready-made that is round, and the right size to make the plunger head out of? Will I need to fab something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Well I used a metal pulley fastened to a piece of round stock---seemed to have worked well for the decade or so I had that forge...Got mine at the scrap yard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Use an appropriate hole saw carefully in some mild steel. Careful not to burn the saw. Yes, a common, hardware store hole saw will cut mild just fine, you can cool with water from a hose, just dry and oil the tool when done. Phil edit: drill press is probably a good idea, but isn't be necessary. Slow speed and steady pressure will get you through. Yes, I have done this with 1/4 inch steel several times. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidney brink Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 if you drill a small hole in the saw kerf the chips will have some place to go and you can saw steel as thick as inside of saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiths Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Great ideas. Thanks! Hopefully I can use the two circles we cut from the ends of the barrel and sandwich them together on some all-thread rod with some locking nuts. I don't know. Will it get too hot? We plan to use a box bellows. Will it get too hot inside the tywere when we quit pumping the bellows? I know it probably wouldn't be a problem with constant, forced air, but if we stop pumping will my ram rod melt? I don't have any welding equipment right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiths Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Well I used a metal pulley fastened to a piece of round stock---seemed to have worked well for the decade or so I had that forge...Got mine at the scrap yard Was that pulley welded onto the stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiths Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Is 1" ID going to be a good diameter for this tywere? If I ever open up the holes for a long fire, it will be pretty long. Do I need a larger diameter pipe, or progressively larger "jets" as I move farther from the bellows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 No I just jammed it on and ran the set screw in to hold it. If your metal was steel it will not melt. I think mine was closer to 2" and I drilled a lot of 1/4" holes in the top 1/3rd of the pipe. (I've used the ramrod as a ramrod in my 2" bore falconette...) My first forge had an electric blower ($1.40 of irony aluminum scrap from the scrapyard...)and so way more air than needed and so I didn't notice much linear difference. Of course long fires were generally for heat treating and so they were gently blown to cut down on oxidation. Like most "junkyard" equipment it was built and tweaked to use what I had to hand to keep costs down---I used clay from the local creek mixed with sand for the infill for example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I don't get it. Is this a pipe lying in a v trough and the pipe has holes in it for your tuyeres? Don't they clog up right away? Kinda' like an old bathtub drain full of holes. As a tuyere, it gets clogged. Somebody tell me I'm wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I don't get it. Is this a pipe lying in a v trough and the pipe has holes in it for your tuyeres? Don't they clog up right away? Kinda' like an old bathtub drain full of holes. As a tuyere, it gets clogged. Somebody tell me I'm wrong. Sorry Frank you may be wrong. Have made a couple or more forges like that and they work fine, used coal and coke for fuel. Holes were larger than 1/4" diameter though. They were a metre (39") in length and used for heating and twisting three 1/2" diameter bars together to form a rope like twist along a full bar length 20'plus You could control the length of the fire by inserting plugs into the holes in the tuyere when it was needed to do more "normal" type work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 It might be a function of fuel, I never had much trouble with mine for a decade or so of use. Charcoal was mainly ash. Did have a bit of clinker at times with good coal that I just tapped off when cold and having a stout ramrod I could clean off any drips into the tube by rapid oscillation (not osculation!) of the ram rod in the pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiths Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 No I just jammed it on and ran the set screw in to hold it. If your metal was steel it will not melt. I think mine was closer to 2" and I drilled a lot of 1/4" holes in the top 1/3rd of the pipe. (I've used the ramrod as a ramrod in my 2" bore falconette...) My first forge had an electric blower ($1.40 of irony aluminum scrap from the scrapyard...)and so way more air than needed and so I didn't notice much linear difference. Of course long fires were generally for heat treating and so they were gently blown to cut down on oxidation. Like most "junkyard" equipment it was built and tweaked to use what I had to hand to keep costs down---I used clay from the local creek mixed with sand for the infill for example That helps me a lot. You've answered a couple of really important questions for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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