Hutch88 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I'm building a brake drum forge and I live in a suburb so I'll be using charcoal. I have access to O2 and I was wondering if anybody has experimented with piping in oxygen through the blower. I know this will intensify the fire but is there any reason I shouldn't do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Marti Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Just use a hair dryer for the air supply and go read up on the subject some more. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutch88 Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Got it. Plenty of oxygen in the air for what we're doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndnchf Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Pure oxygen is highly explosive - you may recall the Apollo 1 oxygen explosion that killed 3 of our astronauts in 1967. Be safe, a blower is all you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Loe said above the amount of oxyden in the air surrounding use will support combustion quite well,,and for your forge a flow of air will take care of your fire needs. And oxygen is not explosive at all. that is a myth. Wot it is is an oxidizer and it potentiates combustion, In pure form that can be quite dramatic. If you want data :http://msds.lindeus.com/files/msds/WPS_LIND_068_NA_MSDS_FINAL_REV_9_2_10.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale M. Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Yes it will give you hotter fire, yes it will heat your metal faster, yes it oxidize (burn) your metal faster, will it make setting up forge and fire more complex, probably.... Is it practical, probably not, is it worth the hassles, probably not.... IF you need more heat try coal instead of charcoal or build a bigger fire.... Sort of like in the Jaws movie when the actor said "think we're going to need a bigger boat".... Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale M. Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 OOPS!... Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Coal and charcoal produce about the same amount of BTUs *per* *pound*. Coal started to be used by smiths in the high to late Middle Ages, ("Cathedral Forge and Waterwheel" Gies & Gies); but the yse of charcoal as a smithing fuel continued in parallel to using coal to this day---traditionally made japanese swords are forge welded using charcoal! If you are not getting enough heat using charcoal---you are using it *WRONG*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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