Fe-Wood Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I'm still needing to build another propane forge and have been thinking about a recuperative forge and/or a ribbon burner. My goals would be fuel efficiency and ease of building. Imagine that!... Anyway, I've been reading up on Rob Gunthers recuperative forge and ribbon burners and I have two thoughts. Has anyone tried using heated air for the combustion air on a ribbon burner? The other thought is, has anyone used drilled out 4.5"x3"x9" K-26 soft bricks as the flame holder on a ribbon burner? The forge body design I'm thinking about involves using full size soft bricks and angle iron frames that clamp everything together with all-thread. Very simple and easy to rebuild. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Upham Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 To add to your thoughts ... drilled bricks should be a very good alternative to the cast refractory ribbon burner ... a 1/4" carbide drill shold work fine, although I'd drill the bricks with a spray mist of water to eliminate dust. Adding a heat exchanger to pre-heat the intake air will improve overall efficiency of the forge. The Gunther/Sandia design is well suited because of the chimney configuration. Capturing exhaust heat from a contemprary "open end" design forge would be more challenging and I suspect that the cost of the heat exchange could offset the reduction in fuel cost. ... just thoughts ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thanks for your thoughts Herb. Ya, Drilling the holes with a carbide masonry bit should do the trick. One of my thoughts is how the porosity of the soft brick will affect air flow. Given that I'm going to be building the forge from the ground up, I'm thinking I'll run the air supply tube over an opening in the top of the forge either on the front or back end of the forge to catch some of the dragons breath before it exits. Making a limited opening for the tube so I can control the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Soft brick work well for doors and a place to put down hot iron while getting a new grip. They do not hold up well to the heat inside a forge. If you want to drill fire brick for a ribbon burner use the hard brick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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