Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Retort build progress


Recommended Posts

I have been wanting to build a retort for some time.So today I stopped by the scrap yard and picked up some pieces of 4" and 6" pipe and I bought a 4x6 concentric sch 40 reducer from a supplier. I cut my interior barrel and welded up the pipe. I'm following Ian's design. Don't laugh at my rookie welds. So far I have a total of $56.00 into it and I don't think I need to buy anything else.
Thanks for looking,
EricS

post-280-0-08648500-1389840015_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sweet, that's looking good! That's something I've wanted to do but haven't gotten around to it. For now I've just been putting a lid and covering the bottom holes off my burn barrel.

What type of welder did you use on the inner barrel? I know it's a bit thin for my arc welder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished up the retort today well almost finished . I still have to put the fire grate in the fire tube and get some caulk for the flange. Here are some pics. I'm going to try an fire it up sometime this week.

post-23601-0-42321700-1390170379_thumb.jpost-23601-0-89008700-1390170440_thumb.jpost-23601-0-33870700-1390170660_thumb.jpost-23601-0-36979800-1390170736_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If i had the time this week I would! Your retort looks really good. Mine is nearly finished as well. I had problems sourcing the reducer and the pipe in general. Yours looks almost cast-iron like. I found 4.5"OD sch 40 steel pipe and the closest thing to 6" I found and bought was 7.5" OD sch 40 steel pipe. I bought the lengths for both. My cutting torch and plasma cutter were having issues lastnight so I had to use my portable chop saw and a 25,000rpm cut off wheel to do the job. Not to mention no flanges in my search, so had to make one from 1/4" plate as well (Again, no plasma or cutting torch!!!). Got it all set with holes drilled and pieces welded late lastnight. Maybe 3-4 hours left of fabbing, welding and assembly. Today is my daughters first birthday, so tomorrow I will have time to finish. Then its time to stockpile charcoal.

 

I've made charcoal in the past but always the indirect method. While my return was high and the charcoal was top quality, it took too long and the amount of wood I had to use for fuel was more than charcoal I was getting back. Was nearly ready to turn these two drums into Lee Sauders direct method when Mark mentioned yours and Ian's set-up, and I gave it a look. At that point I was sold, and a week later nearly finished the project.

 

You will like that ore. That particular ore WANTS to be Iron. Really hard to get it to steel straight from bloom furnace. A Hearth will fix that however, and make it high quality steel. I've even been entertaining the idea of trying out blister and sheer steel lately. We shall see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fired up the retort about 1.5 hours ago. It was eating up fuel and i wasn't getting the roar Ian was speaking of. So I walk to the house for a glass of water and when I got back almost exactly 1. 5 into I could hear the roar slowly pick up. The fuel is out and she's running on gases!!!
Dan the pipe I used was sch 10 fire sprinkler steel pipe thinner wall but same OD so the sch 40 reducer worked fine.
I can't wait until the morning to see how the charcoal turned out I used pine and hickory. By the way I found a good source for clay in Charlotte ( no shipping) so as soon as the weather breaks I will have my stack built and I should be ready to have my first smelt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad to hear it went well, can't wait to hear of your results!
I've also made a retort using 6'' sched 10 cutting out wedges and re-welding to form the reducer it works but if you can get a reducer at the scrapyards all the better.

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yea i wish my scrapyard had that pipe. I bought a little extra but my total pipe weight is around 90# after its all said and done. No reducer either so i'll have to weld a plate to the bigger pipe and cut a hole out for the 4.5", to work as a transition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daniel, the ''cone'' helps to ''speed'' up the draw, kind of venturi effect.

Ian

 

Well I'm kind of committed with my pipe sizes and finding one this size would be difficult unless I fab a cone, which is inherently difficult. We'll have to see I guess.

 

EDIT: May forge one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...