19 hours ago, Square Nail said:

In an effort to make the perfect Frosty burner, and because of my repeated failures at getting a tip perfectly centered in the "T" I decided to try and make a jig to make it fool proof and repeatable. 

I like it. Want to send it to me when you’re done? 

Square Nail:  are you planning a production run?   Nice setup ya got there

Maybe! I drilled and tapped three T's today, with a hand drill and including tapping took about 15 minutes with perfect results on all three! 

Wow, that's impressive! If you do a production run let me know--I'm thinking about trying a T-burner but don't have a tap yet.

A 30# refrigerant drum with 1" of refractory is about 110 cubic inches, I would think this better suited for a 1/2" burner. I like this burner, it is easy to build and tune Is there any accepted size change to translate it into 1/2" ? 1 1/2" x 1/2" T with .020" orifice??  Anybody?

I used a 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/2" T with a 0.023 mig tip and a 4.5 inch long schedule 40 1/2 inch pipe for the tube.   I was able to forge weld with it in a forge that used an old refrigerant tank for the shell.

you must have had to really clip that mig tip back, thank you very much for your experience. Can I assume this was a #30 refrigerant drum , about 9" in diameter??  I had thought about using a #50 but they seem  to be rather hard to find, I guess with the current cost of refrigerants having a #50 would require an armed guard.

I never looked for the weight on the tank, but 9 inches in diameter sounds about right and roughly 12 inches long I think.  Two inches of fiber blanket and about a half inch of kastolite 30 reduces the volume quite a bit.

The mig tip is really not cut back that far.  I did turn it into a tapered tip though.  I'm not sure much that affects the air draw compared to just trimming it back.

Is there a reason for the nipple length of 4.5" rather than 4" or 5"or 6". is there a ratio of diameter to length??

I think you are right and the weight is only noticed by someone that has carried them on a regular basis. Basically two sized of disposable drums, #30 and #50 and it would appear that the supply of 50s is drying /dried up in my neighborhood but there are mountains of 30s .

1 hour ago, Howling dog forge said:

Is there a reason for the nipple length of 4.5" rather than 4" or 5"or 6". is there a ratio of diameter to length??

Yes.  A rule of thumb is burner tube length about 9 times the diameter.  A half inch one way or the other probably won't make much difference, but the idea is to get the optimal length for mixing the gas and air without losing too much velocity, IIRC.

You recall correctly (YRC?) Buzz. I found the ratio of 8 - 9 x the  ID of the tube works well. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Hello all,

 

Aaron here, long time coal forge user, first time gas burner builder.

 

First off thank you Frosty for your plans they are great, easy to follow, and perfect for us first time gas burner builders.  I have built 2 of the 3/4 inch burners that seem to work very well.

 

Do you have a list of mig contact tips that work well for different size burners?  From what I have gathered .035 for 3/4 inch, .023 for 1/2 inch, and .045 for 1 inch?  All your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Never ever fails,,you can bend down pick up every little nut bolt washer , save every usable screw for untold years and when you need that specific one Out of Luck. Same applies to The burner parts, decided to slap a couple together knowing full well I must have the fittings,Pffft everything but, have every tweco tip except .35, even have a big spool of .35 wire go figure. Somehow I managed to have a 1/4 x 28 tap.Anyhooo I will get one done sometime or another.

Seems like the ones most commonly used get used---why I like to buy an extra when I have to go buy a part for something I use a lot...

Was able to find some stuff,,just need to get a regulator and some .35 tips.  Lincoln magnum tips will work with the 1/4 x 28 tap

My first frosty t burner

.

0-30 psi adjustable high pressure regulator showed up today,,a snaping/ popping sound as the gas valve is slowly turned on and off .  Sounds like the diaphram inside the regulator. Does not return to set pressure, most times only barely allows flow until repeatedly close/ open gas valve. $45 HOJ. Will call the supplier Monday.  Did get it working for a few times and tested the two burners. Will fine tune those after forge is built, thinking of a old portable air tank as the sacrificial lamb

Is it the regulator or the safety valve in the propane tank? The newer tanks have a valve that restricts how fast it will release a large volume of gas, it you open the valve too quickly it trips the internal safety valve.

Try opening the tank valve slowly and see.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thx for the reply,,the tank is old as Methuselah, I have been opening the gas valve sloooowly, I usually do the same on the torch tanks , I will try the reg. on a newer 20 # tank tomorrow , I took the hose off the out port and tried free flow incase was any trash, no ,luck,Ialways crack bottle valve before attaching any thing ,

On 1/30/2016 at 6:17 PM, OddDuck said:

Just built one yesterday (Friday) and used it all day today in my foundry furnace, worked like a charm! I have an additional method for drilling the hole, I used my metal lathe and a short nipple to center the tee. Put the nipple in the chuck and center that first (wish I had a 3 jaw, would have made this a lot quicker), screw the tee on the short nipple and use the tailstock to drill the hole. I also used the tailstock to help center the tap to start the threads. I also used my lathe and removed the threads on the two air intake sides of the tee to improve airflow. I had to improvise as to how to hold the mig tip however. I couldn't find the 1/8th" flare fitting, so I enlarged the threading in the tee to allow a 1/8" pipe nipple to extend a ways into the tee. I then took a 1/8" flare nut and tapped it 1/4x28 for the mig tip. Screwed the flare nut onto the nipple inside the tee. I'll try to get a pic of that tomorrow. I also had to cut the mig tip about in half to tune it. I'll be making more of these!

I’d make one more recommendation and that’s to use the same nipple, screwed in as tight as it will be on final assembly, and then chuck it up. Pipe fittings and nipples are notoriously threaded off axis, so using your actual components will ensure that your gas injector will be dead center and on axis with the final assembly.

Okay, I tried following the directions to the letter but I didn’t have exactly the right materials.  I feel like the slight differences in materials shouldn’t make a difference but when I try to fire up the burner it just burps out a lazy flame like a lighter would.  Suggestions would be welcome.  Oh, I placed a can of beans next to the burner for size comparison.

Curmudgeon bait!

That's the most Mickey Mouse version of the T-burner I’ve ever seen!

Now you need to see if you can introduce the fuel at the end of the pipe and get two perfect flames out of the T.

I’m sorry, I guess my picture was at a bad angle and you couldn’t see the gas fixture.  I took another for clarity.  Now it should be obvious that the flames shouldn’t be coming out of the “T” but they still are.