Locksmithjoe Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I was wondering how I can make my two burner forge more efficient and maybe add side holes for longer pieces? I don't know the brand but the burners are cast and have about an 1.5" opening inside the forge and all of the fittings 90 down at the rear of the air intake. Any ideas or thoughts please. Not a great pic but better than none. I was thinking of cutting a 4"x5" square on each side with a flap cover to increase my size usage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 You could help it some by painting the inside with Plistix or Metrikote.to reflect the infrared rays back into the forge. Rather than trying to modify this forge you should probably just build a new forge. You might even be able to reuse the burners. Go to the Forge Supplies page at www.WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.com and see the attachments there for how I like to build a good, long lasting, efficient forge. Let me know if I can help you. You can e-mail me at waynecoe@highland.net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksmithjoe Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Building a new forge is not an option at this moment. Luckily it is quite efficient at keeping the garage warm. It also brings the metal I'm using up to non magnetic so I can not complain too much. I probably need a better regulator on it, yhe one I'm using was from the hardware store in the bbq section. I'll get some better pictures in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Joe. Isn't this the very same kind of forge as the rebuilt model in the thread right above yours? Before you enclose it's front like Harry did his, I would suggest installing an angle iron below the front opening, instead of an enclosing plate, and stacking firebrick in front of the opening, but NOT against the wall; leave space for exhaust gas to hit it and be deflected upward. This keeps you from being blasted by dragon's breath, while the gas heats the brick face, creating infrared energy, which bounces back into the forge interior (much more efficient than allowing it to escape with the exhaust gas). Brick also has the advantage that you can change the shape and size of the little opening you leave in it to poke your work through. When Harry enclosed the front of his forge, he made openings in its ends for the exhaust to exit through (after all, those are very large burners for such a small forge), which allows him to put long narrow pieces into it. You should do the same thing, but add exterior angle iron below the end openings too, so that they can be baffled with brick just like the front opening. Then, don't even try to run those burners full blast; you shouldn't need too anyway. You could refine the forge even further by employing kiln shelving backed by insulated firebrick on the outside of the forge, but realistically, there comes a point when we are trying to "make a silk purse out of a cow's ear"...in other words, just upgrade that forge minimally, and build a different forge if you want efficiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksmithjoe Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 That is exactly the information I was trying to pull out of my defunct gray matter. Thanks Mikey! i will be doing a couple mods on it and maybe I will finally set up my pan and light up some rocks. Have to fix my blower (modified shop vac.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 A shop vac is WAY overkill for a forge blower, a yard sale blow drier is usually more than enough for most home shop forge work. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksmithjoe Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 It's a small vac with a Y valve like a irrigation ditch Y gate. I can open and close to give me minimal blow to heavier as needed. Was quick n easy and I didn't get in trouble for stealing my missus' blow dryer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Yeah, keeping the better half is important. I just see a LOT of guys trying to use a shop vac or leaf blower. A good diverter valve should do the trick. Don't forget we LOVE pics. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Joe, Frosty is right about the hair dryer, especially because a hair dryer is set up to blow air with FORCE, yet it is small. So far as I can see, the only tricky part about building a ribbon burner is choosing a fan with force. If there was ever a size and shape of existing forge that could get maximum benefit from a top mounted ribbon burner its yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 So, without knowing anything more about ribbon burners than what I've read...an obvious advantage they have is exit flames of variable force. And why is this special? Because of a thing called buoyancy. Hot air (and combustion gases) rise. Some of us have already mentioned "hang time" for combustion gases; others have pointed out how tricky exhaust size can be. But, if you turn a ribbon burner upside down, the force of its flames can be varied against both factors and perfectly tuned to them. Obviously, any burner will increase in flame force as flame speed/size increases, but I suspect that force increase in NA burners is far less than flame size increase. From what I've read so far, only a fan-blown ribbon burner could be deliberately tuned to increase the force of a flame to balance against buoyancy and/or exhaust size without increasing flame size so much that you end up with a flamethrower instead of a forge...is this right or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytuyuty Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 On 11/30/2015 3:49:55, Locksmithjoe said: I was wondering how I can .... add side holes for longer pieces? 1. Disassemble the forge 2. Remove the front door 3. Remove the refractory material around the front door 4. Cover the front with more refractory material 5. Cut holes in the end plates and refractory material 6. You may need to extend the firebrick floor all the way to the end openings 7. Reassemble the forge 8. Cover the front (where the door used to be) with sheet metal In the photo below, the red sheet metal is where the front door used to be located. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 That's well done. A lot like my forge. Just remember, the bricks are lousy insulation and really suck up a lot of gas. My forge will only get to welding temps at around 25psi, which is double what most folks are experiencing with forges that are better insulated. You'd do yourself a tremendous favor by replacing the hard insulation with something like Inswool or Kaowool blanket material and then giving it a skim coat of refractory cement and a painting of Metrikote or the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.