Mikey98118 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 My experience has been that many naturally aspirated forges drop about 20% of their possible efficiency through excess secondary air blown into the furnace between the burner and its portal. But naturally aspirated or fan-flow, excess air never adds any hing but problems to heating equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Actually, a little too much air will cool the forge more than than an equal amount of too much fuel, because the amount of air to reach too much is about five times the amount of excess volume in an equal overabundance of fuel, because oxygen amount is only 20% of air's content; also, it is much easier to see how much is too much fuel, because of the presence of "feather" beyond the primary flame. Too much air, only darkens the flame, and is much harder to judge. That should have read "... a little too much air will cool the forge less than..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookieironman Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Finished the burner. Following John Emmerling's path with a couple of exceptions. Instead of using crayons, I used lag bolts that I was able to remove after the refractory had set. I didn't like the idea of drilling out the crayons. Also I thought the spiral left by the lag thread might aid in mixing. Additionally I chose to thread the fuel pipe in to the burner instead of welding it on just because I had the appropriate sized pipe tap available. The excess plywood at the end of the burner form was so I could mount my orbital sander to the form tto vibrate the concrete and get rid of any air bubble easily (that worked great), I am now working on the plumbing for the air and gas. I will have pics of my test fire soon. In the mean time here are pics of the burner. They are out of order but I'm pretty sure y'all can figure it out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 With having only about 1/8" of threads, I certainly hope that you don't have any air/gas leaks and that when you screw in the pipe that it doesn't go so far in as to interfere with the baffle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookieironman Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Wall thickness is 5/16. So a bit more threads than it appears. Test fire showed no leaks or issues at join. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 That sounds good about the leaks. When I first started considering building Ribbon Burners I used 1/4" round to make the holes. I oiled them first and then was able to wiggle them out. That casting came apart because I did not use a strong enough castable. After that John supplied me with a ready built burner so I don't know how the 1/4" holes would have worked out. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookieironman Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 Burner mounted and test run. Air adjustment is a bit touchy. I'll be scouting for for a 1 1/4 inch gate valve to allow a bit finer adjustments. I currently have a blast gate over the blower intake but that is a bit crude. I was able to easily produce reducing, neutral and oxidizing flame fronts, though because of the air adjustment, the oxidizing flame was a bit unstable. Had to shut it off after 3 minutes as the structure started glowing a bit. Lol. Burner body had no leaks and stayed cool to the touch. So far so good. On January 9, 2017 at 8:17 PM, WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.c said: That sounds good about the leaks. When I first started considering building Ribbon Burners I used 1/4" round to make the holes. I oiled them first and then was able to wiggle them out. That casting came apart because I did not use a strong enough castable. After that John supplied me with a ready built burner so I don't know how the 1/4" holes would have worked out. Let me know if I can help you. Wayne Your comment made me look at it a little closer. The end of the pipe WAS touching the baffle. I think it affected the lower settings. I shortened the threaded section and added holes around the edge to make the tube part of the baffle system. After that modification I was able to get flames about half an inch long. Prior to that, at lower pressures the ports furthest out would not fire properly. Thanks for the thought Wayne. Checking the baffle clearance definitely helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookieironman Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Lined it with the cerachem. I found an online source for Sodium meta silicate powder. Five pounds for $30 so I used a solution of that to assist with the installation. It went well. Test fired it. After running for an hour at a low level I cranked it up to about half way (air gate valve) and stuck a piece of half inch re-bar in it. The picture is of the re-bar three minutes after I put it in the forge. Running at 2 PSI through an eighth inch orifice. I shut down after running for three hours. I figure that was a sufficient burn in. Tomorrow I line with refractory. Thanks to Wayne Coe for the comment about the threaded section possibly interfering with the baffle..thanks to him I took a look and adjusted the feed pipe. It was touching the baffle and preventing lower level flames from forming properly... I fixed it and it is completely adjustable now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookieironman Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Refractory lining in. Castable first, then coated with greenpatch421. Will be ordering the macote wash from Wayne soon. I heated too fast and got some steam spalling. Have repaired and am letting things dry for awhile before I fire it up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I'm not clear. Did you line the forge entirely in hard refractory or just not show the insulating blanket refractory? By the pics it certainly looks to be getting hot enough. Nice job on the burner. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 You need a ball valve for fast emergency shut down and for off and on, a needle valve for gas adjustment and a gate valve for air adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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