How much does difference does a choke make?

[sandman16]

So I'm looking at a couple gas forges. One has a choke, the other does not. They are both round body with burner at an angle on the side. What I'm wondering is does a choke make as much of a difference in performance as some say it does? 

           Thanks for any advice,

                   B

[ThomasPowers]

Yes or no depending on the burner and what you want the forge to do.

[sandman16]

Right now I'm just getting into forging so its a start. Mostly though eventually id like to get into making blades.

[ThomasPowers]

If you want to make blades you probably need a method of adjusting the forge to be reducing!

If you are doing ornamental or architectural work or large section work running neutral to a bit oxidizing is OK

Running very oxidizing is only OK if you are using it to create a texture on the metal

[Mikey98118]

 

The other use of a choke is to prevent hot exhaust from running up throw your burner after shutdown, if it is positioned vertical down, or at a vertical  down angle.

[sandman16]

so if I'm understanding a choke would be beneficial for what I want to do?

 

[ThomasPowers]

Not knowing if your forge is built with a vertical burner makes it hard to say.  At this stage you may not need a lot of atmosphere control but may need it later.

When you are learning to drive you probably don't want to do it in a Formula1 racecar even if your end goal is to enter Formula 1 races

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

It's better to have a choke and not need it, than to need one and not have it. They also help to keep critters like mud daubers out of the burner when not in use.

[Frosty]

59 minutes ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

It's better to have a choke and not need it, than to need one and not have it. They also help to keep critters like mud daubers out of the burner when not in use.

Inndeed, however if you can convince the mud daubers into the burner while it's in use, open the choke all the way! Shoot some video too please. 

Sorry, couldn't resist. A choke may or may not be necessary depending on what you need, ambient conditions, conditions in the forge, etc. To use one beneficially is a matter of experience, not asking a general question. 

Some burners need a choke because they're poorly built and a choke is the only way to tune the fuel air. A smaller jet at higher pressure draws more combustion air so it's easier to build a burner to draw more air than it needs and install a choke to reduce the air. This doesn't make them bad, just maybe not optimum. I tend to judge the quality of the burner build by how closed the choke is to achieve a neutral flame. If it's almost closed you can do better while if it's almost all the way open it's putting the maximum amount of fuel in the forge at one time as reasonably possible.

Sorry if that muddies the waters but it's my reasoning.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Mikey98118]

19 hours ago, Frosty said:

Sorry if that muddies the waters but it's my reasoning.

To me, it is just like any other control; a tuning opportunity on the one hand, and part of the learning curve on the other.