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I Forge Iron

Helium Tank Super Sucker


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On 6/30/2018 at 9:07 PM, arkie said:

Your outside double elbow might be restricting the flow a little (maybe none at all)

Yeah, I’m going with “none at all” — or least, not enough to make a difference!

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In actual use, I found that the hood was sitting very low on the fire and coke was accumulating inside it. I decided to try raising it up about an inch to see if that helped.

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The initial plan was just to use sand, but that was a bit unstable. Then I remembered salvaging a heavy ring that should work. Here it is sitting on the tuyere:

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This would obviously be unstable in actual use, so I filled up the space with some sand:

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And here's the view from inside the flue:

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If this works as hoped, I'll make up some adobe to replace the sand, just to be a bit more durable and secure. 

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  • 3 months later...

Further update: decided to go with the extra height after all, since it allows one to pile the fire higher. I made a spacer out of a 2” tall section of scuba tank, set it on top of the tuyere, and filled it with sand:

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This works very well. Very stable. 

Also, since I decided to convert my slack tub into a gas forge, I needed the gasket back for that. It has now been replaced with a stainless steel pot lid salvaged from the side of the road (as my daughter rolled her eyes at her dad’s antics):

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  • 2 months later...

I really like this idea but I can't say I understand the principles for how this works well yet.  Is the size of the helium tank ideal for this or will a different size tank work just as well as long as it's not too big?  I've got 8 old 20lb propane tanks and an old expansion tank from my furnace that is about 10" diameter by 19" long that I collected when I was planning to make propane forges to use before deciding to go with coal. I prefer forging in my garage but have to roll the coal forge out to my driveway.  Could this work as well with a propane tank or my expansion tank or are they too big?  I've read some comments on other "super sucker" posts that larger volume cubes don't work as well.

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19 minutes ago, kjbarth said:

I can't say I understand the principles for how this works well yet

The key is in this paragraph from the top post: 

Quote

The original Super Sucker was designed for use with a 12" dia. flue, with a 10" square opening. On the scaled-down version, that opening is about 8" square, which is roughly the same proportion. The key design concept -- a smaller opening connected to a larger volume that creates a stronger draft -- remains the same.

In other words, the cross section of the flue and that of the hood should be approximately the same, and the area of the opening should be about 65-70% of the flue's cross section.

So, if you're planning to use a 12" diameter flue (recommended), make your hood from one of the propane tanks, with a 10" square opening. If you are going to use a 10" flue (as I did here), then use the expansion tank and make an 8" square opening.

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