August 17, 20187 yr Has anybody put an inline propane shut off valve on a forge to shut the forge down while hammering? Seems like it would save a lot of fuel and keep the shop cooler. Would it be safe to restart a hot forge?
August 17, 20187 yr People have been doing this for decades; usually they use a bypass to keep a "pilot light" running for turning it back on. Johnson forges ran a spark plug to make sure no unburnt gas could get out. As to safety: Yes NO Maybe depending on details. Usually slows down forging if you are allowing the forge to cool between heats.
August 17, 20187 yr I've never seen a propane forge that didn't have an inline shut off valve but I haven't kept track of all the flee bay home built "forges" being offered for sale to the unsuspecting public. The shut off is for safety but shutting on and off will keep cooling the forge and may end up being less efficient than letting it idle.
August 17, 20187 yr Author Thanx guys. Just getting my feet wet here. Working a first set of tongs. Doesn't take long to work up a sweat with burner running full time
August 17, 20187 yr If I'm repeatedly moving between the forge and the anvil with little or no other activity between I just leave the forge running. I'm typically not at the anvil more than a minute or two before the steel needs to go back for a reheat, and to me it's just not worth the trouble of constantly shutting the forge down and starting it back up. Since your steel is (or should be) primarily heated by radiation from the walls rather than directly by the flame, every time you shut the forge down, you'll be heating the walls and floor back up in order to heat your stock. On the other hand, any time I will not have a direct line of sight to the forge for anything more than a few seconds, the forge gets shut off completely. This includes running into the house for liquid refreshments, bathroom breaks, etc. If the forge interior is still glowing when I return then I just open the valve back up, the propane ignites easily with a moderate whoomp, and I'm back in business. A non-glowing forge gets an ignition source before opening the valve again no matter what, which is usually burning paper or a hand torch. At one point I had planned and designed an idle circuit for the forge, but for me it's never really seemed to be worth the effort. YMMV. Mikey posted a good idea elsewhere though, and that is to create a stop for your ball valve (an additional ball valve would probably be a better idea) so that you can quickly and easily close it to a set point for idling and then easily open it up all the way when you want to return to forging.
August 17, 20187 yr 17 minutes ago, Buzzkill said: Since your steel is (or should be) primarily heated by radiation from the walls rather than directly by the flame, every time you shut the forge down, you'll be heating the walls and floor back up in order to heat your stock. I think that depends on how the forge is made and who is at the anvil?
August 18, 20187 yr who is at the anvil ? HUH? how can that effect the construction of the forge heating the steel?
August 18, 20187 yr I think he was referring to the time between shutting the forge off and returning to it after being at the anvil. A longer time would produce a cooler forge when the person returned of course.
August 18, 20187 yr Who is working at the anvil, and what is being made, will effect the amount of time a forge flame might be turned down. How the forge is built effects how quickly it cools down.
August 18, 20187 yr 3 hours ago, elbowroom said: Just getting my feet wet here. Welcome... you might want to read through this thread to get the best out of the forum. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/
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