George N. M. Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 I will soon be moving to Laramie, WY and my new shop will be at 7500 feet above sea level. IIRC at that altitude the partial pressure of Oxygen is only about 70% of that at sea level. I have a modified Sandia type propane forge and I am concerned that at that altitude it will not get hot enough to forge weld. Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts about this and if my fears are justified any suggestions on how to increase the heat of the forge? A blower for supplemental air/oxygen? Different orifices? I'd be leery of trying to use bottled oxygen on the theory that any mistakes could convert my shop and me into little bitty smoking pieces. With my coal forge I can just crank the blower a little faster to get more O2 to the fire. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 It's just a matter of tuning the burners for the altitude. I can't make any suggestions, I've never tuned one for altitude. Don't sweat it, when you get set up fire it up, take a few pics, One of the whole forge including the burner we we can see what you have. Another in the opening so we can see the flame and lastly one across the opening so we can see the dragon's breath. One set when you first light it up and another set when it's as hot as it'll get. You may discover it gets plenty hot as is but if not, we'll help you get it right. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Well I've had accidental forge welding occur in a forced air ribbon burner when I was working 2.5" sq stock about 7000' up near Rowe NM. If you have a good tune-able burner you should be able to adjust the pressure/choke to deal with the ambient. If your burner is "hard coded"; you may need to get one you can tweak. Or go the supercharger route with a blown burner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offgrid Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 I'm at 9800', posted the same question last year. Big difference in our elevation. Built an efficient forge, 350 cu in, 1" Chile Forge burner, no where near forge welding temps. Consulted a long time farrier/black smith who lives at 8200' here in Colorado. He uses a three burner small forge for his mobile farrier work, coal at his home for his blacksmith business. He suggested I go to coal. Not wanting to use coal, I recently built a ribbon burner. Still not quite there with the 2 1/2" Blacksmithdepot blower. Believe the problem is the lack of pressure from the blower. According to my WC gauge only getting .5". Have a blower on its way that claims a WC of 6", see what that does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathaniel Lee Winkler Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Here in CO at 8200' my venturi burners are not getting hot enough. Does anyone know of a forced air / ribbon burner forge for sale? I don't have time to build one and can't seem to find a company that makes one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 In my modified Sandia forge at 7500' I'm not getting as much heat as I would like, about bright orange. It is definitely not as hot as my old shop at 4200'. I'm thinking of improving the insulation before anything else. For now, if I need more heat I am using my coal/coke forges. It is easier to crank a bit faster than have to put lots of time and money into a different or greatly modified gasser. And, frankly, I am a little leery about messing with propane forges. I'm afraid that if I tried to build one from scratch that I could end up converting my shop and me into a large orange fireball. It is harder to have that kind of a catastrophic failure with solid fuels. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I've used a propane fueled blown ribbon burner forge at around 7000 feet and it was keeping a HUGE forge at welding temps. I was working a 2.5" piece of sq stock about 3' long and another smith accidently welded their 3/4" round stock to my piece just by shoving the hot tip of it along my hot piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Sawyers Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 George n. M. I live up on the summit at 8200 ft. Would like to meet you and pick your brain about how you worked out these issues. Donald S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Welcome aboard Donald, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of meeting up with members who live within visiting distance and lots of subjects are pretty location specific. Hmmmm, say Altitude. Getting welding heat from a propane forge at any altitude is a matter of tuning the fuel air ratio. That is discussed at length in the "Burners 101" section here on Iforge. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. 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.