Chris Williams Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 13 hours ago, Chris The Curious said: I keep hearing comments about large truck brake drums. I fell into this trap years ago. What you want is a brake disk, and not necessarily a large one, to serve as your firepot. The tuyere (air input) attaches to the bottom of the center hole of the disk (or yes, even a drum if you have one that has appropriate dimensions). This is, of course, only valid if you want to make a bottom blast. For a side blast, you don't need a "firepot" as such. Using the large brake drum, I had a difficult time getting the sweet spot of the fire high enough to work anything except the end of a piece. For a very large forge, with more fuel, and more air, and larger stock, a big drum may be appropriate. I did once see a very small brake drum, presumably from a trailer, that I thought would work well for a forge appropriate for working small stock. It was in the middle of a construction zone on the interstate in Jacksonville FL with nowhere to pull over, so I was not able to grab it to try out. Now the conclusion -- despite all of my rambling above, suitability depends on what you need for your forge to accomplish when selecting your firepot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 From what I keep seeing in videos and pictures, one needs something about 6" x 6" or 6" round and about 3" deep. is that about right? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeyn Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 Dug the pot out today, think i spoke too soon, the tuyere melted on me, I know what happened though, it was me, before starting last forge session, i neglected to rebuild the upper portion of the dirt above the tuyere, thinking it would be ok, I will take it as experience and it makes sense now upon reflection as to what went wrong... if I had taken more care in rebuilding before using it again, i think it would of worked out fine. my fault.. so let me recap todays events, dug out the fire pot.. found this... the big old 30mm thick piece i attached to the pipe half melted away, So I have learnt to be more aware of those clinkers building up and eating things! lol... I now have to rebuild this front face, im thinking something a lot larger, not for the thickness but more to stop any clinkers building up or under the face of the tuyere.. I will have to keep on top of cleaning the stuff out and rebuilding the earth/clay etc.. For now, i think i will try this hub i had laying around, with a bit of modification tomorrow i think it can work for what i need, ill probably fill the little holes in with weld and cut that front lip off flush... I will use this at the right time to also cut into the sides of the bottle and make my modifications for holding the work at the right height and level etc.. I shall keep you all posted !.. Mikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 7 hours ago, Chris The Curious said: From what I keep seeing in videos and pictures, one needs something about 6" x 6" or 6" round and about 3" deep. is that about right? Chris Careful what you see on the web though that's not outrageously large. It is however a lot larger than I need, I set the bricks on my duck's nest about 3" - 5" apart and block one end as needed, I rarely need 9" length. I'm NOT a regular solid fuel forge user though. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 Do you just use regular fire brick when doing that, Frosty? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Williams Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 3 hours ago, Mikeyn said: For now, i think i will try this hub i had laying around, with a bit of modification tomorrow i think it can work for what i need, ill probably fill the little holes in with weld and cut that front lip off flush... Maybe this is a silly question, but if you just turn the hub around, would it save you the cutting? Can you feed the tuyere in through the hub as the tuyere tip degrades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeyn Posted September 15, 2019 Author Share Posted September 15, 2019 1 minute ago, Chris Williams said: Maybe this is a silly question, but if you just turn the hub around, would it save you the cutting? Can you feed the tuyere in through the hub as the tuyere tip degrades? Well, i want that big flat face to be the thing facing the fire rather than a bit more tube sticking out, sort of thing... feeding the air pipe through the hub.. hmm, got me thinking now.. I could weld that hub in place and as you said, feed a sacrificial pipe through but wouldn't I run the risk of the air pipe welding itself to the hub? just thinking out loud here, before i move forward on anything lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Do you really want that much steel around the tureye? I’ve just been using a 3/4” black pipe without any additions is a side blast. The clay around it seems to take most of the heat, but to me, it seems like the cold air rushing through it keeps it from over heating. I would think adding more thermally conductive mass around it would only make matters worse, pulling heat away from the fire faster that the air can remove it. Are you thoughts off base here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Nope you are spot on. The tuyere pipe should be embedded in clay to act as a refractory, just like a propane forge burner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeyn Posted September 15, 2019 Author Share Posted September 15, 2019 Hey Goods, do you find you have to rebuild the clay around the pipe a lot?.. what your saying makes sense totally, i dunno, im still scratching head a bit atm, maybe a water cooled setup may be something to look at... hmm more thinking needed, thanks for the input though ..helping me a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Williams Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Wouldn't a water cooled tuyere be even more of a heat sink? Yet, we know them to be effective options. I don't see it as a capability issue, but rather how long the tuyere (and additional consumable "shield" bit) lasts. I was thinking of the hub being more of a dam that kept most of the clay in place but still allowed the tuyere pipe to be fed in as it degrades. In practice, I would expect clay to be present on both sides of the hub to some degree. Maybe I do not see it the way you intended to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Mikeyn, the pipe in my jabod is set back into the clay maybe an eighth of an inch and hasn't had any appreciable damage in six or seven months. I left about two and a half feet to feed into it as it degrades but haven't had to as of yet. I think you're having problems with the end of your tuyere melting because you are leaving parts of it exposed to the fire. Maybe try just a pipe that doesn't extend past the clay. It's worked for me. Clay is a pretty good insulator. Two inches will keep a wooden box from igniting and a black iron pipe that isn't sticking past the clay wall of the jabod holds up pretty well also. I would still leave some extra length where the air supply connects just in case it does degrade you have some to feed in. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 17 hours ago, Chris The Curious said: Do you just use regular fire brick when doing that, Frosty? Chris Oh yeah, no need for insulation it's insulated by the breeze between the heart and green coal on the outside of the mound. Breeze is forge coke, it's very light and excellent insulation. 3,000f. hard fire brick has a limited lifespan in contact with a coal fire heart, light brick would start crumbling almost immediately. There's another aspect of a duck's nest I really like is being able to build any shape furnace you want over the fire. Makes some operations much easier to control than just using the fire. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeyn Posted September 16, 2019 Author Share Posted September 16, 2019 16 hours ago, Chris Williams said: I was thinking of the hub being more of a dam that kept most of the clay in place but still allowed the tuyere pipe to be fed in as it degrades. In practice, I would expect clay to be present on both sides of the hub to some degree. Now i see what you meant! yes good idea about using it as a "dam" gives it a bit of structure actually good call... 15 hours ago, pnut said: I think you're having problems with the end of your tuyere melting because you are leaving parts of it exposed to the fire. Maybe try just a pipe that doesn't extend past the clay. It's worked for me. Clay is a pretty good insulator. Two inches will keep a wooden box from igniting and a black iron pipe that isn't sticking past the clay wall of the jabod holds up pretty well also. I would still leave some extra length where the air supply connects just in case it does degrade you have some to feed in. Pnut This is the problem! im forgetting to add material in front of the steel! ok, ill try lining a good bit of clay in front of everything and trying that next.. cheers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 The pipe in my jabod is nearly flush with the wall. Maybe an eighth of an inch back. I just use a plain pipe surrounded by clay. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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