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Hans’s Gasser history and development


Hans Richter

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Would invite you to be part of the development of the Forge & Furnace Tumulus gassers over the last 4 years:D.

After 25 years of forging only on coal cooks fraction 16-25, I started developing my own gas forge at the end of 2016. Like many other enthusiastic beginners, this gasser must have be huge and at least run at two burners. All this resulted in a box forge with the inside dimensions of 1 ½ - 2 times the size of a shoe box. The gasser was made of 3mm steel plate and an interior of 3 inch thick hard bricks. The whole was fired by two 1,25  inch diameter Venturi burners with chokes and separate valves. Until then I had (badly) copied some tips, inspiration and technology of some posts on IFI. Anyway, I took ‘white hot’ forging blanks out of this gasser, but for what price. The hard bricks turned out to be energy-consuming heatsinks, the large interior space just as well. The flame popping directly onto the blanks and the oxygen-rich flame also resulted in a thick fat layer of mill scale on the workpieces and a ‘fantastic’ dragon breath (melting the roof). Last but not least, I am happy that a CO alarm that was purchased on time just informed me that the CO concentrations in the smithy of far above 160 ppm's were being reached. The forge was then discarded and rusted now in a dark corner of the shop:(.

After that and after I read some posts better, I started optimizing my burners by converting them into forced air burners using dried compressed air and a needle valve.

The next step was my beloved 'Miss Piggy' a gasser using an 18 lbs Propane tank made of thin hard bricks as a flame face and cast behind with chamotte clay. However, a 4 x 4 x 9 inch large interior limited the space and it was not even possible to place a horseshoe in it. Also with this gasser the burner was still placed vertically (lots of mill scale) above the workpiece and the chamotte also did not last long. Anyway, I still use this forge because of zero CO emissions and its high efficiency (2050 F within 15 minutes).

The last gasser was built from a 25 lbs propane tank and is a larger end pimped version of Miss Piggy, equipped with an insulation of 2 inch superwool behind interchangeable thin hard fire bricks. The burner is now placed at an angle of 45 degrees and ensures an even heat distribution through a Vortex circulation in the hexagonal chamber.

This is the short cut of my story, issues like- frozen gas cylinders, distances hot parts to rubber hoses, ceramic fibres are no flame face and other safety items to overcome are already disused in many other threats.

So far this gasser is the one who offers my needs through efficiency, durability and just enough space. However, that does not mean that it is also my last gasser;).

The only drawback that I have noticed so far compared to a solid fuel fire is the lack of ability to only heat parts of your workpiece that is sometimes needed for upsetting and hardening chisels in one step. What are your experiences?

Cheers, Hans

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