thijsvh Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I made a burner using a ceramic burner plate which are sold as ceramic soldering plates on eBay and Amazon. After a little research I'm pretty sure these are made from cordierite, and are used in portable camping heaters. Same material as in catalytic converters so it should be refractory and very thermal shock resistant. (mine came cracked in the mail...) Main body is made from gypsum but should be made from castable refractory of course. Added some stainless steel wool (the stuff to clean your pots) to even the airflow inside the burner body. The blower I used is a computer fan with a speed controller attached. It's running on natural gas but I also tested it on butane propane mix and it works just fine. In the video I adjusted the valve from the air intake from very lean to very rich. Still have to add something to even the gas flow as it didn't really burn evenly in the video. It is very silent, most noise is from the gas intake and the fan. Pretty nice What do you think? I've seen one other topic started about this but there were no comments. (https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/64455-ribbon-block-options/) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Well in the video it looks like the gas is burning back inside the box.. I don't have much to add but the concept is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thijsvh Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 1 hour ago, jlpservicesinc said: Well in the video it looks like the gas is burning back inside the box.. I don't have much to add but the concept is interesting. I was thinking the same at first but when I turned it off and removed the plate the inside of the box was cool. After ten minutes running the box is still cold to the touch. Only the top edge is a little warm because some gas leaks around the plate and ignites there. Looks like it is designed to glow and give a lot of infrared radiation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Watching.. I got nothing as gas burners of this nature is nothing I have messed around with to have the ins and outs.. Interesting for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasent Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Good Morning, A burner from the bottom is just as good as a burner in the ceiling of the Forge. The only downside is if something falls/drips into the burner at the bottom. I have seen many Forges with a burner in the bottom. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thijsvh Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 3 hours ago, swedefiddle said: Good Morning, A burner from the bottom is just as good as a burner in the ceiling of the Forge. The only downside is if something falls/drips into the burner at the bottom. I have seen many Forges with a burner in the bottom. Neil I was thinking to mount it something like this: Pretty sure it's the same type of ceramic plate they use in radiant heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 A camp fire is supposed to give a good deal lower heat than possible, by using a large slow flame; this is the exact opposite of what is needed in a forge, If you could get the flame heat up enough to do much work with this burner, then its metal parts would last fast. It is hard to arrive at a desired designation by starting out in the wrong direction. The sooner you give up and start again with some other design the sooner you can cut your losses. Sorry, but it's time for someone to give you an honest "NO." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thijsvh Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Mikey98118 said: A camp fire is supposed to give a good deal lower heat than possible, by using a large slow flame; this is the exact opposite of what is needed in a forge, If you could get the flame heat up enough to do much work with this burner, then its metal parts would last fast. It is hard to arrive at a desired designation by starting out in the wrong direction. The sooner you give up and start again with some other design the sooner you can cut your losses. Sorry, but it's time for someone to give you an honest "NO." You are correct in a camp fire it is supposed to give lower heat than possible with a very slow flame, hardly any flame at. I've seen the same burners in domestic on demand water heaters producing 25 to 30 kW of heat. That is of course lower grade heat because it's used to heat water to a relatively low temperature. But 25 kW in an enclosed space like a forge is something different. I wouldn't use any metal parts on the hot side of things. It would still be a slow flame so I guess it still fails the criteria for a good forge burner... What about using it in a vertical foundry? It would be nice and silent compared to my current roaring thunder foundry Here an example of a 25 kW burner from a domestic hot water heat / house heating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Don't give up so easily.. I would do some research and see what the true potential is. Maybe as a heat treat oven or the like.. But then again. I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasent Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 A slow flame keeps the flame in the forge longer. I think it could work well if used in the right size forge. Maybe clam shell design so you could close it up good but still fit stuff inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 You are correct, if they are white metals, or aluminum alloys. Probably, brass would be a problem. A heat treat oven would probably work well enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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