PedroS Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Hi , let me start saying my english may not be good enough , so let me know if something is not clear . I been forging with my charcoal forge for half a year now , but wanted les time consuming , so i'm starting my first gas forge build. Resources are not really available in Argentina , so I been doing some research and trying to pull out some design that may work with what I have. First gas . Propane is too expensive here so , it has to be methane. People here use bottled methane for their gas forges , and works pretty well but a 10kg bottle is a bit out of my budget so i'm gonna give a shot at a natural gas forge. From my research a gathered 2 thing about Natural Gas , is not that hot , and doesn't have much pressure, so insulation and burner performance are key ( as in every other forge , i know). For this reason I've chosen a Forced air Ribbon burner. Now , insulation , I know you probably are not gonna like this . For my insulation Im using K-26 insulating brick and that's it . Being my first build I didn't want to spend much so I bought 8 k-26 bricks( the factory gifted me 3 extra so I have 11 ) , and 10kg of 60% alumina castable refractory to coat the inside . The build . my idea is making a box forge with 6 bricks (2 for the sealing 2 for the floor , 1 for each wall ) and cast a 1/2 inch in the interior. The box made with the bricks ( without the refractory ) would have a volume of 161 cubic inches. For the burner my first idea was to cast it in refractory but then I had the problem as to where attach it to the forge , and the fear that it will lose to much heat because it will have no insulation behind it , so my new idea is to carve one of the wall brick , drill it and insert the plenum there , and then seal it with refractory (I thought high temp silicon my work to ) and make some kind of support so it doesn't puts to much stress in the brick an the refractory . the forge is rather small so I was thinking of a plenum of 2x2 inches with a 3/4 mixing tube . I am under the impression that more flare holes will make shorter flares , so i was thinking of making as much as I can , without surpassing the 13:1 ratio for the burner block , and without surpassing the area of the mixing tube , to not lose pressure. So let me know what do you think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 While the BTUs per cubic centimeter is lower for natural gas; a blown ribbon burner should allow you to dump enough gas into the system to forge well with it. If it is designed well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Any good gas forge works as a reflective oven. With natural gas for a fuel, your forge will need a re-emitve coating even more than with propane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroS Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 6 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: While the BTUs per cubic centimeter is lower for natural gas; a blown ribbon burner should allow you to dump enough gas into the system to forge well with it. If it is designed well. I got that one 1 hour ago, Mikey98118 said: Any good gas forge works as a reflective oven. With natural gas for a fuel, your forge will need a re-emitve coating even more than with propane. I was hoping the refractory to be enough . you are referring to the kiln shelf you guys talk about a lot right? I get what the thing is ( I believe ) but I have no idea where or how to find it here (Argentina) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 No; the closest discussion would be kiln wash, not shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroS Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 I did my search again , and found something whit the name of zirconium refractory painting , but I couldn't find it to buy here . I there any way to make it myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Have you done a search for Plistix 900 F kiln wash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Do you have pottery supply stores locally? Because there is a common ingredient for glaze that will do a fine job... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroS Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 1 hour ago, Mikey98118 said: Do you have pottery supply stores locally? Because there is a common ingredient for glaze that will do a fine job... Yes , I do. What would be the ingredient? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Zircon is the generic name for zirconium silicate, the trade names are different (for example, Zircopax, Zircosil). A formula of 95% zircon and 5% Veegum (or bentonite clay if you can't get the preferred ingredient) makes an excellent re-emissive coating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroS Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 Thanks , I will call some pottery supply stores tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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