Propane forge problem

[Tracemaster]

Ok so what would you call kast o lite other than castable refractory cement?  I looked up HVAC supply Cheyenne Wyoming and got places like Marvs heating and plumbing, who usually don't sell parts to people, or when they do they charge twice what the big box stores do. The biggest issue I  run into is going to, let's say Menards, they almost never have exactly what I'm looking for. So for example when I made my charcoal forge I was looking for a 1" diameter steel pipe. The smallest thing they had was a 2 foot long pipe nipple, So i bought It, cut it with my angle grinder and taped it to a hair dryer, using aluminum tape.

[Latticino]

Castable refractory insulation.  Around here available at industrial insulation vendors and, sometimes, ceramic art supply houses.  Buy correct materials rated for expected temperatures.

I would replace the burner.  It appears to have been cobbled together from someone's idea of a standard Riel burner without checking the critical dimensions.  Specifically the gas crossmember appears to be too large, which will obstruct the air inlet and limit the critical entrainment.  If you don't feel ready to construct your own, you can buy an Black Beauty P-75 burner for around $50

Your forge interior is also too large at over 600 cubic inches.  I would cut it down to a maximum length of a final interior chamber of 8" if possible and get down to a single burner operation (or insulate the heck out of it with extra layers of ceramic fiber insulation).  As a beginner it is difficult to correctly tune a multi burner forge as well as being more expensive to run and provide burners for.

[Goods]

You could alway PM Glen to buy some kast-o-lite in reasonable quantities from this site. Could get the ceramic blanket also to reduce the volume and up the insulation amount...

I’ll probably do that if I ever get around to building a gas forge.

[Tracemaster]

Larricino, this is the first I have seen you.  I don't know if you read this entire post or  not but I know nothing of burners (still working on learning more). So what is a gas crossmember and air inlet? I will say the pictures I took do look quite different than they do in real life however.
 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

50 minutes ago, Tracemaster said:

so what would you call kast o lite other than castable refractory cement? 

You need to forget the word cement unless you are building a brick pile forge. Cement is for sticking bricks together, not using as a flame face in the propane forge. Kastolite is a castable refractory designed to be a flame face. There are other castable refractories, Satanite and bubble alumina to name a couple.

JHCC said it better than I can.

Quote

 

Generally speaking, "cement" refers to the material itself,  while "mortar" refers to its use between or on the surface of bricks. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, though, especially since "cement" has a lot of meanings related to sticking things together (both as a noun and as a verb) while "mortar" generally refers to masonry (the construction material, not the fraternal society). Thus, "the bricks were mortared together with cement" and "the bricks were cemented together with mortar" mean practically the same thing. However, while you might call a solvent-based glue used in modelmaking "cement", but you wouldn't call it "mortar".

In masonry, "cement" without further qualification usually refers to portland cement, a mixture of lime, clay, and gypsum. Mixed with water and sand, it can be used as mortar; with larger aggregate (such as crushed stone), it forms concrete. "Refractory cement" is a cement designed to withstand higher temperatures than portland cement can. This term usually refers to material used as mortar to hold together refractory bricks; when intended to be used as a flame-face, it's usually called "castable refractory" or simply "refractory".

Make sense?

 

 

[Tracemaster]

Irondragon ForgeClay Works, makes sense.

[Latticino]

55 minutes ago, Tracemaster said:

I don't know if you read this entire post

I quickly read through the rest of the posts and saw that others have already mentioned these drawbacks in your burner.  If I recall the crosspiece (inside the pipe reducer used for an air inlet to the burner) is supposed to be 1/8" dia pipe.  Your's looks much larger.  I suspect the reducer is the wrong size also.  You need to look up the plans for the Riel burner to check for sure.  Unless you have some machining experience it may be better to buy rather than build you own burner.  While burners aren't all that hard to make there are certain critical dimensions that make one more or less effective, and most burners need to be tuned to optimize their heat output.  That can be a bit daunting for a beginner.

[Tracemaster]

Do you mean this thing that at least to me looks nothing at all like my burner?

[Latticino]

No, that is not an original Riel burner either.  I mean this one (your's has been modified with use of a MIG tip instead of the original Riel drilled orifice, and doesn't appear to include a flare, but the problem of restricted air inlet still exists):

Note that the Riel burner is pretty dated at this point.  There are several that are either easier to manufacture or more efficient.  Personally I'm partial to blown burners, but I have a reliable electrical source in my forge and residential pressure Natural gas for a fuel source.  However I've built and/or operated a good number of propane NA burners as well, so I suspect I am a little more experienced with those than you are, and might be able to help.

I suspect whoever sold this forge to you did so at a reduced price because it didn't work well.  From what you have stated regarding the type of insulation and the photos of the burner I can see why.  If you would prefer not to take my advice I'm happy to drop out of the conversation.

[Tracemaster]

Well Latticino I am on a tight budget the way I see it, if I take everybody's advise I'm gonna be in hole the and out of propane before this forge is done. I bought the regulator so if nothing else I can maybe wait till I get a job and pick this up at a later date, building everything from scratch from it and my anvil. Man I wish I could use charcoal it's so much simpler.

 

[Latticino]

Yes you need a regulator. It is a bit tougher to setup on a shoestring, but possible if you put in the extra effort. Sounds like you don't need anything further from me so I'll leave you on your own. 

[Glenn]

When you contact me with the materials and quantities you want to order, a quote is generated which includes delivery to your front door.  If you like the quote then place the order.  

You get tracking numbers and an estimated time of arrival once the order is actually shipped.

 

[Frosty]

Trace: Perhaps if you stopped focusing on why you can't do things and start looking at how you CAN. If you really can't afford the craft perhaps getting a job and saving until you can, is the reasonable choice. 

One more excuse and I'm done.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Tracemaster]

Alright Frosty if you think I'm making excuses go ahead and be done, that goes for anyone else as well, I can tell where I'm not wanted. Just know you know nothing of where I am in life, so next time you accuse someone of making excuses maybe get your facts straight first.