Travis Forge Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 First off, thanks to all if you vets that take the time to provide such good advice. I've been lurking and learning for a while. I recently finished my forge (okay so I still need to paint it but it's up a running). Here's my set up. Forge is 20lb. Propane tank converted to forge with two layers of 1" ceramic blanket, rigidized and covered with 1/2 " of kast o lite. Topped off with a coat of plistix IR. Two 3/4" Frosty T burners with 6" pipe and .35 tips. Bell reducer is 3/4" to 1" with threads ground out. Ceramic fiber blanket tucked in around pipes and rigidized to avoid back draft. The bell reducers are getting as hot as the interior which makes sense as they are in the same environment, but I remember having read that the flames should be igniting outside the burner tube. Even outside of the forge the bell reducers eventually are getting red hot but I can't determine if flame is igniting in the tube or not. The flame is blue. Is this okay or am I risking some dreaded mishap? See photos provided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Blue flame is good. Red hot reducers is not, especially if they are galvanized rather than black steel or cast iron. I like to have a small ledge of insulation to protect the actual burner (a refractory flare for want of a better term), but lacking that pull the burners further out of the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Good Morning, Move the tip of your burner way back, out of the firebox. There is no gain having it sit in the firebox. If they 'are' sitting out of the firebox, you need to add more propane bottles for 2 burners. Drawing from one 20lbs. bottle is not sufficient flow. You aren't getting enough gas pressure to draw air into the burner, the flame is moving up, into your burner. Just a guess!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkertim Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Hi Travis, The bell reducer (or Flare as it is commonly known as on iforgeiron) is a widened section of piping, fitted after the mixing tube, to allow the Fuel/Air Mix (FAM) to slow down and burn, without having the flame blow off the end of the burner. Outside of a forge, the metal Flare can get plenty orange when the burner is turned up, but can radiate some of that heat away, so that the Flare doesn't actually melt under normal circumstances. Inside a forge, the heat builds up and is reflected back into the forge, where it can reach temperatures that will melt a metal Flare, as it cannot radiate its heat away. The normal solution to this is to remove the Flare from the end of the mixing tube, move the end of the tube further back into the refractory/insulation region, and shape a wider Flare region in your refractory coating. This wider Flare region will allow the FAM to slow down and burn stably in this region, without over-heating and melting. I hope this info helps. Tink! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Forge Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 I will pull further away from opening and build out taper as needed. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.