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I Forge Iron

Curious changing flame color


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This is not strictly a question about my gas forge, as it has never done this before and I do not believe it's function plays into the question.

Today, upon first firing up the forge, a distinct green flame curled up from the gas forge door.

I have never put copper or zinc in any form into this forge. I avoid anything but plain steel.

I was working on the same pieces yesterday, with only the good orange flames licking up.

The only variable today was a full night of rain.

My shop has concrete floors, but water comes in through the bottom and through a couple of pinholes in the galvanized roof.

There was standing water around the pieces I put into the fire, with water coming off the galvanized roof, and nearby were unplugged power tool plugs that I unwisely forgot to move.

My thought is that the rain dissolved a trace amount of zinc or copper from one of these sources, and that it evaporated onto the steel when I lit the forge.

SmartSelect_20210611-121140_Gallery.thumb.jpg.59035f975ebe05136574d98eb553cdca.jpg

 

if anyone has any thoughts on how this unusual color came to be, please share it!

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Borax burning green? Hmmm, I'll have to toss a little in before my forge comes to welding temp and see. Normally borax only enters my forge at welding temps and burns yellow. Hmmmmm, I hear the voices whispering, experiments!

Frosty The Lucky.

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Frosty, google "colored flames."  Borax is listed as burning with a yellow-green color.  I have seen projects for making fireplace logs from old newspapers which have been soaked in solutions of various household chemicals (including borax) and then dried which will burn with various colors.  I've always wanted to try it but never have.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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George, you can buy this powder stuff that will change the color of the flames in a fire. They sell it at my Kroger in the BBQ dept. Also about any hardware, farm, etc. store. 

I remember as a kid when we would drive through Ashland and all the refineries were burning. The stacks all had different colored flames coming out of them. It was pretty cool. 

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