Savlaka Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 I don't know either, and I didn't find much when I searched for information on it. Figured it was better than the brick alone for the floor, no matter if it worked for any other applications. Here's it's label: This is what I found on it's website: Tabcast-94 is 94% alumina, hydraulic setting dense Castable, which is suitable for service temperature up to 3270°F (1800°C). It is premixed refractory compositions which can cast into any require shape and size. It has good mechanical strength with excellent resistance to chemical attack for having purity chemical content. 22 pounds will cast a 12’’ x 12’’ x 1½’’ block. it also use for reformer lining, transfer and riser lining, hydro cracking unit line, in petrochemical industry, coal gasification ducting, Cyclones, Burner pipe lining, iron ladles, in metal processing industry. Application High Velocity area High dust erosion area Iron Ladles High temperature boiler inlet Thermal combustors Hydrogen transfer line Ammonia reformer line High temperature burner blocks Coal gasification ducting Characteristics High Purity chemical content present Good Mechanical strength Excellent resistance for chemical attack It can resist temperature up to 3270°F (1800°C) Able to resist corrosion erosion Can resist high temperature for hydrogen service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 As to the flames; they are what I describe as" blue ribbon." Congratulations on your work Well, they state that this refractory is good for ladles, and for thermal combustors. Therefore, I think it would probably work fine as a forge floor. I have been kind of looking to use for a refractory for in ceramic flame nozzles, and this looks like it/ Thanks for the tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 I think that refractory will work just fine, some of the applications listed have pretty fast extreme temperature changes. Your burner flames are beautiful. Now I'd like to see them in a hot forge. Not rushing you, take your time and do it right but I'm not getting any younger you know. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 Thanks you two, Frosty, ain't it supposed to be the young ones chomping at the bit and rushing a project ... (Using experience levels here as I have no idea our respective ages) Mikey, I'll probably test a few different applications for this refractory beyond the forge floor, I'll try and update how it works in different roles... With one burner working the way I wanted, I'll work on building the second soon. And I'll actually start setting up the various bits for the forge itself. I wanted to get a burner that'd work the way I wanted before I went too far on the actual forge design. Still looking at the idea of using these hybrid burners to run a ribbon as that's definitely the best burner design for this forge build, seeing what I intend to use it for long term. But I'll likely still set it up with them as is first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Frosty has used the old method of distressing an item to make it seem older; but he's piled up the decades in addition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Thanks for showing us what the product was. I bought mine through Amazon.com yesterday, with free shipping. I just love freed shipping on refractories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BsnNFrnt Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Savlaka, I used that exact brand for my ribbon burner and the forge floor. I was very impressed with the product once it set it seems impervious to heat stress. I don’t doubt the 3200+ at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Okay, now you have me drooling. I have been looking for a high heat smooth surfaced refractory, which is not inclined to crack from the fast thermal cycling encountered by flame retention nozzles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 It has been pretty clear for the last five years that continuing burner improvements are sun-setting stainless-steel nozzles. refractory is the way forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 BsnNFrnt, Thanks, that's good to hear. At least now I know I have materials that'll do a decent job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 Well... A bit over a year and a hurricane later, I'm finally getting back to the projects I had started in late 2021... Not a month after my last post I found I was going to have to start packing everything up to move at the beginning of the year. By February we had just about gotten everything boxed up, and moved to the new place... Something like 15 loads in my 6x12 trailer and the SUV pulling it... I got a new shed placed so I would have room for everything but between my regular work and trying to get things settled I hadn't even looked at the boxes with the metalworking tools. And About the time I was finally getting close to caught up with the unpacking of my shop supplies and tools we get a direct hit from IAN... And now after I've rebuilt the pavilion that got crushed, and done most of the cleanup work. I've finished getting the tools in the shed into a usable state and can start trying to get back to my projects that were halted... I cast the floor in the forge, and two ribbon burner heads that should run on the burner jets I built last year. I did a few wood block tests to try and get a feel for how many and what length to make the ribbon burner heads... I settled on 24 holes 5/16” (8mm) in diameter. All about 2" long. The mould is 5mm ply on the sides and 3/4” pine for the ends and bottom. About 2.5" x 9.5" -ish (I used some scrap wood I had) and the inside was painted then waxed before the first was cast... For the burner holes I used 5/16" Teflon rods - these were SO easy to pull out. The plenums are some 1/16” 4130 steel I welded up with a female pipe thread welded to one side to attach the burner to. Then painted with header paint. I will cut the top of the forge to take these blocks later this week. After I find the angle iron I was going to use to make the mount for them... It's here somewhere, probably still in a blasted box. As I get to the rest I'll try and update this again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 Glad you're getting back up to speed, I'm looking forward to seeing your progress. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 12, 2022 Author Share Posted November 12, 2022 So I got the top cut, and did the initial heats of the burner blocks, and retreated it with the ridgidizer, as it didn't seem to set the first time I tried it. Initial lighting- I moved the burner face up an inch after this test. Burners in place where I want them, second coat of colloidal silica (and red dye), T baffle being used. I also got the center baffle slot cut. I'm using some 2700 deg insulation board for the baffle... Technically two one it a T shaped part for when the whole forge is in use the other is a reversable wall one side solid one with a 2.5" half circle cut out from the bottom. In the forge I was able to run at any pressure from 10psi upward, but under that I get burn back after a few min - the more under 10 the quicker it starts burning back... IIRC that should mean I need a hole or two less in my ribbon burner blocks... I built them with 24- 5/16” holes, 6 of those holes are in the centerline of the burner so can be plugged without making the heat too uneven. Should be a simple fix to mix up a little more castable and fill one or two holes at a time till it works well in the forge. These actually worked at a lower pressure setting outside the forge - stable at about 5psi. Well, after it cools down tomorrow I can see about the wall coatings and such... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 Well, flame color is pretty difficult to sort out, but I definitely like the flame shapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 You can test for how many orifices to block with a little ceramic blanket to plug them and close them permanently when you have a workable #. It's looking pretty darned good so far. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 13, 2022 Author Share Posted November 13, 2022 Thanks for that idea Frosty, blanket reminants worked perfectly to test... I've found that the two inducers work a bit differently from each other... The front one (#1) I got working down to 4psi by plugging one hole... I will test with 2 plugs next time I need to heat cycle the coatings. Just to see if I can extend that range more. But the back burner (#2) I'm up to 4 plugs to get it to perform ok down to 5psi I can actually see the holes that burn back still and will be trying out 5 and 6 plugs next. I think that configuration will be my final setup - 22x 5/16” holes for #1 and 18x 5/16” holes for #2 based on the testing so far... I got to checking everything about the two inducers, and it seems I brazed the brass block about 1/4" further down in #2 so the intake slots are only 2-1/4” instead of 2-1/2” this may be part of the reason they perform so differently in blocks cast from the same mould. I finished putting together the door guides and the center baffle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 I don't recall, are your burners naturally aspirated or blown? I must've made more than 30 T burners, some on the lathe and every one is a little different. I don't know of anybody making home builds that gets them to perform the same. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 13, 2022 Author Share Posted November 13, 2022 They are naturally aspirated... A hybrid style burner. I figured I wouldn't be identical, it's difference is just bigger than I figured.... 4 slots in a 1" pipe with a 1" brass rod used as the mounting point for the gas jet tube. And a 3/4” mixing tube. The jet tube is 8mm brass tubing. When doing the initial testing and Using a step nozzle I got them working best with a .030 mig tip. An .025 was a bit lean. The ribbon burner plenums are 9x2" with 1-3/4" space to the casting at it's highest... They taper (in height) down towards the ends to 7/8”. The cast blocks are 9x3x2" (LxWxD) with the aforementioned 5/16" holes cast in them. the forge itself has a 4.25x4x24" opening... There's a bit more volume that that inside as the burner blocks are up an inch into the roof. And a removable baffle wall at 12" to use only one side when I don't need both. I come up with about 462 in³ internal volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 Hybrid type burners are high power burners but they require high precision to build too. The tighter the tolerances the more deviation you'll get even if you're using precision tools. This natural deviation is the main reason I tell people to ignore gauge pressure. To even your burner output, put a needle valve on each one, run the PSIG that makes your back burner happy and fine tune it with the needle valves. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 13, 2022 Author Share Posted November 13, 2022 I'll look at putting some needle valves on it if this last test does not work out... On another note- I am basically done with the coatings and such. I used the tabcast for the floors and walls. A bit of satanite to protect the recessed section. And heatguard refractory coating as a wash on all surfaces... I really liked the tabcast 94... That stuff really sets HARD... The heatguard is from the same retailer and looks to be a heat reflective and somewhat tough coating... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 I like the looks of Heat guard and Tabcast 94 appears to be good too. Is Tabcast 94 insulating? The ad says it isn't a good conductor of heat but that isn't the same thing, insulating is definitely a bonus. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 1 hour ago, Frosty said: Is Tabcast 94 insulating? The ad says it isn't a good conductor of heat but that isn't the same thing Strictly speaking, it is the same thing; an insulator is something that limits the passage of some kind of energy, be it heat, sound, electricity, etc.* Whether or not something is a good insulator depends on context. For example, hard firebrick is a poor insulator for use in a gas forge, but is perfectly adequate for use in a wood stove. *Fun fact: the verb "to insulate" comes from the Latin "insula" (island) + "-are" (a suffix that turns a noun into a verb, like the English** "-ize") and thus literally means "to make into an island". "Insula" is also the word the Romans used to denote what we would call an "apartment", from "apart" + "-ment" (a suffix indicating a state of being) -- thus, an apartment is a living space that exists separately (even insulated) from other living spaces. Isn't language fun? **Actually Greek, but whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 14, 2022 Author Share Posted November 14, 2022 I honestly don't know how good of an insulator it is, the burner blocks cool down fairly fast. so it cannot be too bad, considering that it's harder than a hard fire brick. The more or less complete forge... The red silicone/PVC hoses will get swapped out when I move it out to the smithy area I'm setting up under the pole barn. I'm just using them while testing as they are quick and easy to get on and off. (They are rated for 150c, and 100psi anyway) I'm probably going to run soft copper lines to the burners and I have an actual "propane" hose to go from the manifold to the bank of tanks. I'm going to be using 3x 20lb tanks at a time to run this setup. I've been testing with 2 tanks untill I move it., I also finally replaced my 30+ year old regulator, the new one is much less finicky and actually reads below 5psi and over 22 ish...(old Guage was sticking). I also got my old anvil cleaned up... Yes those are hammer marks from 18+ years ago. Before I learned to properly dress my hammer face and was still missing... A Lot... I didn't want to grind all the way down to the bottom of them, so I just cleaned it up and re flattened it. I may see about getting a hunk of something like A2 or 1045 and weld on a new face ... Eventually.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 Nice work! If you mentioned it above I missed it, but what material did you use for casting the burner blocks? I bought some Tabcast 94 a while ago with intentions to use it for casting burner blocks but haven't gotten around to it yet. If you or anyone else has experience with that material for that application I'm really interested in the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savlaka Posted November 14, 2022 Author Share Posted November 14, 2022 Buzz, I used the tabcast 94 for my burner blocks, it worked very well. I mixed it to a thick paste, packed and tamped the mould and tapped on the sides for a bit.I used a painted inside on my mould and smeared a few layers of hard wax on it after the paint dried... The first came out fairly clean, the second I forgot to rewax and I pulled paint on it - burns right off... I also used Teflon rods for my mini tubes, they pulled out very easy. And we're fairly cheap on Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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