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I Forge Iron

My New Propane Forge


Brian D

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She's a beauty! Well done /D!

Did you buy the burners complete, as kits or build your own?

Frosty


Thank you!

I built my own burners from scratch. I used some ideas from others and had to modify them a bit to fit my forge. I still have a little tweaking to do, the igniter does not work as well as I like and I still have a bit of minor tuning to do. But I am able to weld in it and I think it will work out dandy for me.

Very nice!


Thank you for the compliment!
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Right on, we have another burner guy to help answer tuning questions.

Did you offset the jet slightly to make up for the asymmetrical air intake? That seems to be one of the main details for getting a Sidearm to burn right.

What settled you on the Sidearm configuration?

Frosty

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Did you offset the jet slightly to make up for the asymmetrical air intake? That seems to be one of the main details for getting a Sidearm to burn right.
Frosty


On the Tee that I used, it is a 3/4" X 1 1/4" X 1 1/4" where the 3/4 NPT end is concentric with the opposite end that is 1 1/4 NPT. This made it easier to align the jet tube.


What settled you on the Sidearm configuration?
Frosty


I built several different styles as a prototype. I liked the simplicity of the "Reil" style burner (with a reducer bell on the end of the pipe) I also tried a couple of different variations of a sidearm burner with different size tees and even wye's.

I settled on the sidearm style due to it's extremely good manners when burning and consistency. I did have to add a 45 degree fitting in the burners to slow the velocity down, and make it behave a little better. I used mig welding contact tips for nozzles to make it easier to try different sizes of gas orifices.

I use the forge outside underneath a covered patio. There is always a slight breeze if not a wind through there. I needed a burner that was not affected a great deal by wind blowing past the intakes. These sidearm burners create a very good suction and turbulence on the intake and they are very stable.

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Wow have you figured out the fuel consumption yet.
Bet it's like my F250.
How fast does it bring your heat up to working temp.
Always been wanting one, how quick does it eat a 20 pound gas bottle.
Have you used it that much yet.

Very nice


I have not figured out fuel consumption definitively yet. I started with a 30 pound gas cylinder and did all of my testing and tuning and hooked it to the forge for the initial firing and made 1 set of tongs and I was out of propane.

I now have a 100 pound cylinder hooked to it. ;)

It may not be far off from your F250. I could get some consumption figures and let you know, but it is not extremely fuel efficient. I think I can get it a little more efficient with some more tuning. (orifice size and pressure)

It gets up to working temp pretty fast, within 5 min. I have thought about reducing the volume a bit by adding another layer of fire brick on the bottom. This way I could keep it a little hotter between heats with the idle circuit.

I have not used it as much as I would like. I have to build a stand for it. The utility table that it is sitting on now gets really hot if I run it very long.
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That's one nice looking forge for being homemade. :) How hot does it get, and does it heat very evenly?


Thanks for the kind compliments!

I have not been able to measure how hot it gets, I don't have a pyrometer that will measure that hot.

I have been able to forge weld mild steel in it though. It does a good job of that!!! ;):)

It is a pretty even heat. I do have cool spots on each end right by the end doors. but I can deal with that better than having cool spots in the interior of the forge from excessive burner spacing. I think the spacing is about right, but I may have made the forge a little long. I can always add more refractory to make the volume a little less.
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Thank you sir!
It's good to see a fellow Utahn. I see you are a bit south of me. I am up north in a town called Hooper. (due west of Ogden)

It's funny if you hadn't have said Ogden I would have been looking Hooper up on Google map.:D (I've heard of it just never knew where it was)

That is a nice forge. I also made my own and been using it, but i couldn't get to forging temps. and finding out the hard way that flux pretty much eats everything inside the forge.:rolleyes: after reading articles from this site (and others) I ripped out the inside to redo the linning and add another burner. I guess as long as I'm learning thats all that matters.:)
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Yes, I can run it all the way down to about 4 psi, though I normally need to run at about 8-10 psi to achieve working temp.

I have an Idler valve setup on it and it does help. Id just uses a lot of fuel. I think it would frost up a little tank pretty good.

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I gave the idler a lot of thought but if I'm going to be away long enough for it to save me anything I just shut it off. As long as it's still red inside it'll light right up as soon as I open the valve with a hand choking the air intake a bit. My shop forge heats quickly enough there's no time lost rewarming it a little.

Frosty

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A ball valve is just what it says, It is made of a ball with a hole through it and a seat. With a 90 degree turn of the ball, it fully actuates the valve. Basically speaking it is a very fast acting shut-off valve.

A needle valve is made of a threaded shaft, the end shaped like a needle, which seats into a similar shaped seat. This valve closes very little with one turn of the shaft. This makes for a much finer adjustment or flow control.

Difference is in the practical function.

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Welcome aboard X45, good to have you.

A good place to start is the IFI search engine. There have been lots of posts about building burners, tuning burners, buying burners, etc. There are plans in the Blue Prints section as well.

A few things you'll need to know to do a good job of building a burner is know what volume and shape your forge needs to be. Refractory is also important and there are many different types for different uses.

If you'll click "User CP" at the top of the page and edit your profile to show your location it'll make a big difference. Folk in your area will be able to let you know about get togethers, tool deals and lend you a hand directly.

Frosty

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