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Posted by Steve Smith on December 2, 2006, 11:16 am
Please log in for more thread options OK, it was my spam filter. Larry Zoeller is out there and responding.
Ignore my last question.
Steve
Steve Smith wrote:
> Your forge is plenty small. Your firebrick isn't the right stuff, as
> others have mentioned, but it should work a lot better than it is. I
> think your torch is at fault. What to do about it is the tricky part.
>
> If you can post a picture or two, it may help us figure out what to
> do. Otherwise, you can try adjusting your burner. Try to figure out
> some kind of choke to reduce the amount of air. Try reducing the
> pressure (you are using a regulator?) and see what happens.
> Here are some flame pictures:
> http://ronreil.abana.org/richtolean.jpg
> http://ronreil.abana.org/flame.jpg
> http://ronreil.abana.org/sidef.jpg
> http://ronreil.abana.org/burner2.jpg
> They come from here:
> http://ronreil.abana.org/design1.shtml
> There are more pages on this site of interest--you could spend between
> now and Christmas reading it all.
>
> The firebrick you have is probably intended to hold heat. This means
> it will be slow to heat up. A piece of 1/8-1/4" steel rod held in the
> flame will show rough heat changes a lot quicker than your forge body.
>
> Larry Zoeller isn't answering my emails--has anyone else been in touch
> with him? I'm wondering if I'm getting nailed in a spam filter or
> something. Maybe he's on vacation.
>
> Steve
>
> Prometheus wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I got myself a box of firebricks, and stacked them so that the area
>> inside my little forge was 81 cubic inches. The only burner I have
>> right now is a plumber's style propane torch- and that's not likely to
>> change until well after the holliday season, whether I'd like it to or
>> not.
>> I'm guessing that the volume of the interior is just way too big for
>> what I'm doing- it will heat a 1/2" bar to a dull red, but it's even
>> slower than just holding the torch on it in the open air.
>> The interior dimentions as I've got the bricks stacked are 2" wide,
>> 4.5 " high, and 9" deep. I've got a hole drilled at a approx. 30
>> degree angle (pointing slightly upwards, so the tank can sit nearly
>> upright) in the center of one of the firebricks on the side. The
>> firebricks are cheap fireplace liners from Menard's, 4.5" x 9" x 1.5".
>>
>> There are some cracks where air can get in due to the roughness of the
>> bricks, and after a little experimentation, I made an opening of about
>> 1.5" x 2" on each end by laying a firebrick on each end. That seemed
>> to work about as well as it was going to work- which is not very well,
>> of course.
>>
>> I'm sure there are some problems with the design that will be
>> immediately apparent to someone with more experience, so I'm hoping
>> one of you guys will have an idea of how I can tune this up a bit.
>>
>> What I *can* do within my resources and budget is cut the firebrick to
>> whatever size is appropriate for a propane torch forge, and make a
>> metal box out of anything from 11-20 ga. 1018 or 301 stainless that
>> the firebrick can slide into- I think I could also manage to get a
>> second propane or mapp gas torch. hopefully, that's enough to get me
>> going!
>>
>> Any suggestions, and particularly info related to volume and vent
>> opening sizes will be really appreciated. I'm sure I'll upgrade to
>> something better with a real burner and that ceramic insulation soon
>> enough, but I'm just messing around on a budget for now.
>>
>>
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