[TheForge] Small gas forge

Sat Mar 30 20:25:01 2002

Dave 
I have a small forge made of coffee cans, two cans 6" dia. 7" tall, layed end to end, one end has a 1 1/2" x 4" openning the other a 1" dia hole. For the bottom I layed in two BBQ bricks they are hard and about a 1/2" thick. It is lined with 1" Kaowool, when this was first built I used a Spitfire torch with a #80 drill size oriface. They don't make these any more but I think you could scale down a Ron Riel style burner without a problem.  It never got welding heat but it has done a lot of work. It only cost $5.00 cdn to make and runs at about 60 hours on a 20# tank of propane. I can not pass things through this forge as the burner is in one end and aimed for the front. I now use a larger burner since there is not much kaowool left and is time to rebuild it or retire it. 

Dave Brown <[email protected]> wrote:

>I'm going to make a small gas forge with naturally aspirated burner (i.e. 
>Bunsen Burner). �For the case I'm using a metal housing from an old GE 
>3/4hp electric motor. �It's 6.5" diameter, 7.25" long. �It will be lined 
>with 1" Kaowool giving it a net 4.5" diameter. �Interior volume will be 
>affected a little bit because I plan on using a piece of fire brick or 
>piece of ceramic on the bottom for a floor. �Heck, I may even put in a hard 
>cast refractory floor using some Mizzou (A.P. Green) refractory cement that 
>I have handy.
>
>Now the questions:
>
>1. �Will a burner using a 3/4" pipe be overkill for this small forge and 
>should I consider making a smaller burner from 1/2" tubing/pipe? �The 4.5" 
>net diameter (after putting in the Kaowool) is a lot smaller chamber than 
>the 8" or so diameter in the more typical propane forges using the 3/4" 
>pipe Bunsen burners (about 1/3 of the larger size).
>
>2. �Would the burner tip from a propane torch (e.g. Bernzomatic type) be 
>adequate so I wouldn't need to build a burner? �I saw a small "bean can" 
>forge set up this way, but it had only a 3" ID and6" length. �Going up to 
>4.5" ID with 7"+ L is a more than 260% increase in volume. �I'm thinking 
>that may be a bit much for the propane torch to deal with.
>
>I suppose I could make one using the torch tip and if it doesn't work just 
>upgrade to a 1/2" pipe burner. �I just wanted to think out loud here and 
>see what opinions or similar experiences might be floating around here.
>
>
>Dave Brown
>Heritage Smithing
>Green Bay, WI
>ABANA, UMBA, GoM, MODA, ARG
>
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