[TheForge] Bed Frames

[Dave Brown]

At 22:34 01/13/03 -0700, you wrote:
>Finally a topic I have experience in !
>I finished my first blacksmith commission .
>It was a head and footboard,actually it was a head & foot "iron" .

Congratulations.  You wouldn't happen to have a picture to share, would you?

>I would like to know if any one has built the Sandia Lab forge on the abana
>web site? I have the plans and was lookin' for feedback.
>Thank you!

I have the plans also, but haven't built it.  But, I have used one and one 
similarly designed and built.  I really like it for some things, like 
smaller items.  It's big drawback is that it's interior is relatively small 
and lacks a pass-through portal, but this could be added.  Also, the box 
design limits the size of certain things, such as scroll ends.  But this is 
a problem you encounter with most all typically sized gas forges.

I do however like the Sandia forge.  It heats up quick, it heats the metal 
up fast.  It's fuel efficient and the exhaust gasses go up the chimney to 
the pre-heater manifold instead of out at you as happens with the pipe 
design forges.  The pre-heater manifold does seem to live up to it's claims 
of improving forge and burner efficiency.

When I helped a friend (Jim Enloe, UMBA Secretary) knock his similarly 
designed forge together I noted one particular headache.  The gas jets are 
simply drilled into the side of a pipe.  You need to be very careful and 
accurate when you drill these jets.  If one is off center from the other it 
will cause one or the other to always be aimed at an angle in the air 
intake.  Secondly, if not spaced exactly right one or the other of your 
burners will not burn efficiently.  The cure, as I see it, is to make each 
burner independent and put a "Y" or "T" in your gas line and run separate 
gas feed lines to each.  This would allow you to tune each burner individually.

The Sandia design is a box, while most home build forge/furnaces are made 
round (pipe).  Some say that a tangentially mounted burner is better 
because of the swirl effect that happens inside the pipe.  Having used a 
Sandia and seen Robb Gunter use one well, I don't know if this "swirl" is 
much of a factor, at least it doesn't seem necessary for the Sandia 
forge/furnace design.  However, the Sandia's straight down flame does 
create hot spots directly under the burner tubes.  But this doesn't seem to 
be much, if any, problem either.

Bottom line is that I still intend to build one .... sooner or later.

Dave Brown
Heritage Smithing
Green Bay, WI
ABANA, UMBA, GoM, MODA, ARG