[TheForge] FAQ

Tue Apr 18 15:21:39 EDT 2006

Frosty,
Oh boy was that a mouth full or what? I will not write anything in regard to
your DEMANDING people comment, not because I disagree with it at all, but
simply in order to keep the Tums in their bottle. OK, just one little
caution of my own: Poor Jeffrey! I can only hope he will salvage something
of value to his career out of the mess he is about to deal with, because the
headaches won't be minor.

Jeffrey,
You are welcome to cut and paste whatever information you wish to use from
my email comments on this list, including past emails, and to request
answers while making up your FAQ section for the group.

Like Frosty, I am ready to contribute, but must be careful, being an author
"under contract." However, he can answer the questions on naturally
aspirated burners at least as well as me. His comment on Ron's dislike of
fan blown systems is not only true, but presents a unique opportunity for us
all.

When first researching burners, Ron's view complimented my own. Fan blown
tube forges do have a "dragon's breath" problem, and are not very portable;
furthermore, they cannot be employed as hand torches. On the other hand, a
variety of designs is always preferable to attempts at "ultimate systems"
because today's bum can be tomorrow's hero. Michael H. recently discovered
that intense heat can be too much of a good thing, when the grate in his
ceramic ball forge melted. We are busy discussing ways to diffuse the heat
energy from its tube burner in order to bypass the problem, because he wants
a portable forge; fan blown systems use more diffuse heat by nature.

Small crucible furnaces have one large exhaust hole plus a small emergency
drain hole in their bottoms. This equipment configuration creates dragon's
breath with a tube burner just as effectively as any fan blow burner does in
a regular tube forge. While considering how best to use such furnaces as
forges it became clear that the way around dragon's breath is simply to
divert it. The amount of exiting heat from a naturally aspirated forge is no
less than that of a fan blown design, as any picture of a tube forge running
against the right background color will show. The heat waves, which appear
on the background surface as air distortion (ripples) are quite large, but
travel upward at a steep incline, away from the operator. Blown forges put
out the same exhaust energy, but with enough force to impinge on the
operator to an uncomfortable extent.

The solution to this problem is replacement of the forge 'door' with an
internal reduction ring in order to maintain a compressed spiral in the
flame's exit path, along with the addition of an external baffle to bounce
infrared energy back into the forge while redirecting exhaust flames upward
and away from the operator. This baffle should be made of rammable or
castable refractory in order to withstand down shock better than kiln
furniture would (here again, bubble alumina would be best). It should also
be made in two pieces, only leaving a minimal opening between them for stock
insertion and removal (gravity closed, with a foot operated opener peddle).
Such a forge can also be used with low pressure natural gas. 

The main differences between tube forges and small crucible furnaces are a
matter of horizontal vs. vertical orientation, and the addition of a hinged
lid. If you make the lid lockable and mount the forge using axles instead of
directly to legs, you get a forge/furnace combination. I have already made
furnace/forges; the difference being in emphasis of use. If the tool is
primarily a furnace, than its 'lid' should have lowered side walls, so that
when it opens the crucible can be extracted horizontally. Many casters use
regular lids, extracting the crucible vertically, and then resting it
momentarily on a ceramic surface while changing to pouring tongs. If one is
primarily building a forge, the simple lid is a better construction choice
than a lowered lid, because the opening seam ends up further from the
flame's point of entry (far less tendency to leakage problems). 
Mikey  

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Frost
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 9:01 AM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] FAQ

The two really pertinent suggestions have been made but I'll second both.

First, As Bob says, Ron's covered the subject pretty well though there are 
always new things coming down the pike so updating info is good. Also, Ron 
isn't too fond of gun burners (blower driven) so there's room to compile 
info there.

Second, Try to keep it organized as Mike says. If it's disorganized it won't

do much good and you'll discover what Ron did. Even though he's laid his 
info out pretty clearly, has in depth FAQs, drawings, materials lists, 
supplier lists, etc. etc. he was just plain swamped by people DEMANDING 
help. Mind you, these demanding people hadn't bothered to actually read the 
info, FAQs, etc. but they expected Ron to answer endless questions.

Ron disabled all his old E-dresses around the first of the year when he 
turned his forge and burner site over to ABANA. The only way to get in touch

now is via long distance phone call.

Not to be discouraging but you should know what you're getting into. Mikey 
can offer some more stories I'm sure. <grin>

AND lastly <grin> Please feel free to use anything I post here or feel free 
to post me on the side.

Frosty
-------------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.

http://www.artmetalradio.com/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffrey Polaski" <jeff.polaski at rgs.uci.edu>

When I built my propane forge I found a lot of info about burners and
coal forges, etc... but there wasn't really too much on the net about
propane forges. So, to help out some newcomers, I'd like to volunteer to
compile some of the discussions on this list into a "Propane Forge FAQ"
of sorts.

I'll need a little help making sure some of the final details and
sources are right, but I'll be happy to do the majority of the work.

Any suggestions?

Jeff Polaski
Research and Graduate Studies Webmaster
University of California, Irvine
http://www.rgs.uci.edu/
949.824.6363

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