[TheForge] Chip Bed Forge

Tue Feb 21 15:02:08 EST 2006

> They do two jobs just to start with, but the nature of their 
> construction allows many configurations: Brazing hearth; forge; 
> furnace; kiln; heat treat oven; and who knows what else?
Weenie Roaster? ;-)

Seriously though, I'm curious about the many uses you have listed here.
It seems like you're thinking of the chip bed as a part of the burner,
and it has me a little confused. I'm not sure how a chip bed furnace
would make a good kiln or heat treat oven. 

I'm probably not thinking of this very well, but are you saying that all
these are easily done by one furnace? Or one burner? (i.e., taking the
same chip bed "burner assembly" from one forge "shell" to a big ceramic
kiln "shell".

Oh, by the way I had a couple of other ideas for making round beads out
of refractory. I was thinking if the melon baller didn't work on the
ramable refractory I have, then maybe I could make a mold. It would be
like a spring swedge, but with a hinge to keep everything in alignment.
Any old hinge should work. Just take a marble and grease it up, and
stick it half way down in some epoxy to make half of the mold. I'd just
make it out of the two-part plumbers epoxy at Home Depot. 

If they're available, I'd think bullet molds for black powder muskets
might work pretty well, too.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I had some notes for an
inexpensive recuperative forge using parts from Home Depot. The main
thing was to run your burner through some larger black iron pipe, just
like one of the fancier recuperative forges. It's not a brilliant design
or any thing, I just thought it would be a lot easier to use stuff from
HD, rather than a bunch of custom-fabricated sheet metal and parts. One
drawback (for some) - there is a little welding (to join the burner
through a larger piece of pipe). I have all the parts and I'm going to
start on it soon. My life's been really busy for the last year or so...
Once I get it going, I'll let you all know how it's going.

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

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Mike Porter
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:01 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Chip Bed Forge

Rick
Flame Engineering at least did export their equipment. There was an
outfit 
(out of AZ I think) that was selling it two years ago. However, their
prices 
were astronomical, and as I said in another post, the English equipment
is 
pretty underwhelming by nature. I am not getting the media at all, 
presently. In the summer of 2004 Skipjack Press decided it was
interested in 
a book on diffusion joining (had already been looking over brazing
equipment 
for months). As Flame Engineering was interested in using my burner
design 
to update their equipment for the USA market. we corresponded for a
while 
(once they found out that the burners could be freely used by anyone); 
didn't come to much in the end.

Meantime, I had been brainstorming brazing hearths and ceramic chip
forges. 
There were some emails traded back and forth on that subject right here.
At 
that time Jeff Polaski suggested using a melon ball cutter to form clay 
balls as the media (it's in my notes). I had the idea for a regenerative

firebox clear back then, but just sat on it. Why? Because I was being 
greedy, that's why! People just don't seem to 'get it' about the
potential 
of ceramic chip forges. They do two jobs just to start with, but the
nature 
of their construction allows many configurations: Brazing hearth; forge;

furnace; kiln; heat treat oven; and who knows what else? Done properly,
they 
are the ultimate example of open ended engineering. There ya go, you're
up 
to speed now. Well, I did have some other ideas about brazing hearths
that 
are still being hatched, but you're gonna have to buy the book to see
them 
:)
Mike P.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick Korinek" <rickkorinek at verizon.net>
To: "'Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 8:56 AM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Chip Bed Forge

> Michael,
> I contacted one of the English Mfgrs last summer.  They do not make an
> export version because of electric power standards compatibility.
They
> would ship/sell the ceramic media.  I did not pursue this further.
>
> Where are you getting the media?
>
> I am very interested in your experience with this combustion approach.
>
> -Rick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Michael Horgan
> Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:36 PM
> To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [TheForge] Chip Bed Forge
>
> Some years ago I made a gas forge for use at the Renaissance  Faire,
> hiding the hot box under some black lava rock. It worked pretty well
> , at least as a nail forge, but you could only heat one end of the
> bar, with no pass through. Last year we used a Whisper Mama, tucked
> away in a faux-brick forge.  Still pretty obviously a gas hotbox.  I
> wanted a coal or charcoal fire, but the Faire site, regulated by the
> Army Corps of Engineers and the local county Fire Inspectors wouldn't
> allow the "Open Fire"
>
> This year we are putting together a ceramic chip forge, basically a
> gas burner feeding the bottom of a pile of heat resistant
> "rocks."  I've been looking at the past postings on the forge, and
> talking off list with Paul Boulay , Rex Price, Frosty and Mike
> Porter, about the ins and outs, advantages and disadvantages of this
> type of forge. Whether it can be made to work with a venturi burner
> or if a blower is needed, what type of media to use  for best heat
> transfer to your steel, and so on. I've also been looking at the
> "expensive" commercial versions available in England as used in the
> school systems,as shown in the graphics page here,  and some slightly
> different types available in Germany,
>
http://www.angele-shop.com/catalog/index.php?cName=gas-forges-gasforges
.
>
> There have been some great ideas pop up, not to mention the usual
> kludges I'm apt to come up with. <GRIN>
>
> Mikie in particular has a great idea for a recuperative forge that
> looks great for a commercial forging station, if perhaps a bit more
> than I was looking to do as a portable forge at the Faire
>
> Seems like there's some interest in this, so I'll be summarizing in
> later messages some of the stuff we've been talking about, as well as
> the results from some experimentation I'm doing.  I've got some
> refractory media due in this weekend so I can try to produce some
> results to share.
>
>
> Michael D. Horgan , lughaid at earthlink.net
> http://members.aol.com/lughaid/
> posting from
>  A BRAZEN FORGERY
> Blacksmithing and Metalwork
> Claremont, Ca.
>
>
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