[TheForge] Gun Burners (AKA fan blown)

[Chuck Robinson]

Hey Robert,
The Fogg style bird cage is the most efficient forge I have used.
I helped build about 30 of them and they are easy to fabricate.
You will easily make welding heat. Just make sure when you build it that the 
billet opening is at least 10-12" above the burner opening. This gives the 
gas air mixture time to completely burn. It also cuts down on scale.
I  toss in a few chunks of metrological grade coke every 20 minutes or so, 
to scavenge any extra oxygen.
When you put the forge top cap on. drill several holes just slightly larger 
than the diameter of a 1" dry wall screw in the cap, spaced evenly .
Then dip the screws in a wet satenite slurry and screw them thru the top in 
to the top piece of inswool.
The satenite will set up with the first heat and lock the wool to the metal 
top.
Also cut the wall insulation oversize to insure no hot spots when you fire 
up.
One of the things I like about a S shell is that you can easily see any 
areas that need additional insulation.
I like to cast a 2" floor in the forge with Castolite or Mizou, makes it 
much more flux resistant