[TheForge] Frosty Forge: Propane Users tank sizes and usage

[dann at wctatel.net]

Frosty,

Ah.. The big difference going to the Hardware store.. is You Know What you
want <grins>.

I'm probably wasting a bunch of their time, and they know it.  The local
hardware store gets most of my business.  They put up with me, as I don't
usually run to the urban mega hardware stores. I buy everything locally
that I can.

Back about 1997... to get a furnace orifice drill trying to build my first
Ron Reil type burner.. I bought parts of the shelf and ordered the rest.

I believe it called for a size 70 drilled lp gas port?  I ended up
ordering a package of a dozen of those tiny little drill bits. Then I
couldn't get them to work.  I ended up borrowing a whole set from the
local furnace guy.

I never did get that burner to bring metal up to heat, and finally just
bought an NC Whisper Momma.   The kao-wool lined forge in an old 5 gallon
air tank for my Ron Reil burner that I was trying to build ... finally got
use when I put the  Zoeller Forge burner into it.


Dann




> Uh. . . Where to start.
>
> Mig tips, yeah most of us building burners use mig tips
> now. I may have been the first but don't claim anything
> but lazyness as inspiration. I wasn't sure what size
> orifice to use so figured drilling and tapping one hole
> was a lot easier than having to remove, redrill and
> replace the whole fuel pipe for every change.
>
> I don't know which burner you're using Dann but if it's
> built from a kit it's probably the "Side Arm" type
> Robert Grauman came up with. He was visiting us while
> we were building. Robert and I were sitting around
> talking about burners, furnaces, etc. and I described
> my "T" burner. He evidently thought I was describing
> the Side Arm and that's what he built. When he sent me
> a picture some years later I almost replied telling him
> he had it all wrong. Then I came to my senses, his
> configuration worked just fine and was easier to build.
> It made me realize the exact configuration isn't as
> important as getting the ratios and alignments right.
>
> I brought Rich a "T" burner for the 06 Dig and after
> cutting a hole in the side of his forge and doing a
> little tuning had it running plenty hot. It's a 1" "T"
> burner and is doing what two 3/4" commercial burners
> weren't. I don't know if Rich built another but that
> would be gross overkill.
>
> I don't claim the "T" is hotter or more efficient than
> Mikey's design or most others. What it is, is really
> easy to build with minimal tools and skills. Like any
> jet ejector type burner it's ultimate efficiency will
> top out around the max an air / propane torch can. Some
> designs take less tweeking to reach top performance but
> in balance they're harder to build.
>
> Whether you buy or build is up to you, some folk just
> want to get to work and others like me like making the
> tools almost as much as using them. Another factor is
> the age old money / time dilemma, if you have the time
> you don't have the money and visa versa. Even when I
> don't have a lot of time I have more time than money so
> spending some time building burners and furnaces far
> offsets the cost of buying them. I typically spend
> around $8-10 per burner, not counting regulator, hose
> and tank and around $25-50 on the forge/furnace itself.
>
> Lastly, running to the local plumbing supplier on a
> quest for workable fittings is half the fun. I
> especially like the look on the sales person's face
> when I tell him what I'm making and why. <grin>
>
> Frosty
> -------------------------------
> If it ain't forged
> it ain't real.
> Wrought iron is.
> The FrostWorks
>
> Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
> http://www.artmetalradio.com/
>
> From: "Dann" <dann at wctatel.net>
>
>
>>
>>
>> Dan,
>>
>> Interesting...
>> Mike Porters burner  uses a mig tip for the propane
>> orifice? .. hmmm.
>>
>> Guessing here:  as Zoeller Forge is selling Porter's
>> book,   the LP BURNER that Larry Zoeller made for me
>> a couple years ago, is probably a "Porter" type
>> Burner.
>>
>> Rather than hunt down parts,  I couple years  back, I
>> asked Larry to include everything for the burner,
>> including the regulator, and hose.  Just add BBQ LP
>> tank: have complete forge burner.
>>
>> http://www.zoellerforge.com/flare.html
>>
>> I thought it was a good value.    Consider the time
>> spent running to the hardware store... not knowing
>> exactly what you are looking for... so feeling a bit
>> like an idiot while searching through catalogs.  Then
>> choosing, ordering and getting a one of a kind item
>> that my small "mom and pop" hardware store will
>> probably never order again... and then  when the part
>> comes in.... <grins> finding out that it was the
>> wrong fitting.
>>
>> Yuppers! It was a great value.
>>
>> Looking at Zoeller's new web page, I see that Larry
>> has all that stuff listed now.
>>
>> Then I  had another brain fart... Maybe this Porter
>> Burner is similar to what Frosty helped Rich Fizzell
>> assemble  a couple years ago.  I think that Rich said
>> his burners also use a mig tips for the propane
>> orifice.
>>
>> Rich  said he really liked Frosty's burners, and used
>> them to replace  the stock burners that came with his
>> Whisper Momma.
>>
>> <big stupid grins>
>>
>> Dann
>>
>>
>
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