Blown forge [progress]

[Fred.Rowe]

Everthing is in place. I still need to hook into the gas line and program the controller but other than that, it is ready to fire. I have some friends, that work for the fire dept, who will be stopping by for the intial lighting, just in case. Hopfully they will not be needed.
The shop will have been shut down for 6 weeks by the time I finish this upgrade; which consist of the heat treat forge, a 25 ton press and a replacement whisper lowboy. The first one was consumed by borax. I am hoping to be back into knife production around the end of May. So, I have been busy, just not making any knives at the moment. I am looking forward to making some of the more exotic damascus patterns and also working with the canned steels. I will post fotos of the intial firing if there is anything left to photograph. Fred

 

[indian george]

Looking good You Ole Dog You.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Looking good You Ole Dog You.

Hey George, If you give a man enough parts and a welding outfit, you know, something will get built, even if it turns out to be a yard ornament. Do you have any of those in your back yard? I'm not speaking of your motocycles. Fred he!he!

 

[Darren Ellis]

Hey Fred, looks great! Is there a baffle system in that blue box or does it just port directly to the multiple burner tubes?



-Darren

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Hey Fred, looks great! Is there a baffle system in that blue box or does it just port directly to the multiple burner tubes?



-Darren

There's a 6"x21/2" plate in front of the 2" that feeds the blue mixing chamber. The baffle is only welded on one edge, so the A/G mixture can feed under it as well as towards the ends of the chamber.

I am hoping for a nice even heat from the five ports. I'll be working in the mid teens, temp wise and figure on running about 8lbs of well head gas or there abouts. I have control of both volume and pressure with a manual reg. and a needle valve so I can tweek it, after it is up and running. I wired a switch between the pid controller and the gas solinoid valve, as a safety precaution. I ran the power to the controller thru the fan switch so you can not acctivate the controller without running the fan. I have tried to cover all the angles but when working with a new design there is always a doubt factor. Fred :thumbup:

 

[Dan Gray]

fred once you get the after burner atached it'll be ready to fly

nice piece of work I'd be interested in how it fires up


you must be a fan of south-park

 

[Fred.Rowe]

fred once you get the after burner atached it'll be ready to fly

nice piece of work I'd be interested in how it fires up


you must be a fan of south-park

I'll give you a holler when I post the test fire pics. Guility! Those little heathens can sure make me laugh. Fred

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The large pipe on the back.Is that the exhaust port,or a quench tank?

 

[Darren Ellis]

H Fred, it looks like a winner. I look forward to hearing about it once you get it operational.

I've been playing around with a baffle system forced air burner, trying to come up with a good design to offer on our site. The ones I've been messing around with create excellent mixing of the air/gas, but require a blower that can handle the higher static pressure.



-Darren

 

[Fred.Rowe]

The large pipe on the back.Is that the exhaust port,or a quench tank?

Hi Stacy, The pipe at the rear of the forge is a 4" exhaust port. The air void tank sitting to the right of the forge is the quench tank. The oil will be heated with the bucket heater that is draped over the tank. The air void should hold the temp of the oil at a constant once it is up to temp. I want to get a better handle on the temperatures both on the heat end and when I quench. I don't think "close enough" is close enough at this stage of the game. Fred

 

[Fred.Rowe]

H Fred, it looks like a winner. I look forward to hearing about it once you get it operational.

I've been playing around with a baffle system forced air burner, trying to come up with a good design to offer on our site. The ones I've been messing around with create excellent mixing of the air/gas, but require a blower that can handle the higher static pressure.



-Darren

I am using a 100 cfm pole blower on this setup and hope it will give me the results I am looking for. I will keep you posted on my results.
I am always inspired by the designs people come up with when it comes to building a forge. Your gallery is a testimonial to this. Fred