Freon tank miniforge

NickWheeler

NickWheeler

Joined
Dec 3, 1999
Messages
9,437
Okay, I knew forging would be part of my knifemaking eventually...

I have been VERY FORTUNATE to have friends like Terry, Dave, and Bill to help me get my feet wet here.

Terry did more leg work to get he, Dave, and myself a mini forge going than anyone else would even think of...and for that I am very greatful
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My forge (well, "my" after I pay Terry back) is the furthest from being completed, and now after reading Ron Reil's site forward and backward I'm more informed but a little confused.

Has anybody else built/used one of these?

I see on the site that Ron recommends a welding tip in the burner for increased efficiency...thoughts???

Also, most guys are saying you can't forge weld in a Kao-wool lined forge. What if it's painted with ITC-100???

For curiosity here, what are the details on a cast refractory?

I'm just trying to figure out as much here as I can...I guess that's the engineer in me poking out...I guess

Thanks for any info
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Terry and Dave, not trying to avoid asking you guys directly, I just figured you'd see it here just as easy as email
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Thanks,
Nick
 
Hey Nick, I worked on my freon tank mini-forge over the weekend. I got the kaowool installed and it is now about 90% finished. Ron Reil claims that welding can be done in these forges if you use the ITC-100. Coating mine with the ITC-100 is the next step. Ron has a link to an email he received from someone who built this forge who forge welded the first time in his.
I'm using Ron's origional EZ burner for my forge. It will heat 3/16 inch thick steel to
forging temp in about a minute just as an open air burner.
The tip you mentioned is for some new, much more efficient burners (Nono-Mongo, Mini-Mongo and Micro-Mongo burners) that he and others have designed. He has several disclaimers and notes on using this design for the mini-forge as they burn much hotter than his origional designs.
I'll post a picture of mine this evening if I get a chance. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I'll keep you posted on my progress here also. -Guy Thomas
 
i bulit one with ron burner designit it was geting up to forging heat but was still burning lean so i added a 50cfm blower to it and reostat so i can very the airflow after getting the air mix right i actully puddled two trampoline spring it was a tank and a half forge 2"insowool 2/3aruond the tank 1" isowool to isulate the floor both coated with insotuff on the bottom and 1 1/2 standard fire brick on top of that for floor the worked well until the wool got eaten by the flux and created hot spots i need to redue this one for staight forging. Russ

[This message has been edited by rotor (edited 02-26-2001).]
 
Nick as you know the burners in my forge are of the original "easy" design type. However I am going to remove the third burner and convert it over to the type that uses the wire welding tips so I can compare it to the original.

Due to the large inside volume of my forge (it is not the freon container style for those of you who are reading this w/o knowing what us nuts are talking about) I really wonder if I got a good weld on the billet you saw the other day or not. I think I need more heat or less volume to heat up.

The primary difference in a Kaowool versus castable forge (IMHO)is the difference in time for the forge to come up to heat. The casable takes quite a bit longer to initially heat but is much more durable. If you want to experiment I have 12 bags of high temp castable laying in the shop floor over here. Let's see now - we could build a forge that would heat a bar stretching from your place to mine w/ a detour through Daves shop on the way (grin).
 
I am in the process of building my first forge,I HAD THE GREAT PLEASURE OF GETTING to go and vist gene martin in ore,this is the guy who is responsible for keeping bob enthath site open,he show me alot,well to the point!!!!i saw is smallforge,very simple kao wool with that spray on plain fire brick. so i know mine will work,just stick close to rons plans and you:llhave it. just my long winded 5cent royboy

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I built a freon tank forge. It worked fine. It did not do what I wanthe though. I exchanged ideas with Larry Zoller and came up with the one I have now (stovepipe) I had never forge welded and I tried it last weekend. It worked fine although I need a little practice.
Be careful with the insulation. It's very bad for you when hot!
 
I weld in my forge, 1" kaowool with a water glass coating. The thing about welding in a kaowool forge is the borax eats the wool like a kid eating cotton candy. I plan to make a Don Fog style forge for welding, flux falls out the bottom. In the meantime I'm using kitty litter to soak up the flux. put on plenty and rake out the borax cclumps when you fire up next time.

The kitty litter also protects the wool from damage from the work, resting on the bottom.

life is what it is
 
Mike, are you leaving the kitty litter in while the forge is running? Or after?

Could you elaborate on this for me?

thanks
-SD
 
I use kao-wool in my forge (not a freon tank)Mine is a upright style with the window at the top and burner at the bottom.And the only problem is the borax as stated above.It eats the wool down from the window when I set a billet in.I also use kitty litter but I have it soaked in ceramic slip and this has taken care of the eaten out part down the front under the window.I also coated the kao-wool with the ceramic slip before I put it in the forge and it works great,I just soaked the wool in the slip and set it in so the wool was sealed completely.
I leave the kitty litter in the forge when forging in my forge....
I am using a forced air and propane set up.and my air blower is the exaust from a old canister vaccum cleaner...
Bruce

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Bruce Evans Handcrafted Knives
The soul of the Knife begins in the Fire!!!!!
Member of,AKTI#A000223 and The American Bladesmith Society
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My forge is a 5 gallon round gas can, lined with 1 layer of 2" Kaowool. It has a coating, but it's not ITC. My heat source is not a venturi type, it has a blower from Grainer. I have no problems reaching welding temps.

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Glen AKA Centaur
"I'll be your Huckleberry."
- Doc Holiday
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. Bill, I am really interested to see what you find on that burner mod.

Silent, maybe Ron has changed his site since you read it...he recommends the welding tip in all burners the Reil, EZ, and Mongo burners.

Thanks again for the help...I think I need about 3 different forges and it would all be just right
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Nick
 
Your too kind Nick, hope we can get these to work properly. Sent you an e-mail with more information. Sure appreciate all the guys sharing here. We have certainly learned a bunch. What a great society. Terry
 
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