New Forge

Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Messages
4,676
Ya’ll remember a thread I started a while back about blown burner and building a forge. Thanks to the nice knowledgeable folks and especially Stacy I’ve pretty much got it built. A VERY special THANK YOU to Stacy for sending me some much needed stuff for the forge.

Forge-Front.jpg

Above is a view of the front of forge, the blower is mounted to the side rather than at bottom of cart. Based on Stacy’s advice the burner tube is installed so the flame is pointed toward the rear and upward a tad. This causes a swirling action of the flame to help heat the interior more evenly and the flame never directly hits the billet. That is a BIG plus!

The burner tube is 1-1/4” pipe from 90 to forge. 1” might have been better? Not sure but this seems to work pretty good. It wouldn’t be hard to change if needed.

Forge-Wheel.jpg

Above is a view of the 10” pneumatic tire mounted on the forge end of the Harbor Freight cart. This is only one of Stacy’s “best” suggestions. At $4 each those tires are the best investment of all. Makes pushing cart so easy on grass.

Forge-Blower.jpg

Above is a view from blower end of cart – the tube for thermocouple is visible. With the ceramic sheath extending an inch or so inside forge the temperature is monitored nicely. The movable rack mounted in front of forge is another one of Stacy’s idea. The rack slides in for storage and slides out for use to hold the handle of billets. VERY handy. Visible is the burner tube angled toward the rear, but the angle upwards doesn't really show.

is a short video showing the flame swirling. Note the mixture is a tad rich (lots of dragon breath) to better show the swirling action of the flame. I think I got a finger over the mic causing the sound to drop out.

Welded-Billet.jpg

Above is 10 layers of 1075 & 1095 tack welded for a billet.

Front-Brick.jpg

Above is a single brick to close off front for forging. The billet is inside heating to set weld. If you could see the billet is a pretty even heat from one end to other.

Front-Billet.jpg

The billet is a bit more visible after playing with photo some. From the even color inside you can tell the interior is a pretty even. This is what angling the burner tube toward the rear and upwards forcing the flame to swirl around the interior.

Ken H>
 
Good job Ken. Your rearward angle is perhaps a tad more than needed, but is within a god working range. I like around 20° rear angle.
 
In the photo the angle does look a tad extreme, but when I welded the nipple in my aim was to locate 1/3 from front and angle back so the flame would be hitting about 1/3 from rear. It might be a tad more, but it's pretty close. Again I say THANK YOU!!! for all your help.
 
I can't stress enough the value of mounting a forge on a sturdy rolling cart. Optimally, the forge should be bolted or welded to the cart. Supplies and tools can be stored right below where the are handy when needed. The LP bottle can be set under the cart when moving. For small venturi forges, a small HF welder cart works great.

Making a forge cart (or any rolling cart that will be taken outside) "Off Road" is a smart thing. As Ken pointed out, it can be done for less that $10. Big pneumatic wheel equal stability when moving the cart across grass or uneven/rough surfaces.

The sliding shelf is also really useful. You can push it in when not needed and have a nice shelf at the door, or pull it out and support a full bar of steel or a billet handle.

Other good additions are:
A ceramic TC port and PID or temperature readout.
Using propane Quick-connect fittings on the hoses and burner. This makes moving a tank, hose, or burner fast and easy. If you have a 100# bulk tank, it is the best way to hook up and unhook the forge or other devices.
Blower speed control.
Pressure gauge at the burner where the needle valve is.
Sliding firebrick or ins-board doors front and back. Use "U" channel or weld two pieces of angle iron together to make the slides above and below the ports to slide the doors in and out easily.
 
I agree with everything Stacy says above especially the ceramic TC sheath & temp indicator (thank you).... well, I do have a question.
Pressure gauge at the burner where the needle valve is.
Why the pressure gauge at burner rather than at tank with regulator where it's easy to see pressure gauge while adjusting regulator pressure? The pressure gauge WILL be upstream of the needle valve - downstream there will be no pressure to measure.

A 20lb tank isn't going to work very well at all with a blown forge, not even a venturi burner. I used 20 lb tanks on a venturi burner and always had problems with tank getting too cold and the last half of tank is hard to get out. If you're going to use a forge, get at least a 40 lb tank - I guess even a 30 lb might work ok, never tried one. Black Friday sale I got 100 lb tanks and what a difference!
 
Two reasons. The first ( and biggest) is that it is much easier to read the gauge when it is right where you are turning he needle valve.
The other is that there can be a slight difference in the pressure between the ends while the gas is flowing.
 
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