One brick kinda warm forge

D

DantheMan

Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Messages
31
Hi Guys
I am ready to heat treat my second knife and I have two soft fire bricks to play with.

1. Drilled about a 2" hole through the brick long ways

2. Drilled a hole in the side for the torch

3. place propane torch near hole and tried to head up mild steel to cherry red.

After about ten minutes It was still not very hot, I was thinking the brick needed more insulation, Like bury it in clay cat litter or put hard fire bricks all around it??

The other thought I had was that mabe the torch tip that came with the small tank is not getting hot enough and I need the BernzOmatic?

Any thoughts on what to try next?
I am heat treating a 5" blade of 1084 and Trans Fluid to quench( If it will ever get to non-magnetic)
Thanks
 
Stack some fire brick arround the one with the hole in it for insulation. Mapps torches put out a lot more heat than propane.
 
L6
So you think that mapp gas is the way to go? Can I get that at Home depot/Lowes type stores? Thanks for your help
Dan
 
Dan- Yes- HD and Lowes carry Mapp gas. I also made a 1-brick that didn't get hot and for the same reason I think- the fire hole should be more like 1" instead of 2". At least that's what I think the problem is. Besides Mapp gas, there are high-temp torch tips for propane instead of the standard pencil-flame tip. I'm too cheap to shell out for one though.
 
You can get the Mapps torches most anyplace.
Something I didn't mention before, the part of the flame that hits the steel. You need to set the torch up so about the first 3/4" of the flame is on the steel. That gets it hot faster.
 
Dan, I tried my first one brick with a standard torch that screws onto the bottle and had the same problem. What you need is a bernzomatic JHT7 torch. I think I got those letters in the right order. Anyway, it has a 3 foot hose that screws onto the bottle and a black plastic grip on the other end. It burns a lot hotter for some reason. The mapp gas is a good idea too. You can get it same place you get the propane. Lowes, home depot, your local hardware store will probably have all three. The torch is about 30-40.00 and worth it.
Good luck.
PS: Wayne Goddard also suggests coating the inside of the brick with furnace cement and says that helps a lot with the insulation.
Ed
 
maybe just borrow another propane torch and direct it into the side...double your heat source.
 
Another thing I do. I found a hose that will hook up directly to a BBQ bottle. I run the other end to my bernzomatic with straight pressure . No regulator, Nice even heat, and the needle valve that comes with the torch makes a good flow control valve. Alot less expensive than those 14-16 oz. bottles.
 
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