I need some advice on how i should adjust my propane supply to the forge. I am using two forced air burners. Right now, I am judging the propane quantity by looking at the flames. Should I be looking at gages for precise pressure? I wonder if i'm getting the best heat out of my home made burners?
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Propane ajustment
- Thread starter BCRich
- Start date
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 38,332
The flame is what matters, but most of us have a regulator with a gauge so we have an idea what pressure we are using. On a blown burner ( I assume that is what you are calling a forced air burner) I use 1 pound for the lowest flames and 3-5 pounds for full heat. You should have a needle valve to regulate the propane supply at the burner.
It is equally important to get the amount of air right in order to have the correct chamber atmosphere. You want enough air to burn all the propane without much dragons breath. The flame as it exits the forge should be pretty much colorless. Very blue is a sign of too much air, and very yellow is too much gas.
On a venturi burner you use much higher pressure to create the venturi, with 5PSI being about the lowest that will sustain a stable flame and 30 PSI being a rocket flame. I run my NC forge between 5 an 15PSI. General forging is around 7-10PSI.
If you add a gauge to your setup, get one that matches the range you will use. For a blown burner, a 0-15PSI acetylene/propane gauge is the best choice.
For a venturi forge use a 0-30PSI gauge. The 30 PSI gauge will work fine for a blown forge, but you will always be using it in its least sensitive range.
If you can find on, a "Low Pressure" gauge that reads 0-10PSI is wonderful. Some read in .2PSI increments.
The regular gauges in the 0-15PSI run around $5-10 and the special low pressure gauges run $30-40.
The gauges should be rated for propane, natural gas, or fuel gas.
It is equally important to get the amount of air right in order to have the correct chamber atmosphere. You want enough air to burn all the propane without much dragons breath. The flame as it exits the forge should be pretty much colorless. Very blue is a sign of too much air, and very yellow is too much gas.
On a venturi burner you use much higher pressure to create the venturi, with 5PSI being about the lowest that will sustain a stable flame and 30 PSI being a rocket flame. I run my NC forge between 5 an 15PSI. General forging is around 7-10PSI.
If you add a gauge to your setup, get one that matches the range you will use. For a blown burner, a 0-15PSI acetylene/propane gauge is the best choice.
For a venturi forge use a 0-30PSI gauge. The 30 PSI gauge will work fine for a blown forge, but you will always be using it in its least sensitive range.
If you can find on, a "Low Pressure" gauge that reads 0-10PSI is wonderful. Some read in .2PSI increments.
The regular gauges in the 0-15PSI run around $5-10 and the special low pressure gauges run $30-40.
The gauges should be rated for propane, natural gas, or fuel gas.
Last edited: