Propane Forge

JTknives said:
Wow $250 for a 100lbs. I pay $30 for my 50lb, just over $2 a gallon.
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This is why fuel is so expensive where I live. EVERY DROP of fuel comes into town on this plane, a C-46, and its slightly bigger brother, a DC-4.
IMG_02871_zpsgfcunfyq.jpg
 
That's why I'm looking at a waste oil forge. Found out today that the fella that owns the only restaurant in town may be willing to sell me his old fry oil for >$2.00 a gallon. This probably would make you all cringe and walk away, but I may have found myself a pretty sweet deal. Beats 3 bucks for waste motor oil or 4 for diesel.
 
I dont know much about oil burners but if diesel is $4 a gal that sounds a lot better then $10 for LP. I don't know if you will be able to pid control it though as it seams like the oil burners have to warm and get going. Only thing that might work is to gasify the oil some how and use that gas like you would Propane. I have zero experience with this so this is all just guessing. If you had a small metal container and heated the bottom and dripped oil onto it and then used a blower to blow the now gased oil down the burner and into the forge. But this would require a seperate heating system. But like I said this is just a wild shot in the dark. The idea comes from the experience of how flammable the smoke is from the quench tank when quenching blades.
 
Some of the guys on the alloy avenue forum and the bladesmith forum are starting a small charcoal fire, then barely turning on their oil so it mists the charcoal fire in the oil. Sounds a bit messy, but no worse than running a charcoal forge. One thing I'm wondering is if I can run two small burners with a PID. One set as my low temp that I light manually and bring the forge up to temp with, and the other as my high temp that can kick off and on to maintain temp via a PID system. Not sure if it'll work, but I'll probably try it once I get the basic oil forge up and running smoothly.
JT, have you used a PID set up for propane before? I'm wondering if it's as simple as it sounds? It's just a thermocouple, PID, a relay, and the solenoid valve, right? From an aircraft mechanic's perspective, it seems like a fairly simple wiring project. The only thing that I don't like is the high voltage side of the system. I'm much more comfortable with the low voltage side of the wiring. Maybe that's a carry over from my days of wiring the low voltage side of boiler systems for a living.
 
AlaskanHunter said:
This is why fuel is so expensive where I live. EVERY DROP of fuel comes into town on this plane, a C-46, and its slightly bigger brother, a DC-4.
IMG_02871_zpsgfcunfyq.jpg
Click to expand...

Ah Everts...

Every time I watch one of those C-47s, or especially the DC-6s fly out of here I hold my breath, waiting for it to come right back down.
 
Haven't had a chance to update this thread due to my work (maintenance at a summer Bible camp). Maybe later in I can upload pics, but the waste oil forge was a success. Once adjusted, it runs smooth and clean. I can turn it down so that it runs steadily just under non-magnetic, or I can crank it up till I get sparklers (too hot) and just about any temp in between. I can run it a tad rich or lean, so controlling the mixture isn't a problem. It does smoke a lot when first heating up or if I don't dilute motor oil thin enough with gas or diesel, so running it indoors is not an option.



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Lol I had to fly in to Fort yukon next to a pallet of food goods.

They are Cowboys .

I almost lost my lunch when we went to bethel (not really the bush) due to the wind
 
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