Ribbon burner propane usage.

C

cartierusm

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Feb 23, 2017
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So i'm only on my second Damascus billet and having no experience, other than a ton of research, with forging I'm wondering what a general amount of propane usage is.

I built a ribbon burner forge, ribbon is 14" long and 3" wide. Don't remember how many holes. A really nice blower from Blacksmithdepot.com 112 CFM Gas Forge Blower. The forge interior is about 6" x 6" x 18" long. 2" Ceramic Fiber insulation, coating of santanite and then ITC-100.

When starting up I have the gate valve for the blower open half way and the propane regulator open 5 turns, then there's a valve after the regulator for metering what's going into the forge. I set that with a gauge to 1 PSI.

As the forge gets up to temp, glowing insides, I open the blower valve all the way and adjust the gauge to 4-5 PSI, this gets it to screaming hot and i then stick in my billet.

When I'm about to pull my billet out to forge weld on a hydraulic press I turn the gas down to 1 PSI so as not waste. I don't always remember to do this as I'm new.

With that procedure I went through an entire 20# tank in about 3 hours.

Does that seem normal? I thought ribbon burners were supposed to be efficient.
 
That's not abnormal usage, but is a tad on the high end. I find around 5hrs at welding heat in a small forge for a 20lb is close to standard. That does not mean you could not stretch out to say 8hrs but there are tons of variables. I'm guessing your forge is WAY hotter then you need for forge welding. But without seeing the forge design it's hard to say for sure.
 
That sounds about right for a long ribbon burner. As JT said, a bit toward the high side. You might not need the gas pressure as high as you have it, though.
 
That seems high to me. I have 2 ribbon burner forges the one I use most is 7 inches long 2 rows of large crayon holes the gas inlet is 3/32 it runs under 2 psi at welding heat . After practicing a bit I can get the same heat with 4 to 5 or more psi or 1 to 2 psi depending on the air flow. Hope this helps
Gilbert
 
Generally, a ribbon burner has more of a funnel shaped manifold . Your setup puts the air right at the center holes, which will make uneven pressure down the burner unless it is cranked up really high. This may be why you use a lot of gas.
 
Carteierusm,
Great looking forge! While looking at your one photo I noticed you don't have a ball valve between 1/4" Tee with the gauge and the bushing you have in the 2" mixing Tee. Without that valve, Im not sure how you can get an accurate pressure reading? While your gauge might only read 4psi or so, remember the propane is going into an open ended system with very little back pressure. I will recommend installing the valve, set up the forge the same way you have been and shut the ball valve and see what pressure you have on the gauge. Good luck and let us know how you make out!
 
@stacy, inside the manifold there is a diffuser plate. A round plate with small holes in it to divert the air to the entire burner.

T Thadbow , thanks. I get what you're saying, but I adjust the gas and air until I'm getting the flame I want and heat. I have a pyrometer inside.
 
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