Michael-
As per controller...
I got the "Don Fogg package" from South Eastern Heaters that included a 93B controller, thermocouple, and quench-arc suppressor.
If I were to do it over again, I would probably go with Omega. I called Omega when I first started on my quest for a salt bath and talked with a fellow there named Frank. He was very helpful and eager to help. I ended up going with South Eastern because I knew the package Don uses had been proven to work.
However, South Eastern has not been very helpful when I had problems.
You can get controllers off of ebay for cheap, but you get no guarantee they'll actually work. I decided I'd rather pay more and know it would work.
I did buy a 110v solenoid valve off of ebay, brand-new in the celophane. It is a Dayton, 1/8" valve, normally closed with 1/4" fittings. It is a $70 valve, but I got it for $15 (actually two for that + s/h).
I originally thought the set-up was complicated, but it's actually very simple.
110v comes into the controller powering it, a K-type thermocouple in the salt reads the temp and sends it to the controller...the controller then tells the 110v solenoid whether to be open or closed to allow gas into the forge.
I built my salt rig with a blown forge, but they will work very well with simple venturi burners.
My low temp rig is a simple pipe burner (a 2 burner camp stove from HF, for $20) with a steel quench tank I built. I bought a heat-treating thermometer from Brownell's to monitor temp. This works well for things like camp knives. If you were doing things like swords (ala Kevin Cashen) I'd recommend a digitally controlled vertical tube.
Nick
