School Me On: Forge Burners

J

jawilder

Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
2,331
I want to trade charcoal for gas and have seen several plans for building a gas forge, but haven't seen a whole lot about the burners.

Is it worth buying someone else's burners (http://zoellerforge.com/flare.html) or is there a detailed tutorial somewhere that teaches the ins and outs of building and fine tuning the burner for your forge?

Thanks,
Jason
 
IMHO, forced air is the way to go if you have electricity near your forge. It offers much better control of atmosphere and temperature than a venturi burner, uses less gas, and they're REALLY easy to build since yo're not worrying about orifice sizes, etc.

If you don't have a good plumbing supply nearby you may have to order a few of the more oddball parts that you won't find at Lowes or Home Depot, but it's not that bad. Take a look at Darren Ellis' burner page for some details and ideas. Honestly, buying one of his forced air burner kits is a screaming good deal at $65 seeing as just the gate valve will run you about $40 if you can find one locally. Darren can also set you up with a regulator and hose while you're at it and then all you need to do is screw it all together and add a blower.

As for the blowers, you don't need much of one really. It should be noted that pressure trumps volume on a forced air blower due to the restriction created as the burner tubs diameter decreases. A small blower with higher positive pressure output will beat a high CFM blower that blows back out it's own intake when impeded any day (ask me how I know... ;) )

Post any specific questions you have and I'll try to answer, I don't have time for the full-on blower write-up right now.

-d
 
i am not very handy at all and i made a forced air burner. if i can do it literally anyone can do it. on the blower. ebay is probably the cheapest and you want a minimum of 60cfm but really that is pretty weak (i know its what i have) others have suggested to try and get around the 140 cfm mark. one with a round opening would be easier to modify to get to fit your burner pipe. the square would require more modification but would be doable.

good luck

jake
 
deker said:
As for the blowers, you don't need much of one really. It should be noted that pressure trumps volume on a forced air blower due to the restriction created as the burner tubs diameter decreases. A small blower with higher positive pressure output will beat a high CFM blower that blows back out it's own intake when impeded any day (ask me how I know... ;) )
-d
Click to expand...

So how would I find what kind of "positive pressure output" it has since they are measured in CFM?
ex. https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=16-1394&catname=
 
jawilder said:
So how would I find what kind of "positive pressure output" it has since they are measured in CFM?
ex. https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=16-1394&catname=
Click to expand...

The blower you listed has a "static pressure" measurement listed of 1.5in of h20. Not super high pressure, but you will overwhelm the lower pressure with CFM on a blower like that. It's very similar to the one I use and I regularly hit 2300F with my forge.

Good price too.

-d
 
Guys who are you using for ISP. I spoke to my webhosting and they couldn't find anything. Please PM me with the message.
 
If you want to build a simple but very effective venturi burner, check out Ron Reil's site for tons of info, here's a link: http://ronreil.abana.org/

I have used parts from Larry Zoeller in the past, good service, prices and good stuff.

More important IMHO than burner style is forge insulation. Make sure you have enough, your forge will get hotter and use less propane.

Just thought I would put in a word for venturi burners, I have built several forges with them easily capable of welding heat, my main little forge is still venturi although my welding forge is now forced air.
 
Salem Straub said:
If you want to build a simple but very effective venturi burner, check out Ron Reil's site for tons of info, here's a link: http://ronreil.abana.org/

I have used parts from Larry Zoeller in the past, good service, prices and good stuff.

More important IMHO than burner style is forge insulation. Make sure you have enough, your forge will get hotter and use less propane.

Just thought I would put in a word for venturi burners, I have built several forges with them easily capable of welding heat, my main little forge is still venturi although my welding forge is now forced air.
Click to expand...

I don't know that I will do too much welding, but want the option to do it. If you like venturi styles so much, why do you use forced air to weld?
 
Just went to IG's site, didn't seem to have any malware issues.

Here is a link to his forge building tutorial.

http://www.indiangeorgesknives.com/building_a_forge.html

I hope you don't have any problems with access. :jerkit:

I've also built a venturi style in the past using Ron Reil's suggestions, it would certainly get up to welding heat, but not nearly as quickly or economically as a blown burner.
 
My vote is for the blown forge also. The wider and more stable control of both temperature and atmosphere is the main consideration.
Building a dual control forge is a bit more work but the end result is well worth while.
Fred
 
I have made 5 blown forges, I use them all regularly, my venturi forge has been at one of my student's houses for the last 3 years, I might get it at some point, I guess that gives you an idea of my opinion of blown vs. venturi forges

-Page
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top