Stupid forge question.

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gixxer1237

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Mar 10, 2010
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So I went over to the workspace to try to forge a chopper yesterday. My forge was a firebrick forge with a single 3/4" burner.Well one of tthe other guys who uses the space decided to, uh, liberate my bricks for a kiln. Went and got em and lo g story short half are broke, and all got wet. So I started forge 2.0.
My question is my body is a 12" diameter 18" piece of black iron pipe. I have the one burner and would like to make it as efficient as possible. Do you think 2 layers of 2" Kao wool will be enough? Limit the depth to about 10" with a fire board and front door. The old firebrick forge would hit welding temp, just not that fast.
 
One layer of 2" wool would be sufficient. Two layers would make the chamber less than 4", which would work fine for most knives, but is not roomy for a large blade or forge welding.

Building a blown 1" burner will be a good thing, too.

If you put a back wall with fire board, be sure to put some wool behind it, as this will help keep the heat more even.

What type of "door" are you planning for the front? The front can just be an open circle, or closed down to a rectangular port, but should not be "closed".

I would suggest you make the length 16", not 10". ten inches is pretty short for many knife projects.
 
Is this a 3/4" venturi or blown burner, or is it a weed burner? Also, does the pipe provide about the same amount of interior space as the firebrick build, or was it much larger/smaller? Depending on what kind of burner, and if the cards are played right on the insulation, the pipe should be just as - if not more efficient. Also, you'll want to make sure that there's a thin coating of some "good" refractory over the kaowool. There are two kinds of refractory; the kind that reflect heat, and the kind that soak it up like sponges. You'll want the first kind.
 
3/4" venturi burner. The pipe forge would have a volume of 800 ci at 8"x16" which the single burner could never support. The brick forge has a volume of 200ci. The brick forge was ITC100 lined and all before someone decided to take it apart... The rear wall would be fireboard with a pass thru slot, the front i would leave a opening about 4" squar for exhaust and materials.
Would a single blown burner be able to heat 800ci? I could go to blown burners, it just means adding a outlet in the shop.
 
I have a 3/4" venturi burner I made, and use it in a 14" X 20" vertical forge I built. The interior is almost 9" X 16". The burner is MORE then sufficient for this forge. After warming up, it hits 1800 degrees at only 3 psi. At 7 psi, it'll run over 2100 degrees. My temp gauge wont go over that, so I can only imagine what 10 psi or more will get me.
 
A well made 3/4" or 1" venturi will run that forge, but blown will run it better.
Even with the fireboard back, I would put some wool there to make it more efficient. Put 1/4" of satanite over all the wool lining, and then a thin coat of ITC-100 over that. If it won't be a cost issue, how about a 1" layer of wool, with a 2" layer over that. That gives a nominal 6" chamber. The back and front should have at least 1" of wool, too, giving a working chamber size of around 14"X6"..... which should run easily with a good venturi burner.
 
I defiantly plan to coat it with itc and satanite. I don't think it would cost to much more to go with a layer of 1" and 2". I also plan to put kaowool on the rear wall. I'm willing to spend a little on this cause its going to be my forge for the foreseeable future, but I'll have to speed it out being a broke provider of 5.
 
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