Time to go forge building.

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thegeek574

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Sep 3, 2010
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Everyone,
First i would like to thank everyone for all the help you guys have been. I have had a lot of fun. now, i have a question. several, actually. these are forge related.

I will be using a freon tank, courtesy of fluidsteel here on the forums, and so i was thinking that the size would be approximately the same as than of the mini forge on The zoeller forge website with 2 layers of 1" inswool instead of one. in that case, do you think i could get away with the basic burner that is recommended in the article instead of a full blown venturi burner style? i frankly do not have the budget to spend upwards of 100 bucks on just the burner and the hose that connects it to the propane. my entire budget is somewhere around 120, and so a small torch, a lot of inswool, satanite, and ITC 100 is about all i am going to be able to afford. I only need this forge to get to 1500 ish, becuase it is for exclusively heat treating and annealing stuff, and so nonmagnetic is going to be about the extent of my heating.

thanks all for the help.
 
Build the forge, and until you get a better burner, use one of these. It's $15 at Menards and produces a very large flame. About 2x larger flame than any other propane torch I've used. I've been using it in my 2 brick forge lately and really like it. I'm planning two of these in my big forge until I find the need to spend money on a bigger one.

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-h...g/map-pro-propane-torch/p-1451149-c-10163.htm
 
what are you looking at heatwise in your forge? mine will probably be a bit bigger, even with the extra insulation.

ETA: I don't have a menards in my area, and so this is not an option, seeing as it is not sold online.
 
Check out Raymond Richard's thread on the little forge he built recently. It's a good, simple and dirt cheap burner design.
 
OK, it seems to me that one of those burners might be slightly inadequate for a freon tank forge, and so i think i am going to go for the more basic burner that mr. richard uses for the forge in the above thread.
 
First of all, thanks for all the help. i think i am down to the last step.

I have a friend of my dad's who i was talking to about this, and he said that he has part of an 80 pound bag of castable refractory that he would be willing to let me dip out of for free. this is much more attractive than paying 40 bucks for inswool or the like, as i am on a very, very tight budget. every dollar that goes into the forge is one less dollar that i put into steel or other tools that i need. here is my question. could i just go for the 3 inch walls of castable, and then coat it with itc 100 and call it good enough? i realize that it would be heavy and would take a while to heat up, but i am not going to be using it that much and i think i could find a place to put it where it would not have to be moved.

thanks.
 
Mix the refractory with some perlite, about 4 to 1 (perlite to refractory) and enough water to make it firm and packable. Make a tunnel form for the center with a tube for the burner unless you are going to cut the hole out after. Set the tank on its end and RAM the refractory in layer by layer about 2 inches at a time with a piece of 2 x 2. Thats how I made mine. It is just now starting to come apart but it has lasted me awhile and really just needs to be repacked a little bit. This is where I got my instructions from; http://myheap.com/chapter-1-materials/how-to-make-irc.html just use the refractory that you are getting in place of the furnace cement, no need for the clay and you should be fine. Good luck.
 
My first gasser forge had a castable liner- it did take awhile to heat up, but I got a lot done with it. My first gas forge welds...

I like wool better for a general everyday forge, though. It heats up a lot quicker and saves me gas. Gas can get quite expensive in the long run, that first gas forge with castable burnt a LOT. Although, the burner was pretty inefficient, too. With 3" of liner yours should be better than mine was.
 
Adding perlite makes the lining less dense and therefore quicker to heat up. Also as the perlite heats up it expands slightly and this expansion actually causes the perlite to be more reflective, putting more heat back into the forge/crucible allowing it to heat up qucker and retain heat longer than just the refractory alone. I have a coffee can forge done this way and a stove pipe forge as well. Both heat up enough to easily melt copper and reach HT temps in less than 15 minutes. My next one will be made with wool though since it will be bigger and I need it to be somewhat portable. And since perlite is only 4-5$ a bag it doesn't add much to the cost of the forge.
 
So..... I have an extra 1-1/4"x3/4"x1-1/4" reducing tee, and... I bought too much Inswool. :eek: So, How about I give it to my daughter when she's over on Wednesday and you can stop by her work where we met last time and you can have what I can donate. I have the tee, Inswool, an 8" black nipple. And, I also have 1" SS flare piece for the end of the BI nipple from a 6' length of SS pipe I got free from work I also have a few other random BI pieces you can use to make a burner.... The only thing I paid for was the inswool and it wasn't much.
 
Everyone, thanks for the help. i will see if i can post a WIP as soon as i get it up and running.

Fluidsteel, i sent you an e-mail. ;)
 
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