Vertical forge design questions

R

rmd

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Sep 6, 2006
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I'm mulling over ideas to build a vertical forge using an old 20 lb. propane tank as a shell. The cylinder is about 12 inches in diameter, maybe somewhat less. With 2 inches of wool, that would leave a roughly 8 inch diameter chamber. That seems a little on the small side front-to-back so I'm thinking of splitting the cylinder vertically and welding in 4 inch wide panels to create a 12 x 16 oval shape leaving an 8 x 12 inner dimension. First off, is this a viable shape or must the chamber be round for proper heating? Secondly, how tall should the chamber be top-to-bottom? My current thought is to use the 3/4 inch blown burner from hightemptools. What is the proper relationship between the burner entry and the doorway? Can the top be immediately at the top of the doorway or must there be some space above the door? Thanks in advance.

rmd
 
Making an oval chamber as you describe is a good choice.
The burner usually comes in about 1" above the floor. Use a good size blown burner....1.5" is good.
The chamber ceiling is usually about 1" above the door top.
 
I just made one out of a 10" pipe, split and 4" added like you are thinking. I got the 1" blown burner from high temp, the middle sized blower from blacksmiths depot. Gets to welding temp quickly. My pipe is 18" tall. My burner comes in 3" from the bottom, that is filled with cat litter to that point. Door is 2" down from top, with has 2" of inswool, like everything else. If I where to do it again, I might lower the door an inch or so.
Go for it and good luck.
 
Thank you for the replies. Cody is correct, the HTH blown burner is 1 inch, not 3/4. I'll look around for something bigger.
 
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