It was time to build the 2nd generation forge because the old one just wasn’t quite big enough for large billets and to forge a piece of Feather Damascus. So a couple of weeks ago Joe and I got a piece of 14 inch diameter tubing put it in a press and squeezed it into an egg shaped ellipse. Then we cut it in half and added a 4 inch wide piece of steel to each side to increase the overall length. The door on this forge will open to 8 inches in height and 4 inches wide to accommodate large vertical billets for feather Damascus. The door has a hinged cover to close off half of it when it is not required. Big is not beautiful when it comes to forges, the larger the internal volume the more propane you have to supply to heat the forge. That is why we have a 10 horizontal pipe on the end of the forge. Forge welding of the billet can take place in the main body of the forge and by lighting up the back burner we can forge up to a length of 26 inches. I have a rolling mill on my press and therefore the billet of steel must be hot from end to end to roll it. The forge with the Cerwool insulation covered with Super 3000 refractory to protect it from the Borax Initial firing to burn off any moisture from the Super 3000 cement coating Both burners in operation Put the lid on,turn on the gas and lets get at it !!!!!! The first billet Looking down the inside of the burner Two piece door
I see that you have one manifold for LPG and another for compressed air. That's cool. Sans blower. Dan
Forge is the dual burner and air injection your own design? I don't have any real experience with forging but I don't think I've ever seen one like this before. Looks like it would be very efficient at heating the billet evenly because of the control you have with 2 burners and the air supply. Frank
I designed and built the burners and they do have a controlled air flow into each of them to burn 100% of the gas for max efficiency. I use an air compressor and a flow control valve rather than a fan.
Nice Cal I recently converted mine to forced air increasing max heat considerably , any idea what you air psi is at ?
I set the regulator to 40 psi so the downstream pressure is below the minimum kickin pressure of the compressor. I have the flow controls only slightly cracked and never touch them once set. There is always ( THE SAME ) constant pressure drop across the flow control orifice and therefore the air flow is the same. The trick with introducing air into the forge is to have it set just right. Not enough air and you are burning the propane outside the forge not being efficient,to much air and you are reducing the heat inside the forge. You just want a slight yellow flame at the door and you will be close to maximum efficiency getting all the heat out of the propane inside the forge.
Sorry for digging up an old thread (but it is Thursday). Can you say where you got the cer-wool and super 3000? I am putting together a forge this Fall. Thanks, Dan
Dan go to Alliance refractory in Edmonton. I don't think that Vesuvius Super 3000 is made anymore but they must have a replacement product. I just use it to coat the wool so the borax does not eat it.
