I tried heat treating an old junk shop knife with a 220000 btu Tiger Torch, but it didn't work which kinda suprized me.. So it looks like I'm building a forge. I have a metal pail that is 11.25" wide x 13" deep. I'm still going to use the tiger torch and have a piece of 3" tubing, I think is exhaust pipe. Now my question for the day is, where to put the inlet pipe ? I've seen them in the front and in the back, most likely in the middle too. One fellow on ytube said the front is best because the flame is where it was most accessable. What do you think ??? I found a place nearby that sells firebrick that I will use for the front. It was a off white orange color that was quite heavy. The firebrick I have seen elsewhere was white, quite light and you could drill and cut it fairly easy. I guess this orange coloured brick will work. Any thoughts ???
I (think) have used the brick you are referring to. It's not as insulating as the super soft K23 brick, but will certainly help in keeping the heat in. I used these to make a reasonably good forge for small pieces. These photos are from an experiment I did a couple of years ago. The reason the bricks went dark grey was because I painted them with black high-heat BBQ paint. Unfortunately, I wasn't being very scientific at the time, but recall I positioned the inlet about centre and on the higher side of the pipe. The idea was to make a vortex. I could take a 1/4" thick mill file to Currie point in about 5 minutes with the off the shelf torch. Using MAP gas would be a sizable improvement. Dan
Lots of questions. What size were those bricks and did you drill a inlet hole for your torch ? By the way, where did you get that torch ? It looks like there is a metal pipe/tube inside. I made three fire bricks last night using different mixes. What would be the best way to cure them. My wife suggested that I bake them in the oven. I can't wait to put the torch to them. I think I'm going to make some more with increasing amounts of perlite. The bricks I've made were looking better the more perlite in them. I'll post the mix when I find the right one.
Yes, That's a piece of 2-1/2" I.D. pipe. The cylinder shape helps the flame swirl around and radiates heat inwards. I drilled a 5/8" hole in it with a step bit. The bricks are SBI AC0700 4-1/2" x 9" x 1-1/4" from Home Hardware. Torch is a swirl tip BernzOmatic (the one with the hose from Can. Tire.) Many ways to skin a cat. Pretty much use whatever you have and make something. If you can keep the heat in, you're winning. Good luck! Dan
I finished building my forge. Seems to work well, but I think it needs to be outside. It's got quite a blast and sort of sounds like a jet engine. Made a little brother for it too ;}
