Propane forge. PROJECT THREAD *Update - pics and stuff*

[A.C.E.]

About a year ago I bought a propane burner kit from Larry Zoeller at http://www.zoellerforge.com but I never got around to making anything out of it. Until today.

Now I have a 10kg. propane bottle, a bunch of firebricks and some various pieces of steel pipe.
I have tons of steel scrap lying around waiting to be turned into knives.
I have all the tools I need.
I have an anvil.

What I don't have is an excuse not to finish the forge this weekend.

Stand by for further updates.

[congochris]

Looking forward to it! What anvil do you have? A really for real anvil, a chunk of RR track or (like me) a cheapo anvil from Harbor Freight?

[A.C.E.]

It's a very cheap anvil-like object made from cast iron, but it'll Do for now.

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[maldon007]

Anvils is damn pricey! ...need me one


Have been getting stuff together for a forge meself... cant wait to see what you put together.

[hatchtrikk]

Tag

I just broke my half-assed 55 gallon drum forge trying to get a clog out of the pipe.

Propane will be my next endeavor.

[A.C.E.]

Early attempts show great promise.

I just had a first test run of my prototype forge. There are pics and they will be posted.

The Z burner Works great. The connector kit was easy to assemble and it appears Europe and the US have the same threads on propane bottles, or at least close enough to work with some teflon tape.

Remember to check your connections for leaks with some soapy water, bubbles=leak.

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[A.C.E.]

Range report

This is a first prototype of the forge assembly:

The parts are just kludged together here. The forge is propped up on my old coal forge and the burner is held in place with a C-clamp and a welding clamp. I mostly just wanted to se if the burner worked properly and if my idea for a forge was workable.


The forge itself

When finished the forge will be lined with firebricks, the bottom three are in place here and the two top ones are lying on the table to the left of the forge. They fit but I haven't cut the hole for the burner in the top bricks yet.


Notice the clamps holding the burner. I clamped a welding clamp to the forge wich in turn holds the burner. I actually think I will use something like this in the end but with the clamp welded to a proper stand instead of the C-clamp used here. The burner is held very securely and it's very easy to disassemble. Ignore the bracket held by the hose clamp, that idea got scrapped.

Unexpected problem

The regulator was a ridiculously close fit on the propane bottle. It worked but the clearance is only a couple of millimetres. This puts the pressure gauge at a rather awkward angle and I will have to adress this issue at some point.

Money Shot

This turned into a very pretty little knife. It just needs some filework and heat treating.

[maldon007]

Awesome! Inspired!!!

[Rednex]

How much USD do you think your whole set up would cost if say i order that burner and buy some bricks/pipe?

Also tagging my intrest has been peaked.

[maldon007]

Is that burner similar to one of these? (harbor freight $20 bropane burner)

[Storm Crow]

Looking good so far, A.C.E.! The forge will need lined all of the way, but you know that.

Rednex - A few years ago I ordered a burner kit, hose, regulator, gauge, and enough wool insulation to line a coffee can twice (the wool is a long-term consumable), which was two feet of one inch thick wool, and I believe it ran me about $135.

Maldoon007 - It's not as efficient, but it certainly works, and I have worked on a coffee can forge fired by one out at Tai Goo's shop.

[A.C.E.]

How much USD do you think your whole set up would cost if say i order that burner and buy some bricks/pipe?

Also tagging my intrest has been peaked.

Check http://www.zoellerforge.com for current prices My setup is a "Z-burner" and a "single burner connection kit" and a propane bottle of course.

Firebricks should be available at any hardware store. These are thin slabs typically used for lining fireplaces, they are maybe 5$ each or so. They can also be ordered from Zoeller. They can be cut with an angle grinder with a diamond wheel.

Check around the Zoellerforge site, there are plans for some different designs there as well as instructions on how to calculate how many burners you need based on the size of the forge.

Is that burner similar to one of these? (harbor freight $20 bropane burner)

The forge burner is more like an oversized welding torch. Within a few minutes of lighting the forge the bottom brick was glowing red.

[A.C.E.]

The forge itself is done. The lining is in place and it works well.

I still have to make a stand to hold the burner properly.

[congochris]

Looks awesome! Any plans to enclose one side to allow higher heat? Even leaning a fire brick on it, perhaps? That should allow easy removal for longer stock, but still give you great heat and efficiency for smaller pieces if I'm remembering my research correctly.

[A.C.E.]

Looks awesome! Any plans to enclose one side to allow higher heat? Even leaning a fire brick on it, perhaps? That should allow easy removal for longer stock, but still give you great heat and efficiency for smaller pieces if I'm remembering my research correctly.

There is a problem with doing that. It directs too much heat out the front of the forge, I tried and it set fire to the glove I was wearing when I tried to remove the thing I was working on. I actually put a brick in front of the forge that sticks up about 3/4'' above the floor of the forge to direct more heat out the back.

Had the forge been larger it might have made a difference but as it is now, the burner is running nowhere near it's full capacity. I haven't even tried cranking the burner up to full speed. It's supposed to run from 3 to 30 psi, at 5psi it's hot enough to work smaller pieces of steel. At 10psi. it heats up large pieces of steel in minutes. When increased to 20 I half expected lift-off.

At 10psi it's impossible to have anything flammable within a foot or so of the opening for more than seconds. I have to construct some kind of heat shield or I'm going to run out of gloves soon. It also heats up the workpiece much higher up than I want. I have some stainless steel plates lying around that should do nicely.

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[congochris]

Try not to light yourself on fire too much. From what I understand and recall from having once set my pants on fire it isn't... fun.

[KentsOkay]

Awesome. How fast do you go through propane?

[A.C.E.]

Awesome. How fast do you go through propane?

To early to tell. I've only had it lit for a couple of hours, I'll bring a scale and see if I can give an estimate next time I use it.

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