"NEW" Propane Forge Construction Page
Since I sold my propane forge at the first faire I took it to the last weekend in September 03, I am in the process of building a new one right now. I put up a bunch of pictures of the first one being built, but I didn't really say much about it because I created the page after I was done, and well, I am just too lazy to go back through and explain the whole thing. So, I have decided to document the process of building the second forge as I go along. I will probably refer back to the first one frequently because I learned a lot of little things that I plan to implement on this one. We'll see how it turns out.
The basic forge design is from Larry Zoeller's page. I have modified it some, but the idea and basic layout is his. You can check it out at http://www.geocities.com/zoellerforge/ Check out his atmospheric forge to see what I started with. He also sells flares and a lot of the fittings I needed.
The burners are from Rex Price at Hybridburners.com I can't say enough good things about this burner. I am using his 3/4" T-Rex burner. At the Ojai faire I ran it all day Saturday and then Sunday till 2pm before my 5 gal propane tank ran out. I was very pleased with its efficiency. I normally run it between 5 and 10 psi, but have turned it up to 20 just to see how it worked. I also can run it at 1 or 2 psi when on by-pass. The great thing is that this burner just doesn't care. Hi or low pressure, it just goes great.
The other site that was a tremendous help as I tried to figure out how to build my forge was Ron Reil's site. He has done a lot of work developing forge and burner designs. His page is at: http://www.reil1.net/design1.shtml Another good place to learn some stuff about forges and blacksmithing is at http://www.anvilfire.com/ I spend a lot of time reading numerous things off this page. Check out the FAQ page for some good info.
So, here you go. My propane forge construction process. Enjoy, and feel free to email me if you have any questions at fredlyfx@yahoo.com
Wednesday, October 1st, 2003
The Project Begins
I took Monday off because I usually come home from doing weekend faires pretty exhausted. It always seems to help when I sleep in on Monday and take my time unloading the truck and getting things sorted out. This day was a little different because I had a mission. I unloaded quickly then went to Patton Steel and bought the pipe I needed for the shell of the new forge. The last one was 18" long because I figured that was a good manageable length. This one is 22" long because the piece they had remaining was 24" and then I had a couple of 1 inch pieces sliced off it for the doors. I can definitely feel the difference in the weight. I think I am going to go ahead with it though. I'll add some wheels to the legs when I am done so it will be more manageable.
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Here's what it starts as. I actually had them cut one piece off each end because it seemed like the cuts weren't perfect last time. |
I start by tack welding the 2 rings down to a piece of 1/8" sheet scrap I bought for the last one. |
After they are tacked I cut around the rings with my torch. |
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Here is the first door in the vise ready to be welded. |
Here is another shot of it. I weld all the way around the outside. |
After it's welded I grind off all the excess weld and clean it up. |
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Here it is cleaned up. I will probably hit it with a belt sander with a 100 grit belt to take out some of the grinder marks. |
The basic door ready to have the hinge piece welded on. |
Before the guy at the steel supply cut the pipe slices for me I marked the end with a hack saw so I can line it up the way it was cut off. The first one didn't match up just right, so I made sure this one would. |
Friday, October 3rd, 2003
Day 2. Attaching the first door:
I took Thursday off from working on the forge because I wasn't feeling good. Today I added the hinges to the top, and got the first door installed. However, I screwed up slightly when I installed the hinge. To make the hinges I use 2 pieces of 1/4" X 1" flat bar and weld them to the top of the shell. I then put a single piece of the same material on the top of the door and run a 1/4-20 bolt threw it all. It works out pretty good. I made a design change over my first forge. In that one I put the single down the front of the door. I found that when the door was just hanging it was slightly open at the bottom because it was off balance. For this one I welded a much smaller tab directly to the top of the pipe ring used for the door. This allows the door to hang straight down. My screw up though was that I left the bottom of the top straps running straight out. Once I had the door in place it wouldn't open. I had to use my grinder to round off the straps so that the door could clear.
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Here is a shot of the hinge clamped up and ready to tack weld. I use the full length piece across the top to keep the two hinges lined up. |
You can't really see it, but I had used a framing square to mark a line down top. I made sure that the bar covered this line when I clamped it. |
After I tacked the top straps I clamped the lid in place and drilled the hole through the center tab. |
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This is a pictured of the old forge front door with the single tab coming down the front of the door, and it hanging slightly ajar because it is off balance. As you can see, it is open at the bottom about an inch. I had to always push it closed and latch it. |
This one has the single tab directly at the top so that it will hang straight down and remain closed even when not latched. |
Here is my little oops. After I had it all done I noticed that the door wouldn't open. I had to grind off the bottom corner of the 2 top straps. |
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While I was putting the door together I realized a side benefit of not having the bar down the center of the door is that it would leave it open for me to put the hole wherever I liked. I haven't decided yet how big I will make it. I have to balance it out. Efficiency vs large work opening.
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Here is the door mounted and hanging nicely. I did a little more grinding on it after I took this so it will look better when painted. |
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Saturday, October 4th, 2003
Day 3: The doors are done.
I finished the doors today. Both are attached & painted. In the first forge I tried to put a 5" hole to work through. After lining the hole with 1/4" thick material I ended up with an opening that was about 4 1/2 square. This time, I started with a 6" opening, and after welding in the lining for the hole I ended up with 5 5/8" square opening. We'll see how it works when I fire it up. I am actually thinking that I may add a cover that can rotate into place that will partially cover the hole. I must leave some of it open to vent. I'll wait and see how it works first.
Tomorrow I plan to add the burner holders. I will also make a run to Home Depot for some of the brass plumbing parts. I received the regulator, hose, gauges, and propane bottle nipple I ordered from Larry Zoeller today. I am very excited. It's all coming together. I sent off a check to Rex Price of Hybrid Burners yesterday for 2 of his 3/4" T-Rex burners. I really loved how my last one worked with just one. I can't wait to see what it will do with 2 of them.
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I laid out the hole for the door by starting a line from the center of the hinge tab straight down. Then a second one at the half. I finished it up with a framing square and laid out a 6" square. |
After cutting out the hole with my torch and grinding it clean. I welded in a piece of 3/16 x 2" flat plate so that it gives me nice hole to work through, and holds the KAO wool in the door. |
Here is a shot of the inside. It will all get lined with KAO wool soon. |
| Nov 25th update. I now know that I made the hole shown above too large. I just added 3/4" material on 3 sides to make it smaller. See the pics at the end of the second page. | ||
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Here is a shot of the top hinge straps. I caught my dog in the pic, so I had to leave him in. He likes to hang out in the shop. He's smart enough that as soon as I start a grinder or welder he takes off. |
Here is a close up of the finished hinge. |
Here is the front door installed. I didn't put a handle on it like I did last time. I was pretty unhappy with how the 1/4" rod was holding up. I will try something sturdier this time. |
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Here is the shell with both doors installed. I will add the burner holders tomorrow. |
I went ahead and painted it already even though I have more welding to do on it. The high heat paint is great. It only gets screwed up right next to the weld, so I just touch up and keep going. |
Sunday, October 5th, 2003
Day 4: Burner holders are installed.
Today I cut holes in the shell and installed the burner holders. The shell is pretty much done now except for adding some type of stand so it doesn't roll around.
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I started by cutting holes in the shell for the burner holders. The right one is in the center of the forge, and the other one is 5" in from the end. |
Here they are with the holders welded in. If I wanted to I could add a third burner later and it would look ok, but I really don't think it will be needed. |
Here is a close up of the burner holders. I drilled & tapped 6 holes in each to put set screws in to hold the burners. |
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Here is the shell ready for some legs. I'll be adding those tomorrow.
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