Do you think the outriggers are really necessary..? Yes & No. The setup will end up with an integrated crucible hoisting system, So it's a yes in this retrospect. The subject of outriggers was originally brought up as a joke but once everything was done up this point I didn't realize in my original design and plans that when stepping down on the foot pedal for the lid lifting mechanism it would teeter back. The outriggers aren't really necessary due to this as a ballast placed in the front of the contraption would have corrected that issue. Hey, what the hell, I have the time and the steel literally cost me pennies. What type of terrain do you expect to do your casting...? Sand, dirt, concrete, asphalt, any place it needs to go. But, more than likely just my driveway or yard.
I am stealing this idea and adding one to my furnace. I've had a lifetime's worth of crap out of the burner I have now and this is just the adjustment scheme I need to fix the finicky burner tube at the right angle. Also, I'm pretty sure I see a spot in the finish... but I'll leave it up to you to find out where
Knock yourself out & copy whatever you want. That's why I posted it. Refer to post #32, a much better & finished pic than the crappy one you quoted. That thing will have more than 1 or 2 spots in the finish once I start using it. You learn how to use that welder yet?
That is some really nice fabricating work. I am confused about the two different burner sizes though. I have always used "one size fits all" for propane burner melts, which is the 1.25" diameter Hybrid-Burners foundry burner, and never had a problem. I tight fit between the burner tube and the tuyere also prevents flame blowback and overheating of the tube, but that is generally not a problem unless you add a combustion air blower. The finish on that furnace brings to mind one of my favorite movies:
Nah not yet. I'm still down in Tennessee for the next 2 months. I will be back December/January so I can attempt to finish up my wet saw then. Who knows if I'll actually finish it up. Looks like a lot of work, plus now I'm wondering if I should have bought a MIG instead to quickly join together the large 1/2" plates. I might just end up doing it by tapping the whole thing rather than welding it. That way I will avoid distortion for sure. But it might not be very rigid. No idea yet. I don't want to mess up my pre-cut plates I don't have any easy way to replace them.
Thanks Pat The reasoning behind the different sized burners is to this day I am a firm believer that just stuffing a burner into the furnace and cranking it open (Accelerated Expansion) of the refractory is the Main cause which creates cracks and separation of the inner walls. Now, If I melting aluminum I'll use a NA 3/4" ID burner where as if I going to be melting a metal which requires a lot more heat then I'll use a 1" or 1-1/4" ID burner. Large burners put out a lot more heat quicker. Hence, rapid expansion. I want this furnace to have as long a life span as I can possibly get out of it. I also place a 500W heating lamp bulb in the furnace the night before & leave it on all night before firing it up. That way it gets rid of any moisture which the refractory has sucked up during idle sitting times & warms up the refractory before firing. Gotta remember, I live in Florida where the humidity levels are off the chart most of the time. That exposed refractory where the tuyere port is, is actually an adjustable collect made from Cast-O-Lite 3000. If using a smaller burner I wrap Kaolwool around the end to prevent blowback or from the end of the burner from melting down. I just got into this hobby about a year ago and I have done more research than I care to admit or actually remember but from everything I have researched and weighed out I don't think I'm being Over Compulsive in the least bit. I've been baby stepping it every since I started to get serious about burners, furnace design, melting metals and casting. I still have a lot more to learn but in time that will come. This is a pic of what happens when the tuyere port is to large and you run a flare nozzle on the end of the burner. The tuyere collet wasn't in place when this happened, just a big ass hole with the burner stuffed in it. I took that pic probably 60-90 seconds after it was out of the furnace. The nozzle wasn't even in the interior chamber of the furnace. That was the last time I did that one. No more flare nozzles.
Zap, Nothing worth while happens over night. Get your minds out of the gutter guys. We live & we learn. Yes you should have bought a TIG,,,,, or MIG, IMO. But, what do I know?
If you wanted to keep the flare you need more air/velocity on the fuel stream. I've done that while preheating with propane before switching to oil, without a flare. I increase combustion air to push the fuel ignition out of the burner. You probably already know all of that but it may be useful for the uninitiated reading along.
The HybridBurner's guy warned me about the flair. He said for foundry work, no flair; for a forge, use the flair. We have pretty high humidity here, but I am sure you have us beat. I do run a dehumidifier in the shop where the crucibles are stored, and keep all the sand sealed in 5 gallon buckets.
Yeah you'll melt your burner flare if you aren't careful. The gutter is the first place my mind went! Ha ha. I like the TIG I got, but I think the skill cap is a lot higher on it than with MIG. I don't have a lot of time to learn TIG welding unfortunately since I'm not around my machine most of the year. It is definitely going to take me time to learn. I think I should buy some scrap 1/2" plate and see if I can weld a square box together without warping the crap out of it or wrecking it. Then I can weld my nice stuff. Or maybe I should tack weld the nice material together and leave it at that. Not try weld the entire ends? But enough derailing your kick ass build thread.
And they are dead correct. You still have to keep the flare out of the chamber though. Forges are another animal all to their own. JV, I can increase air and air flow by the intake ports you see in front of the burner clamp. That particular design is the Mikey Burner originally design by Michael Porter and sold to Chile Forge who did some mods on it and rename it the Diablo Burner. They sell them for $200 clams plus shipping. If I ever deside to start casting iron I'll consider making a burner set up with a forced air feed. Hell, I've had this furnace up to 2200* with that 3/4" burner pictured and it wasn't wide open. Zap, your not derailing anything bro. That's what this forum is all about, interacting brother. Go over to AA and read my thread called "Follow The Puddle". It'll help you out a lot. Something I wanted to mention to you about the adjustable burner arm. Take a piece of angle (2x2) & a piece of flat stock, align & clamp the lose piece to the outside piece of the angle and pre drill the anchor bolt hole. Refer to the RED arrow. Grind the 90* corners on the end of that pipe to a somewhat radial corner for swing clearance purposes then figure out where your anchor hole needs to be. Next, Get something that's round, drill the same size hole in the middle, run your bolt through it, install it in the anchor hole and trace it out for your swivel channel radius. Remove it and cut, grind or chew the open channel out. Refer to the BLUE arrow. IF, your try to eyeball that channel and cut it out, it'll be wrong and won't work. Don't ask. Once that is done, grind approximately a 30* angle on the edges which are going to be welded together. Clean your piece in a mineral spirit bath and wipe dry. Figure out what ID spacing your going to need, find some material and clamp it all together. Tack weld all corners, let cool and then Tig it one bead at a time allowing it to cool before proceeding to the next bead. If you need specific dimensions just let me know and I'll measure mine and post. Capeesh?
Also, leave yourself plenty of extra clearance within the ID of that arm bracket I just explained how to build. You can always shim wherever needed with washers. Better to have extra ID space than not enough.
Gotcha, I'll be making one of those lickedy-split as soon as I get back to CT and my welder. I need to learn how to tap & thread things, I tried it once and I think I had my hole to tap size wrong so it didn't work very well. I found a chart on drill bit size to thread size and will try that when I go home. Pretty excited for Christmas break, I have already got half of my plans written out with "step 1, step 2, etc" instructions for myself so I don't have to think, I'll just do. Also got my new (old) 4 jaw lathe chuck, noga dial indicator holder and grinding wheel angle assistant in the mail. So I'm ready to go make myself more tools that will then help me make myself even more tools!
Haha, yeah you got one of those fancy new TIG's don't you? Me and 2-ton-tesse can do anything yours can do! Including put an inch deep dent in my driveway when it fell out of my cousin's SUV during unloading!!
Tapping is not bad. Use the correct tap drill, plenty of cutting oil, and perhaps 1/2 turn forward, then 1 turn backwards, repeat until tapped. Generally, if you don't do the backwards turn, you may break the tap, especially the small ones. Don't let the chips fill the hole and jam the tap. I use Rigid, something like this: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYCuE8KFwaIgG76kPTVR5jA/videos Edit: A little off-topic I guess.
Pat's absolutely right about the tapping process. Start the tap by hand and finish it by hand w/ lots of oil. Take your time and do it slowly, In - Out - In - Out.................. Aluminum is a lot easier and more forgiving so you can use a clutched battery operated drill but with steel, by hand. Here's a couple Tap & Bit charts for ya. I print them out and laminate them. They sit on a shelf with all my bits & taps next to the drill press.
Man that syncrowave is a beast. Reminds me of the first Radar Range dad brought home for mom. Just as big and a coffee cup was about all it would hold. I think you needed some kind of certification to operate it. Kinda like our first portable camcorder. That one took two people, one to carry the VCR and another to point the camera! Good tap charts, I can never find mine when I need 'em.
Zap, you know your loved when people bust your balls, right? Jason, Take a pic and save the charts to your phone, that way you won't lose them.
