Got Heat ? in your tool box -_-

[dodgenut78]

I thought I might Pass this info on, you never know when you'll need some heat to make a part or a tool. Also useful for replacing body and frame hot rivets, way cheaper than running a O.A. torch with a rosebud for 2 hrs!

http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/forges/microfrg.htm

http://www.iforgeiron.com/

[BobbyMike]

They look like mini "glory holes", except we used 55 gallon drums (and a lot more propane).

Glory holes are the devices glass blowers use to heat their tools, re-heat the glass they're messing with, and an easy way to lose your eyebrows (don't ask how I know this).

Thanks for the link. Looks like it could be useful to make up one. I'm pretty sure I've got some leftover refractory odds and ends laying around.

[MoparNorm]

I missed this the first time around. I see that nearly all references are to Propane torches. Save yourself a lot of money and gizmos by buying MAPS gas, it comes in the same type of cylinder as the propane torches, but it burns much, much hotter. It's what plumbers use to solder copper piping on jobsites. Once you try it, your propane will be strickly for b-b-q!
MN

[BobbyMike]

I missed this the first time around. I see that nearly all references are to Propane torches. Save yourself a lot of money and gizmos by buying MAPS gas, it comes in the same type of cylinder as the propane torches, but it burns much, much hotter. It's what plumbers use to solder copper piping on jobsites. Once you try it, your propane will be strickly for b-b-q!
MN

I won't dispute your logic, but I would advise against using those designs with anything other than Propane. If you heat those types of refractory materials beyond their rated temps you will release some "very bad things" as they break down. Glassblowers use Propane mostly (unless they have natural gas being piped into their studios). Using propane, and the proper refractory materials, we easily heated the glass cullet to it's melting temperature and kept it at +2100 degrees in the furnace. The gloryholes didn't need to go much higher than 1500 degrees so we used lower rated refractories (the same stuff they used in the examples of the smaller "shop forges"). Those materials became Very friable if they were overheated would end up blowing right out of the open end of the forge and possible into someones lungs. That would be a bad thing.

[MoparNorm]

Good point! The Mapp gas is pretty harsh on the senses and doesn't get you to 1500 degrees, but if you don't have a glory hole in your tool box it will give you better results on the trail.
Glass blower huh? Have any pictures?
MN

[BobbyMike]

Nothing digital. We "retired" over 10 years ago. All our catalogs/materials are paper. I just grabbed the few glasses we had left over (stashed too high for the kids to reach). We've gone from only drinking from handblown glasses to almost none left.

[MoparNorm]

Very nice! Thanks for the picture!
MN