Metal Casting Zone

Ok, I finally got my first pour done. It was not at all like I thought it would go. Long story short, lightning hit the maple tree outside and took out the little TV in the bedroom. Being a complete electronics idiot, I checked the fuse and found it good. I found the next component in the circuit open, a resistor. So I replaced the resistor, with one of a larger wattage but the correct ohms. I plugged in the TV and.......nothing, until I noticed a glow inside the TV. Then a big glob of melted copper plopped out onto the dining room table and caught the table cloth on fire. I thought, Hey my first pour......as I flung the TV into the trash.

OK enough of that. I did build the burner and tested it. Here's some photos of how that went.


Shouldn't be using galv. but I have lots of ventilation in the shop.



I am not a welder.



This is not really the way it is assembled. the nipple with the fuel inlet is sitting behind the burner assy. I threaded the two nipples to slow down the heat transfer.



First burn resulted in a giant flame of yellow. Terrible. What stopped me for a short while was the fact I realized I was building a gigantic burner for a teeny tiny furnace. So I had to think about it for a few days.
The burn was terrible so I quickly made this piece to go inside the burner tube and pounded it in with a 1/2" extension about 2" down. I remembered the three T's of good combustion, time, temperature, and turbulence. It burned a lot better, but not good enough.



You can see it doesn't burn evenly. I am making a new plate to go inside the burner that will spin the mixture and hopefully give me a better burn.





Today I made a change to the burner. I made a diffuser out of stainless and machined the ID of the burner pipe and hammered it in like so.







Do you think this burner will work for aluminum?

What type of regulator are you using? From the sound of the flame I would guess a low pessure reg from the gas grill. You should have a high pressure reg that you can adjust from 0 to 60 psi. The flame should sound like a jet taxing to the runway. Tractor Supply sells them under the MR. Heat name.
I'm just guessing so if you have a high pressure regulator then ignor me.

My wife liked you TV story.

The regulator is red, 455,00 btu but it's only 30 psi. I think I need to open up my ar diffuser more to allow more flow. I'll keep you posted.

That should be plenty, I don't think I've ever ran mine over 15 psi. I still have to be careful because it gets too hot.

Thinking along here, the first run I made wiht the ugly looking diffuser inside, I had the damper almost closed on the blower inlet and the gas supply wide open.
On the second run with the newer twisted diffuser installed. I have the blower damper wide open and the gas open only a little. If I open the gas too much, teh flame blows out. I think I have hit both extreems with my playing around. My next trick will be to open the twisted diffuser a little more. I'd like to be in the middle somewhere so I can tune the flame a little.

It will burn better inside a furnace. A lot less apt to blow out. Outside the furnace, a cone shaped flange would help stabilize the flame.

looking good..... i dont use a regulator at all on my gas bottle.