My main forge burner sputtered out halfway through a commissioned gate hinge

It happened yesterday evening, right as I was getting the steel to a good welding heat. I had to shut everything down and finish the piece cold in the vise, which took an extra three hours. Anyone have a reliable burner design that won't quit under a sustained run?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie1301mo ago

Tell me you didn't have to finish a forge weld in a vise without telling me. That sounds like a special kind of long night. Honestly, I'd be looking at the gas jet and mixer tube first, they love to clog up right when you need them most. A lot of the fancy designs fail because they're too clever by half. My old straight pipe burner with a good needle valve has never left me hanging, even if it sounds like a jet engine. Sometimes the simple fix is just cleaning the thing you already have.

evan4001mo ago

My uncle used to run a forge for a living, and his old burner was just a piece of pipe with a hole drilled in it. He said the only time it ever failed was when a spider decided to build a nest inside the air intake overnight. Took him a whole morning to figure out why it wouldn't light. Makes you wonder if the problem is ever the design itself, or just the random junk that finds its way in.

spencer_chen625d ago

Gotta wonder if part of the problem is how we treat these tools when they're not in use. That spider nest story is pretty telling. A lot of folks just shove their burner in a corner or leave it out in the shop, then act surprised when a bug or dust or whatever messes it up. Same with the gas jet on a forge, if you don't cap it or keep it clean, something's gonna find its way in. Maybe the real design flaw isn't the burner itself but the fact nobody thinks about storage or maintenance until something breaks. A pipe with a hole will work forever if you just put a plug in it when you're done.