Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

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GypsyTinker
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Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by GypsyTinker »

While making the Oliver Upwind, I learned a few things and decided to try my hand and designing a burner.

I wanted a burner that could run well at very low pressure, but still crank it out.

Design Goals:
  • Easy to build
    Cheap
    Minimal parts
    Easy to modify for different uses
    Compact and light
I decided to use slits instead of round holes as this provides more intake area per linear inch. Looks sweet too :twisted: It's also pretty easy to do, but clearly not as easy as drilling a hole.

I also decided to base it around a mig tip, so that I can easily swap out the jets for different uses. Using one that has a .037 hole right now. It's the standard one that comes on cheapy welders and handles .030 wire. I happened to have 2 of them lying around.

I used a more narrow burner tube than most burners I have seen. I did this because I deduced that the volume of the jet compared to the volume of the tube should determine the relative velocity of the intake air. So I figured the closer they are in size, the more acceleration the intake flow would have. I believe this will allow the burner to function in a much wider range of PSI, but not handle abrupt PSI changes. Good trade off in my book!

So basically, I grabbed a mig tip and tried to use as few parts as possible to hook it to a gas line. Jammed that in the end of tube. Cut my slots and tried it out. It took a bit of tweaking and I played with a few different nozzle flange designs. Here is a shot of the flame I was getting off the first Mako burner.
Image06192011000354.jpg
At this point, there were a few little problems. In some PSI ranges there was popping and some whistling. I ran it in my new mini forge with no flange and that worked out ok. Some popping, but all in all, I had a great flame at around 7 psi and it ran steady for a few hours of smithing :)

Running it that long let me observe it acutely. Seeing when it popped that flame would sometimes come out of the front vent holes and at high pressures the flame would walk off the end some.

It was time for Mako 2.0:
Image06192011163135.jpg
Here it is running at 4 PSI :twisted:
Yes... 4 PSI
Yes... 4 PSI
I could tell you, I was quite pleased at this point. I wanted to be able to run at lower pressures, but I never expected to have a flame like that under 5 PSI when most venturi burners I have seen run at 15 PSI and up. With my Oliver Upwind, I could run it at 10 ok, but it liked it higher and I NEVER got a flame like this out of it at any pressure. It runs at a wide range of pressures, I'll do more accurate testing and documentation soon, but suffice it to say, from VERY low PSI to more than enough PSI :geek:

The wires you see on the nozzle flange are multi-purpose, they hold the nozzle in place and centered by standing off the burner tube, but they also provide points that are as wide as the flare opening so that it can self support and self center in a tuyere of the proper diameter.
:twisted:It basically SNAPS into my mini forge and mini furnace tuyeres :twisted:

I could think of no other improvement or tweak, so I decided to put it to the test...

Now, I don't understand this and I KNOW it is hard to believe.... but.... guys.... I was running this burner at maybe... 1.5 or 2 PSI in the following picture. It was such low pressure that my gauge was barely off the peg and it's not designed to be accurate to fractions of PSI, so... It's VERY low... WELL under 3 psi, probably under 2 PSI... HONESTLY!
Image06202011013603.jpg
That is a railroad spike glowing orange hot in NO TIME! Me and my buddy smithed out of this thing for hours at below 2 PSI!!! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE??? Don't ask me... I don't know the math of PSI to BTU, but I know that this burner at 2 PSI is more than enough heat to QUICKLY heat even thick steel to glowing red hot, through and through.

The burner behaved PERFECTLY and was unimaginably quiet and hot. No heat is transferred up the burner tube. You can touch the entire burner tube even after hours of running it like you see it in that mini-forge. Not the flange, of course, but the main tube stays perfectly cool.

I believe I met all of my design goals and exceeded most of them. Here is another shot of the completed burner.
Image06192011182324.jpg
I call it a "Mako" burner because it has 5 sets of gills. It's also sleek and formidable and not fully understood :twisted:
Only the highest standards of precision!
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Harry
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Re: Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by Harry »

That looks cool as hell (that means hot). How about a detailed build write up with parts list and assembly instructions for those of us who are not so smart on propane burners? Might be a good project to make into a page for the website? Credited properly of course with your permission.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
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Re: Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by Bull »

That is freakin Sweet! With PSI that low you could almost use a BBQ regulator.
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GypsyTinker
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Re: Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by GypsyTinker »

That's the idea Bull!

Here is a pictorial break-down. You should be able to build one from this.
http://s1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc4 ... %20burner/

It's built from crap tubing, not plumbing pipe, so be open minded in scavenging. I think one of the tubes I used is conduit, not sure about the other... :)

If you got questions, ask, but it's EASY to build.
Only the highest standards of precision!
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GypsyTinker
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Re: Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by GypsyTinker »

Anyone here try this burner yet?
Only the highest standards of precision!
dallen
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Re: Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by dallen »

your pressure readings may not be as low as you are thinking they are if your using a run of the mill off the shelf pressure gauge. if its that low you will have to check it with a manometer to get an accurate reading or buy an ounces per square inch pressure gauge.


Oh yea almost forgot how bigs that furnace looks about like a 4.5 X 4.5 X 9 inch space you got there, it won't take a lot of burner to get to forging temp in something that small, especially if you have a lot of that ceramice fiber showing an it gets hot an starts reflecting the infered back towards the middle.

Nice picture, what you take it with?
David and Charlie aka the shop monster

If life seems normal your not going fast enough" Mario Andrette
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GypsyTinker
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Re: Mako Burner - My new propane burner design.

Post by GypsyTinker »

All pics taken with my LG cell phone.

Gauge is pretty accurate... I was forging under 1PSI but didn't want to claim that. I run it at around 2 psi most of the time and it can heat up 1" square stock to glowing bright red in under 5 min from dead cold.

The small space is key though, you are right there. Pretty close on the estimate too. Just changed it up to a bit larger and bumping the burner up to 2 or 3 PSI more than compensates for the new larger forge.

Anon has built one and confirms that it runs great and neutrally from 1/4 PSI up to 15 PSI :) Exactly the results I am getting from my Mako. Easy to build too!
Only the highest standards of precision!
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