New heat treat propane tank build.

[Joe Kaiser]

Greetings all, first timer here so still learning how to navigate the forums and loving every minute of it. Spent years planning to get my own shop running and wife finally kicked me in the rear to get on it before the second rugrat gets here. Recently scored an old 100 lb. tank from a home remodel I'm helping with and as I was planning where to cut into this thing i decided to see if it had any leftover pressure. I opened the valve all the way but nothing came out, tank wasn't heavy or indicating any liquid might be left inside, so i went inside for a quick lunch. Came outside and heard a quiet his and wouldn't you know it I had propane pouring out of this thing. It froze to the yard and has about half an inch of frost at the bottom and the exhaust port was froze over as well. Now I've seen propane tanks get cold and frosty while barbecuing but this is kind of new for me to see the tank half frosted over. And to boot when I moved it back to the concrete i can hear something similar to a slushey inside what I might guess is a third full of liquid. I have a newer 100 lb. tank for my forge plan and still want this one for a vertical heat treating furnace, but I'm unsure if I should use/discharge the gas or find a different vessel for a furnace. Can't wait to contribute and hopefully join in on the fun. I am by no means an expert and have a wonderfully bad habit of spending hours researching and never getting around to practicing. You guys have so much knowledge and insight it's difficult to stop reading and get back to forging. Also including a pic as I'd like to know if i can figure out how to post photos for future projects. Thanks All!

[Wayne Coe]

Don't just vent and waste the Propane.

You don't need near that long a forge, unless you are heat treating really long swords.

Check out the Build A Gas Forge attachment on the forge supplies page of my web-site.

let me know if I can help you. I prefer e-mails.

[Vern Wimmer]

Are you planning on doing strictly stock removal and only using the forge for heat treating and hardening?

What type of forge are you currently using ?

Wayne is right. That tank is way oversized for an efficient knife making forge or heat treating forge. It would take several burners plus the insulation and refractory to keep it heated up.

It has a couple possible uses for a swordsmith.

If it is still refillable it would be great for just what it is and supplying a more reasonable forge made from a 20" tank.

 

[Joe Kaiser]

I prefer forging my blades out and for that I have an efficient forge already, in the past I've made knives and swords alike in my buddy's shop while we lived together. The issue we always had was getting an even heat across the blade without it sagging or warping. We had the idea of making a vertical tank to avoid that and I've seen numerous 55 gal. barrel posts for this very idea. 

The tank is still holding gas but the local LP station says the fittings on top are very worn out and they aren't comfortable refilling it. I never thought it would hold gas so it's no loss for me but a second useful tank would be great. 

Basically everything I've used in the past for knife making has worked out great, starting with hand tools working up to power tools as i can find/afford them. I make full scale drawings of ideas I have for blades then when it's what I like I either make it or store the drawing for the day I can actually make it. And yes I do plan on making a few swords with blade lengths reaching the 40" mark while most swords I've drawn are in the 30"-36" range.

Just curious if anybody has done a vertical furnace with an LP tank or if the 55 gal. drum was better for some reason.

[Vern Wimmer]

IIRC several people have made verticals out of such tanks. I haven't heard anyone say "it didn't work" 

Check with the forum's own Wayne Coe. 

I'm also pretty sure others will come along. You might try a Google search of the forum for "vertical forge".

 

OK, so my phone managed to find a new way to make me look bad. I had to hold my first post in the editor, till I got signal sunday, then jumped right over the fact that Wayne had already replied when I just whanged up my second post.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Vern Wimmer

[Alan Longmire]

The only potential issue I can think of is there may not be enough volume to even out the heat on a single burner.  That's why the 55-gallon drum forge is popular.  Ben Potter made a two-burner vertical HT rig a few years back, one burner at the bottom and one about halfway up in a fairly narrow container.  He said it worked fine.

That said, Jesus Hernandez used water heater tanks for his HT forge and furnace, but set them horizontal with racks inside to prevent sagging.

[Joe Kaiser]

Thank you for the input guys, I've read the even heat issue in a few of the 55 gallon drum posts and was looking at doing a 2 burner setup. Never thought of the horizontal with a rack though, pretty neat idea and going to look into it some more. I have a 55 and 20 gallon barrel as well, going to find out later this week if the fittings can be changed out and I'll have a refillable tank or not.

[Wayne Coe]

The valve can be changed out at the larger shops (welding supply shops).  I don't understand that the valve would be in bad shape unless it was abused.  The tank may also need to be re-certified.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Wayne Coe