Customer Reviews

Gas Burners for Forges, Furnaces, and Kilns

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, the good news:

Michael Porter's book is one that has been sorely needed by those of us who are experimenting with building our own propane burners, furnaces, forges, and kilns. It is chock-full of detailed plans, with gorgeous, carefully executed pencil drawings showing the parts and assembly of each item. Full parts lists and construction details are provided. Mr. Porter also begins the book as he should, with an extensive chapter on safety. Several burner designs, along with plans for forges and metal and glass-melting furnaces follow. A nice chapter on brazing is included.

And now, the not-so-good news:

I have to admit to some surprise upon seeing all the five-star reviews here. Perhaps it's because it's so hard to find the kind of useful detail one uncovers in this book. (It's certainly been useful for me.)

Unfortunately, the book appears to be rushed to print without proofreading for spelling or grammar, and could surely use an editor's eye to improve its organization and consistency of style. Nearly every page contains an error. In many places sentences are missing one or two words, words are just plain wrong, measurements conflict, chemical formulae are wrong, typographical style changes from page to page, etc. Examples: a project requires "3 linear feet (or 42 inches)" of refractory insulation -- which one is correct? Hydrogen is wrongly listed as "H3" (with subscript [which I can't show here], but on other pages, some chemical formulae appear without subscripting).

There are also frequent cross-references to other chapters, and to a "Notes" appendix so long that one wonders if some of the material would be better placed in the original chapters, either as part of the text, or as footnotes on the citing page. All of which is to say that I found myself constantly bouncing about from page to page or crashing head-on into another outright error, making comprehension of the text unnecessarily challenging.

A revised and corrected edition would be most welcome.

It took some time to figure out what I liked about this book. Eventually it became clear: All of it. The whole treatment and presentation takes me back to a time when books were intended to convey information which you could put to use.

The author wrote from the assumption that you were an adult with some measure of skill and common sense. Words weren't wasted and pictures were there for their information value instead of decoration. Often there were no photos because line art was easier to reproduce and could more clearly convey necessary details.

That is exactly what Mike Porter has done with this book. It is clear and easily understandable without wasting words. It is illustrated by hand-drawn line art... the perfect match for the information presented.

And there is a lot of information here... probably more than in most books with twice as many pages. It is presented in a matter-of-fact manner without "talking down" to the reader or using show off buzzwords.

The first burner I built from this book came entirely from my scrap pile. I have no doubt that, in only three months, this burner has cut my oxygen/acetylene bill enough to pay for the book.

Herein lies another tip: although the details are there and you can use a cookbook approach to burner building, there is also plenty of discussion to allow one to "freelance" a bit in fabrication. You CAN go to the hardware store and buy everything you need exactly 'by the book" or a skilled junkmeister can improvise from materials on-hand.

The range of burners, furnaces, kilns and forge projects presented in this book make it a sure bet to be well worthwhile to anybody who plays with fire.... lots of very intense fire.

WDSmith

Gas Burners for Forges, Furnaces, & Kilns by Michael Porter
216 pages and 111 illustrations by the author
ISBN 1879535203 Publisher: Skipjack Press 2004

Mike Porter has written a great book for the person who needs to build a gas forge, a melting furnace, a gas burner for an existing forge or needs knowledge about propane and burners in general. This book begins with a discussion of the safety required when storing and using propane, the proper use of tools, and doing shop work in general. The author emphasizes safety throughout the book. Chapter two includes a detailed discussion of just what a burner is, the considerations that go into an efficient design, discusses the fuel, propane, at some length, and describes the hardware that is involved in a successful, proper design. The remainder of the book describes how to build different size burners, forges, forge carts and furnaces. Each chapter/project has a list of materials needed, the tools needed for the basic project and some extensions of the design to make the design more efficient. To avoid lengthy repetition of processes, the author refers one back to an earlier chapter where the process is described in detail. Included at the end of the book are a glossary of terms, a list of notes cited in the text, and an extensive list of resources.

This book contains all the knowledge needed for a reasonably mechanically-handy person to build and operate a state-of-the-art, gas-fired burner, forge or furnace. The author gives credit to others who helped develop and refine the designs used in this book.

Is this the ultimate book of burner or forge design? No, it's not. However, it is the best book we have at the present time. This book is well worth its cost. I encourage people to buy this book either as a reference for propane-fired equipment or as a guide to build your own propane-fired equipment or just as a reminder of how incredibly resourceful the human mind is.

If you want to avoid hundreds and hundreds of hours of searching and researching, buy the book. It has it all. I feel like I wasted all my time searching in books and on the internet. This is a must -have book for any person who wants to get seriously into metal crafting as a business or as a hobby.

UPDATE
One and a half month later, I have lost count of how many times I have read the book. So far I have been more interested in doing these projects than the use that I will give them. Indeed, I only bought the book because I wanted to build a simple gas forge, but it has awakened a different type of passion in me. So much so, that now I am working on two burners, the hand torch, the propane tank forge, the hot work station and a coffee can type of forge and I have completely forgotten about my sculptures. This book has been written in such a manner that, even though I have no mechanical skills whatsoever, I have been able to build everything in a form that I did not know that I could do. The author has unselfishly given away years of research and experimentation, for the reader to accomplish state-of-the-art equipment that not only he or she will use, but also will proudly show them off as a personal achievement. My only regret is that my book has worn off from excessive use. I am looking forward to buy another copy or a new edition just for my library.

This is an *excellent* book. If you are interested in building your own propane burner for a forge, kiln, foundry or glass furnace you really want this book. If you already build your own burners (such as I do), you definitely want this book. Michael details how to build four simple, very high performance burners (different sizes) with variations included for each. The construction does not assume any major pieces of equipment; mainly all you need are hand tools, an electric drill and a small side grinder. Cost is cheap to free depending on what is in your scrap pile.

Detailed instructions are also given for a 5 gallon ex-propane bottle forge, a hot work cart (it strikes me as very useful for glass work), foundry furnaces, a farrier's forge and a glass furnace. This book will keep you busy with many new ideas, and you will keep coming back to it as a reference.

Michael Porter is a clear, interesting and knowledgeable writer.

Excellent book, but... The problem is it is cheaper to buy ready made atmospheric burners from Hybrid, or parts from Zoeller, than to build the ones in this book. What distinguishes the burners here from those spread all over the internet is they accelerate the gas more rapidly for a better fuel air mix, and a hotter flame. This is the Hybrid burner design, and not a new idea. The problem is that getting the fishing line sized hole the length of the nozzle is not a practical home project. The solution here is cutting up AO welding torch tips that cost more than buying the parts, or finished burners do. Your local prices may vary. I've joked that the only way to make these burners economically is if some of the parts walk home from the job site with you... (I am not suggesting this)

There are many crafts that would benefit from gas burners: Forges, kilns, foundries, bluing tanks, family sized BBQs, whatever. You can find the info online, but there is always the specter of a ballooning fireball. This book puts all the parts together in one place, which is reassuring. There is a strong safety orientation. Read it for the overview, then buy a hybrid burner or some Zoeller parts, and check the internet for the latest designs to put them in. You can also home build atmospheric burners from older designs that don't so efficiently jet the gas, or use forced air design, both are on the internet.

THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THE PERSON THAT WANTS TO BUILD IT CHEAP,FAST, AND WITH NO WORK.
You must have a pretty good grasp of fabrication, and machine shop type terms and workings. I have not built anything yet but know a couple people that have and are satisfied with the burners. The real great info is in the conversion of the propane tanks into the shells of the items talked about. Safely done is foremost in every bodies mind. The information is in the book is filled with directions you can take if you want to modify the authors ideas. There are plenty of drawings in relation to the subject matter also a number of charts. It could have used some pictures. But maybe in the next edition. I read it for the new knowledge I gained for his experience in the field. Along with I know and will learn I found the book worth the money. As this isn't an area filled with people writing new works each week. And yes there is a lot of stuff on the web but you MUST HAVE KNOWLEDGE of the subject. So you can make sure you can spot the self appointed god's of know it all on the web and their sites. I own it.

A good and helpfull book for those that want to build burners.
Text is very clear, drawings and instructions good interpretable.
A helpfull handbook.

I received the book yesterday (almost two weeks earlier than Amazon's promise date, thanks!) and spent a goodly amount of time pouring through it. Mike Porter has done an exemplary job of presenting the material in a concise and logical format. He starts properly with safety, which in this hobby can never be taken too lightly, and then almost takes you by the hand for a guided instructional tour that will give you the information and encouragement to sucessfully build your own equipment. He doesn't just leave you hanging there wanting more, he gives you more. And it's not just about the burners, it's about the equipment that uses the burners too. I was getting ready to build my own Blacksmith Forge with different components, but have been holding off until I received the book. I'm glad that I did. Mr. Porter's designs for forges aren't significantly more complicated than the design that I was going to use, but are much more efficient than my design. What this will amount to is being able to make hotter burners that will use less fuel, a better design on the equipment to hold the burners, and consequently, less money spent on construction and operation. He gives you not just details for construction, but also a shopping list with illustrations for each burner design. I feel very confident that the money that I will save by using his designs will more than pay for the book, both in operational efficiency and not wasting money on the wrong materials... If you plan to build your own gas burners, or are just seriously curious about them, this book is a "Must have"...

This is probably the best book I have read regarding burner design. However, the information could be edited so that the reader is not flipping between chapters which refer to each other. There is so much more information in this book other than burners: Propane valves, bottles, BTUs, glass kilns, foundry furnaces, etc. But it is not an easy read. The designs of the burners in this book are more complicated than most of the atmospheric burners on the internet. But they are still well within the realm of home fabrication. I would give the author, who undoubtably knows his subject, the benefit of the doubt and not judge him by the presentation of his material, but by the contents of the book. If your into heat: foundry, glass, blacksmithing, etc. you need this book as you will get something out of it.