New Furnace Build ,,, Cupola

[vtsteam]

Rob, beautiful work as usual.     Just a little concerned about welding the tapping spout to the drop door. I know Terry Aspin shows that on his little 5 gallon can cupola, but I'm concerned on a larger furnace with a long spout, the drop will hang up on the spout, and/or the extended door will throw the drop forward. I think straight down is best, and I'm guessing the reason for double doors on larger furnaces is to clear the drop instantly and shunt it straight down To do that there is as little door overhang as possible.

Maybe I'm wrong. apologies if so. 

[Rob.Wilson]

Thanks for the comments Lads 

Hi Steve

I was going to weld the spout to the main body but decided not to for a couple of reasons , the first being I have to be able to move this 190 kg lump around myself as I have nowhere to have it setup permanent, with the main body off the stand I can roll it on its edge ,the same way one rolls a gas cylinder   ,if I had the shout welded on it would hinder doing that .

Secondly its much easier to mod the spout if needs be welded to the drop bottom than it is welded to the body .   

Hope fully all will be well 


Cheers Rob

[vtsteam]

I have a similar problem Rob. I want to attach the spout to the shell, but that is thin stainless and has little stiffness. Now also backed by refractory.

I also need to ditch the wheels and raise it on legs. So trying to think how to do it all.

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Steve ,

Welding the spout on with the refractory in place should not hinder you , just welded three lugs to mine tonight so that the stand can be bolted to the body.



With it now bolted together I flipped the furnace up onto its feet .




Not allot done tonight , but every little helps 


Cheers Rob   

[doubleboost]

Very nice Rob
It looks like the start of a time travel machine
(you sure those welds have plenty penetration)
John

[dsquire]

Is this an Australian Cupola ?   

Might have been. 

  
Now it can be used in both hemispheres! 

Cheers 

Don

[vtsteam]

Looks great Rob! 

[NeoTech]

This is damn neat.. if you would need to extend it, could you just pop another section onto the top there or what? =)

When this comes into play, can we look forward to a operations video? =)

[Mayhem]

Looking good Rob - what is the purpose of the lip on the front of the shoot?  Also, does the refractory run the full length of the cupola?

[Rob.Wilson]

Cheers Lads 

Looking good Rob - what is the purpose of the lip on the front of the shoot?  Also, does the refractory run the full length of the cupola?

Hi Mayhem , the lip is there to give some  support the end of the clay spout , Yes the refractory runs the  full length , basically its a concrete pipe .

This is damn neat.. if you would need to extend it, could you just pop another section onto the top there or what? =)

When this comes into play, can we look forward to a operations video? =)

 


Hi Andreas ,  yes extensions can be added if needed    I may make one 2ft extension .  I will take a few photos not into doing video 



Marching on , I dugout from the loft at the weekend the only usable motor I have for this job , a Brooks 2.2Kw /3hp, 2800 rpm ,240v  single phase , its a bit crusty but should do nicely .



So I made a start on the blower , machined up the rotor discs , going for a 10" fan .




I better get moving as Steve,s furnace is growing legs 


Rob

[krv3000]

cuming a long nicely

[micktoon]

Looking good Rob  , I had been wondering about the lip on the bottom of the spout too but makes sense now, its looking like some sort of robot as John says , you will have to give a name 

Cheers Mick.

[Mayhem]

...I will take a few photos not into doing video  ...

You should have a chat with Geordie John Bastard Doubleboost productions - He'll sort you out with a video Rob 

[vtsteam]

That motor should do the job, Rob!

[Rob.Wilson]

That motor should do the job, Rob!

  aye Steve its a tad on the large side  , but hey were use what we have at hand 


Rob

[John Rudd]

Nice job on the fan discs Rob....

Any chance of an explanation on how you did them please?

[vtsteam]

That motor should do the job, Rob!

  aye Steve its a tad on the large side  , but hey were use what we have at hand 

Rob

Definitely Rob! My missus is glad to see me reducing the size of the outdoor treasure pile now that I'm making things with a bit of it. And the shop/storage shed seems to get larger when I do that too for some reason. I can actually crawl in there, now! Hmmm wonder when the next flea market is....

ps. I've read of a few first cupolas which didn't have enough blast to start with, and you may have a cupola extension, too some day, so that bad boy seems like a wise Plan A.

[Rob.Wilson]

Nice job on the fan discs Rob....

Any chance of an explanation on how you did them please?

Hi John , I screwed the discs to a bit plywood that was fixed to the face plate , turned OD , bored hole , not allot to it 

 

ps. I've read of a few first cupolas which didn't have enough blast to start with, and you may have a cupola extension, too some day, so that bad boy seems like a wise Plan A.

 

If in doubt give it more clout Steve    I can always throttle it back 



Made a start on the tuyere  inspection ports this morning , first off I need to make some flanges ,so I burnt a strip of some 10mm plate , this was cut into three and the burnt edges milled up , one 3mm pass each side sorted that .

 

I made a sheet steel template for marking out and the saw was set over and the lengths of plate were then cut into diamond shapes , the template was then used to mark out the radius's

 

Then the plate was used as a drill jig to mark the hole centers.





The four on the left have temp holes drilled into them for fixing to a fixture for boring , they will be drilled and tapped after welding to tubes .

Time for some lunch me thinks .

Rob

 

[vtsteam]

Wow, nice!

[Rob.Wilson]

A bit more progress   

Flanges were bored in the lathe .





Then the tubes were welded to the flanges , three washers were used to give some offset for welding.



Tacked


welded


These will be welded to the wind belt after I finish the machining them .





Rob

[vtsteam]

Oh so that's how you do that! Learning a lot. 

[Rob.Wilson]

Time for a tea break  so I may as well do a quick post .

First job this morning was to skim the flange bolt faces  to get rid of the distortion caused by the welding .

 

That done the holes were then drilled and tapped , if I had drilled and tapped these before welding the studs would not have been perpendicular to the flange face .

 

M12 SS studs.

 

 With that done they were welded to the wind belt .




Suppose I better finish the covers now , Deciding weather or not to fit glass viewing windows , may splash out  even though it would take me over my 10 quid budget for this build 


Rob 

[Rob.Wilson]

Well thats the covers done for now    , filed a slot on the RH side so they can be swung clear .








Rob

[awemawson]

Very nice. I hope that you are going to nickle plate them to stop them rusting !

btw thin mica sheet is good for viewing windows

[Rob.Wilson]

    Nope going for oh natural look Andrew

btw thin mica sheet is good for viewing windows

 

I will looking to that  , I was thinking of cutting circles from the front glass of a log burner (John DB )  idea .

Rob