A Gas Burner for the Trevithick Dredger Engine
by John
Last post I asked if anyone could guess what the redgum pieces were going to be used for.
Today I turned up another piece of the puzzle, which might be helpful..
And look where it fits..with a 1mm gap.
Just to bend a piece of annealed brass in the press. Hmm.. I wonder where this will fit..
Ah… now I see…
Silver soldered. Ceramic burner needs to be cut. Diamond saw? Maybe I will try the bandsaw..
Well, that is surprising. I expected that the ceramic material would laugh at the bandsaw blade. But no problem at all. Like a hot knife through butter.
After sawing the burner roughly to size, the edges were given the curved contour with a belt sander. Again, easy as. It is sitting in position, but needs the edges sealed with some heat resistant goo. Any suggestions?
The gas burner will be easy to remove if I ever run the Trevithick engine on coal. I am still fiddling with gas jets, hoses and connections.
johnsmachines 
Très élégante!
Where did you get the ceramic burner? Is it hard like porcelain?
How many BTUs is the burner?
I think a simple refractory cement will do for the goo. I can’t see the details of what you want to seal. You might wet pack it with Fiberfrax, which might be cleaner and easier, especially if you want to take out the burner and experiment with coal.
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Hi Richard, I expected it to be hard like ceramic, but it sawed so easily that it must be something else. Thanks for the name. I will investigate it. Just want to seal between the “ceramic” burner and the brass container.
BTU’s no idea. I am cannibalising a camp stove for jet, control knob, lines etc.
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BTW I’m a bit of a pyro (being a glassblower and all) and have designed and built a few furnace systems over the years; hence my particular interest in flamethrowing.
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Good to know. Expect some questions from me. John
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Check out:
http://www.unifrax.com/product/fiberfrax-moist-pak-d/
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Thanks Richard. The temp specs are good, but I need a goo rather than a blanket. Very small gaps to fill. Maybe up to 0.25mm. John
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You can easily get some 2400ºF ceramic blanket – which fibrefrax is commonly referred to – pick some apart, wet it and pack it tight like caulking a boat with oakum or packing a wound with gauze. You’ll like it.
Any potter or glassblower is familiar with it, should be easy to get..
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OK thanks. I will check it further.
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We just redid our kitchen and SWMBO wanted the dishwasher to be quieter. I told her we needed a new blanket to deaden the sound. She ordered one without discussion. When it arrived it was a mere 2’x1’x1″, but I immediately recognized the material and kept the overpriced (~$25) piece, knowing it will come in handy soon enough.
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You can get fibrefrax cement but probably not in micro amounts. You can DIY refractory cement, it’s pretty easy to whip up.
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And you can pack very small .25mm spaces with it easily.
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Referring to both cement and wetted fiber when I say you can pack very small .25mm spaces with it easily.
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Great to see the how you implemented the ceramic , mine is still in the shed unused. I was drawn in the world of fractal / Lichtenberg wood burning using a microwave transformer. Good thing I have solar .
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Fractal/Lichtenberg/wood burning … please explain!
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Hi there! Such a wonderful post, thank you!
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