EFM stoker/forge/boiler

Been kicking this around for awhile
the concept is to be able to get a shop boiler set up to do double duty. If I could use the firepot to heat my irons to a workable heat "yellow" and heat the water in the boiler to heat my shop "radiant floor heat"this would be Great! .
The boiler would need to be situated about 14" above its normal height and a transition piece fabricated with an access door or doors to allow long stock to pass through .

Thoughts or comments is what I am looking for as well as solutions to known problems from experienced individuals

Here are some thoughts, all non-professional: You'll have to provide a rear compartment inner wall and seal it, just like the regular boiler on base setup, to direct the exhaust down the back of the boiler and into the rear of the base, to be exhausted. Alternately, you might be able to seal the exhaust port on the base and move it into the middle, added section. You're going to have to be aware of your draft situation. I don't know how far down you can pull the smoke into the lower base and still have enough draft to get it out of the unit. Maybe it'll be a piece of cake.

The walls will have to be strong enough to carry the 800 lb. boiler, plus added plumbing. Probably no problem, since you are already familiar with working with steel.

The fire won't be as close to the water jacket, so there may be some loss of heat transfer. Not being an engineer, I don't know that answer, but I believe it won't be a serious issue. You might require an extra tooth of feed than a standard setup. Your water has to be tempered anyway for floor radiant heat.

I have often used a coal boiler fire to heat steel. It works nice.

The only potential problem might be the draft issue, but I would certainly try your invention if it were in my shop.

Thanks for the input stokerman, on the draft issue maby a draft inducer to run when the doors are open .
Dose the combustion blower force hot air through the boiler or is it a push pull effect? Also what diameter are the firepots ? Or how much of a 12" bar can you get a heat on?

Thanks for weighing in got worried there for a minute

If you're stoking the fire, you probably have 8-10" of red coal. But you won't always be stoking unless you let your building doors wide open. The stoker air supply is adjustable so that you always maintain a neg .04 draft up the flue while firing with the door shut. Opening the door will cause some of that pressure to vent into the shop. You'll have a learning curve as to when to put iron in the fire. Even closing the door almost shut will usually work.

Draft inducers don't last long with breech stack temps of up to 600 degrees, but there might be something out there in the way of a fan.

The stoker does produce a positive pressure and the heat rising up the stack produces a negative pressure. It's balanced with a draft regulator and in your case, some learning curve.

smithy wrote:If I could use the firepot to heat my irons to a workable heat "yellow" and heat the water in the boiler to heat my shop "radiant floor heat"this would be Great!

Yellow? This is a 1" X 1/2" bar of cold rolled that was in my Axeman for about 10 minutes at idle. It would probably just disappear if it was under load. It only appears distorted because it is so hot it has a corona, the steel never lost it's finished shape.

Is this the new replacement for the incandescent light bulb?

LOL, It was a lot brighter than it looks in the pic!

An aluminum can placed in a hand fed will be just a shell 12 hours later and will promptly disappear when the fire is shaken.

I like your idea of using a stoker for a forge. Have you considered just getting a stoker and setting it up in a base that would meet your needs? It could be a Gentleman Janitor stoker, EFM, Van Wert, etc...it doesn't have to be fancy. Roll it out in front of the shop when you need it and let it roar.

Yes that would be an option but I have two portable propPAIN forges already

I like stoker-man's suggestion of putting the exhaust port in the section you add, but instead of sealing up the old one in the base you might want to set it up for clean-out access.

Mike

Yes I need to familiar my self with the concept as your suggested it would facilitate cleaning. I am confuse preas exprain.

Most EFM bases I've seen don't provide very convenient access for cleaning the "back side" of the boiler (i.e., where the combustion gases are descending to the smoke pipe connection). The "standard procedure" I'm familiar with is to remove the smoke pipe and reach in through the opening (8" diameter on a 520) with a scoop/brush/vac/etc. to clear accumulated flyash. (Some people may be able to remove an entire panel that holds the smoke pipe connection, but I think they're in the minority.)

My thought for your project was that the smoke pipe opening on a standard base provides you with an opportunity to repurpose that opening for easier cleanout access without having to remove the smoke pipe, as long as you establish a new smoke pipe connection on the back of the "insert" you are planning between the boiler head and the original base. The original smoke pipe connection could get a removable cap, or if there is a panel you could make sure it's easily removable, or go really wild and substitute a panel-mounted ash door (as used on some of EFM's bigger boilers). Easier access would not only make it easier to perform annual or semi-annual cleanings, but also would let you go in more frequently to brush off the heat exchange surfaces, potentially enhancing efficiency.

Mike

Yes that sounds like an excellent idea the additional access will come in handy to facilitate the workings of a by pass damper to use in the summer or extended forging sessions when I am running the stoker full out.

Hi folks! If you have any parts available for the stoker forge project send a pm and let me know


Wanted stoker assembly efm s20 for stoker forge boiler project price according to condition can do some restoration work preferred or rebuilt at competitive pricing just as well also will need boiler must hold pressure test need freight to zip 46349

Thanks