Johnson Propane Furnace

Cabinetmaker

Well-Known Member
johnson.jpg
This Johnson #120 Heat treat furnace is available locally.
Set up with propane, 8 x 8 x 14 interior. 90,000 BTU
Asking $500.
I have no experience with heat treating (yet). This looks like a good deal to me.
How do you regulate temperature with something like this?
All comments and recommendations welcome!
Thanks, Larry
 
I had one of those given to me a number of years ago! I actually used it as a forge for a while. The only way I could ever figure out how to control the heat was with the gas flow valve, and it wasn't very precise.....well, not even moderately so. It was a fuel hog, and I eventually ended up giving it to a rancher who uses it as a forge in his repair shop.
 
It should be cheaper to build from scratch an HT forge with a venturi burner, needle valves and a TC pyrometer.
The equipment in the picture as far as i can see is better suited for forging and forge welding... it seems to have more muscles than control.
 
It would certainly be cheaper to build something specifically for your needs, even if you use a commercial Venturi burner, and it will almost certainly use less gas.

90,000 BTU/hr is very close to 91,500 BTU/hr, the heat obtained from burning a gallon of Propane/hr (4.23 lb/hr). This seems to tally with Ed's "fuel hog" description.

It looks to have a blown burner. There are usually two adjustments that can be made to regulate temperature: The amount of gas being supplied (adjusted at the regulator or with a needle valve) and the amount of air that mixes with the gas. It's not clear from the photo whether or not there is any adjustment on the regulator or just downstream of it. The air adjustment is by moving the choke plate over the blower inlet.

The flame temperature is actually a function of the fuel:air ratio and can be adjusted very finely on a well-designed/built burner.

I built a dedicated HT forge for a guy who was having difficulty holding a soak temperature for treating O1 steel with his previous setup.

He posted a brief youtube video that should give an idea of the temperature control attainable even with a somewhat quick-and-dirty setup. The temperature display is in degC. Target temperature was 816 degC (1500.8 degF).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xvWkXBXY6U&feature=youtu.be

Propane usage at the settings used in the video (20 PSI with a .020 gas jet) is around 1.2 lb/hr

The Venturi mixer is a commercial one, branded Amal, and cost around 35 GBP (55 USD) as a walk-in customer. I've stopped trying to build my own Venturis since I found out the commercial ones are so cheap.
 
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