Going to take the plunge and try to build an arch. Plenty of ??? to follow, I'm sure

[sluggish]

So I am no welder by any means but this is where I will be figuring it all out. I happen to work at a glass plant and they decided that two of their glass racks were getting scrapped, so naturally I thought they should become mine. One to become an arch and one to become a gantry crane later on.

On to the arch, first question I have is this. Has anyone built theirs by framing it with 2x2x1/8 square tubing? I hope so because that is what I have on hand to use and I am hoping someone will tell me it is suitable. Here is what it looks like as of now, as you can see, it already has a nice slope towards the back so I plan to cut and narrow it to suit my needs.

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Next question, I was thinking of about 2x7 for an arch. That said, should I build it with outside dimensions of 2x7, which means I will need the pans to be a bit narrower(custom made) or are there standard size pans that would be more economical for me to purchase. If I know standard pan sizing, now is the time to keep the framework a bit wider to accommodate.

I was thinking I would use fire blanket(or board, sugestions?) and then brick it as well, which will take a couple inches. My thoughts were to run the top and bottom rails and then brick in between them. This would leave the top and bottom rails exposed to the flames, good or bad idea? Logic tells me that they should be covered as well, but the obvious current design shape would dictate that it is easier to fill the space between them. I know easier isn't always better but if it is suitable without any concerns, then I am open to that option. Or another option if there is one out there.

Also, I can run an extension cord to the shack but do not have permanent power in there so I am limited to how much electricity I have available. I was thinking of adding air to the fire as well. Having a blower of some sort and a light or two and radio is about all I can likely run for power. Should I go AOF or AUF and why would you choose one over the other? That said, how many air inlets should I be considering? I have seen some where they have dozens and somewhere there are very few. I would think that maybe 20 would be plenty, all angled differently to create turbulence, but really, that is just my opinion, might not be worth a darn.It feels like I have lots of time but with my lengthy honey do list, I know the sap run will sneak up on me before I know it so I want to get started right away. Plus, the sooner I get it done, the sooner I can use it as a cook top in the shack as well. Oh yeah, the shack is still on the to do list as well. First comes the retaining wall, and then the other retaining wall, and then the shack and arch.

Open to suggestions here. Thanks.

[lpakiz]

If you use 24 inch wide pans, you should make the outside width no more than 25.5-26 inches. This dimension will allow you (later) to use pans that have the sanitary connectors and clamps, and still allow about 3/4 to one inch overlap on each side. More than an inch is wasting pan surface due to heat no being able to get to the outside strip of pan bottom.
Make it long enough so that you can keep your fire right to the front of the pan.
Ideally, exposed iron should be protected from flame with brick, insulation or both.
Dimension iron is relatively cheap, especially the past year or so. The money you save adapting some existing structure or metal pieces is not likely to be worth the effort, but if you can make it work,, more power to you!
Keep asking your questions here. Lotsa folks have built their own equipment, especially to start out.
If you're on a budget, money wise or power wise, just put air under the grates for now. Doesn't take much extra air to get the fire really roaring. A blower from a direct-vent water heater or other small squirrel cage blower (4 inch diameter and 2 inch width) will give you way more AUF than you need.
PS. AOF takes a lot more blower ($$) and a pretty sophisticated nozzle arrangement. Skip that for now. Build it into your next one. Oh yes, there will be a next one, I promise!

[sluggish]

Thanks for the tip on the width. I will buy any metal that I don't have but I also have a huge pile of it at work that I still need to bring home, likely about 5000 lbs worth of iron, hopefully enough sheet steel but I have a feeling that is one thing I will end up buying. I have more time than money so I will cut and modify as much as I can to keep costs to a minimum.

[Super Sapper]

The tube should work good for the frame as long as it is covered with insulation. For the rail on top you may get warping from heat not contacting all sides of it and getting uneven expansion. I would use angle if you can. I used 304 stainless steel 3/16 inch thick plate to protect my insulation in the firebox and it only took 1 year to burn through it with auf. Good luck with the build.

[acafro]

I built my arch around the dimensions of my pan. I think you will find it far easier, and cheaper to work with industry standard demensions. And if you want to upgrade your pans in the future you will save some serious coin by being able to buy a direct fit rather than having someone build you a custom pan.

I used arch board and 1/2 firebrick in my firebox and Archboars everywhere else. After one season I have zero work to do on the insulatuons. It's in great shape still.

I would only use firebrick where your insulation gets beat up by wood, otherwise you are adding a boat load of weight and also a ton of material to pre-heat before you get a good boil. And subsequently a lot of cool down time you need to account for during shut down.

I use AUF only and think it's a must! I used a squirrel cage blower to add AUF.

Hope this is useful!


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[sluggish]

That is useful thanks. In addition to all the steel I just picked up from work, I also just acquired a blower with some serious output. It was used to help keep sheets of glass suspended as they lie flat on a giant table. Think of an air hockey table that needs to keep a 1500 lb piece of glass floating on it. I shouldn't have any shortage of air. Finally finished the retaining wall behind the sugar shack site, so building the shack is starting as soon as the gravel shows up, hopefully next week.

[acafro]

That is useful thanks. In addition to all the steel I just picked up from work, I also just acquired a blower with some serious output. It was used to help keep sheets of glass suspended as they lie flat on a giant table. Think of an air hockey table that needs to keep a 1500 lb piece of glass floating on it. I shouldn't have any shortage of air. Finally finished the retaining wall behind the sugar shack site, so building the shack is starting as soon as the gravel shows up, hopefully next week.

I got myself a blower that puts out about 600cfm and I found that sometimes it was too much, I was blowing fire out of my stack. I had to block the intake and even sometimes block the discharge because I was feeding too much air. The issue with too much air is that you will blow through your wood. I found that running too much air I was burning about double the amount of wood compared to when I wasn't blowing fire out the stack. So there is a balance.

From what I understand stack temperature is a good way to figure out what's going on with your fire. I judged it by the heat coming off the back of the evaporator this season (and fire blowing from the top). Next season I am going to monitor my stack temps and try to dial it in even more.


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