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Thread: Drop Flue Pan

  1. #11
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    Sep 2010
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    Green County Kentucky
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    Tonight I finished making the bender that Big Eddy designed. I did a trial run on a piece of scrap SS and it seemed to work fine. I used the blades off of snow plows that I had laying around. A neighbor works for the road department and had some old points that had been taken off and dropped them by a while back. They were just what I needed to use for the main parts of the bender. The front edge was even wore down to about a 70 degree angel making it posible to overbend the SS to allow for spring back. After the thanksgiving I'll go to the steel yard and get the stainless steel sheets and get started making the pans.
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  2. #12
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    Mar 2005
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    Dave,
    Your flue brake is a piece of art compared to the brake I built!
    I used Big Eddy's plans too, with some modifications, for my 5 foot + brake, but dialed my build back to the point I think I told folks I had about $5.00 invested. (really not sure it was that much) My brake was not perfect, it had some give in the middle. But I was satisfied enough that I used it for all the bends on the WRU that I built (another thread). I would not have been able to tackle that project without it.
    Good luck on building the flue pan if it looks as good as the brake it will be a nice pan! Nice to have the right tool to do the job.
    Regards,
    Chris
    Casbohm Maple and Honey
    625 roadside taps + Neighbors bring some sap too!
    3x10 King, WRU, AOF and AUF
    12" SIRO Filter Press.
    2015 Ford F250 PSD sap hauler
    One Golden named Maggie, Norwegian Forest Cat named Lucy
    Too many Cub Cadets
    Ford Jubilee and several Allis WD's, and IH tractors
    1932 Ford AAB ton and a half, dump truck

    www.mapleandhoney.com

  3. #13
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    Sep 2010
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    Green County Kentucky
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    Before I start cutting and bending the SS sheet metal I need a little advice. Sitting here in the middle of KY there are not any evaporators around here for several miles, in fact I don't know how far. To top it off, I haven't ever seen one in person, so I need some help. Right now the plan for the flue pan is to make the flues 6 inches deep and one inch wide, that's about as tight as I can make it. So with 10 flues and a 2 inch lip around the sides the pan will be 23 inches wide and I plan to make it 48 inches long.

    First question: How deep should the sides be above the flues? The metal will work out good at 9 inches, is this deep enough?

    Second question: Since I am making a continuous flow pan, I plan to make it with three channels. down, back and back down. Do the dividers need to be as tall as the sides? Also, will a small opening at the end (2X4) be enough for the sap to go into the next channel?

    Third question: I read a while back that the sap actually seperates by density and the higher sugar content (sap/syrup) while cooking floats ontop of the lesser density sap and flows over the flues into the next channel. If I said all this right, is this true? because I cannot think of any way for the sap to flow from the bottom of the flues into the next channel.

    Dave
    Sorghum Producer
    60 Bee Hives
    200 Acres of Ky hills
    225 Taps on Gravity
    2018 - Lapierre 2X8 Storm
    1963 Military M37 Sap Hauler
    and if things get tough...M35A2
    youtube videos

  4. #14
    Haynes Forest Products Guest

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    On my store boughts the inside dividers are lower than the sides. As far as the opening for the liquid to travel from channel to channel 2X4 is fine at the flue level...............the space between the end of the flues and the ends of the pan. remember that you will close off 1 on each end and leave 1 open that will give you the continous flow. You will also have the space above the flues that allow the sap to flow thru the channels so the space is bigger....................the channel space in the flue and the space above.

    As far as higher sugar content floating on the less dense that might be true when its getting hot...........I dont know BUT when things are kick a*s boiling there isnt any seperation its all mixing and moving. As long as the flues are full and there is enough sap above the fles to keep boiling and mixing things will move along. The reason it move is to fill in the low area created by the evaporation. Afretired I was confused how it all worked when I had a pan sitting in front of me

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    upstate NY
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    Quote Originally Posted by afretired View Post
    Tonight I finished making the bender that Big Eddy designed. I did a trial run on a piece of scrap SS and it seemed to work fine. I used the blades off of snow plows that I had laying around. A neighbor works for the road department and had some old points that had been taken off and dropped them by a while back. They were just what I needed to use for the main parts of the bender. The front edge was even wore down to about a 70 degree angel making it posible to overbend the SS to allow for spring back. After the thanksgiving I'll go to the steel yard and get the stainless steel sheets and get started making the pans.
    That is most impressive, & obviously works very well. A very well put together bending unit, my hats off to you sir.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Green County Kentucky
    Posts
    188

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    I've been working on the flue pan. Here are a few pictures showing what I have been getting done. It is going well, though TIG welding the thin SS is a little more difficult than I first thought. Check out the rest of the pictures on Photobucket.

    I've got to get back to work on the sugar house.

    David

    http://s742.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Syrup/Bender/
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Sorghum Producer
    60 Bee Hives
    200 Acres of Ky hills
    225 Taps on Gravity
    2018 - Lapierre 2X8 Storm
    1963 Military M37 Sap Hauler
    and if things get tough...M35A2
    youtube videos

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    rindge nh
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    13

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    Nice pictures! Really shows how the bender works well- What is your plan for welding the ends? I assume you will fusion weld the corners, but will you use one piece that you cut out to the profile of the flues? Im going to build a similar pan myself, and am glad i found this thread, you guys have figured out a lot of the things ive been trying to do in my head- keep up the good work!

    Quote Originally Posted by afretired View Post
    I've been working on the flue pan. Here are a few pictures showing what I have been getting done. It is going well, though TIG welding the thin SS is a little more difficult than I first thought. Check out the rest of the pictures on Photobucket.

    I've got to get back to work on the sugar house.

    David

    http://s742.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Syrup/Bender/

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Green County Kentucky
    Posts
    188

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    I already have the ends welded in that half of the pan. I did like Big Eddy and cut individual plugs for each flue. The bender does a real good job, but to cut a single end, cut out to fit each flue, then everything would have to dead-on. Otherwise it would be a nightmare trying to weld it with any miss-fitting at all. This afternoon I'll try and get a picture on here showing the ends.

    David
    Sorghum Producer
    60 Bee Hives
    200 Acres of Ky hills
    225 Taps on Gravity
    2018 - Lapierre 2X8 Storm
    1963 Military M37 Sap Hauler
    and if things get tough...M35A2
    youtube videos

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Albion PA
    Posts
    5,099

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    David,
    Looks like the beginnings of a drop flue pan. Nice work! the brake seems to be doing the job well!
    9 inches for the depth of the pan should be Ok. Especially if that works for your materials.
    Lots of boiling action and very high bubbles in the flue pan so deeper is better. Front pan doesn't have to be quite as deep. 8" might work good. Most factory pans are same depth flue and front I think. My old King style has a deeper back pan than finish pan.
    I have three partitions, making 4 channels in the front pan allowing the sap to enter at the rear on the right and exit at the rear on the left. Yes 2 x 4 opening is plenty big enough. Some Leader pans have flow gates at the flow through ports. I have round holes that can be plugged If I want to make a large batch of syrup.
    Sap is boiled and as it gets denser the syrup is pushed in front of the sap, moving towards the draw off, or the spot farthest away from raw sap entering the system.
    If you buy a hand held refractometor <$100 you can have fun checking the sap as it increases in sugar content as it gets closer tot he draw off point.
    Regards,
    Chris
    Last edited by Sugarmaker; 12-14-2010 at 07:55 PM.
    Casbohm Maple and Honey
    625 roadside taps + Neighbors bring some sap too!
    3x10 King, WRU, AOF and AUF
    12" SIRO Filter Press.
    2015 Ford F250 PSD sap hauler
    One Golden named Maggie, Norwegian Forest Cat named Lucy
    Too many Cub Cadets
    Ford Jubilee and several Allis WD's, and IH tractors
    1932 Ford AAB ton and a half, dump truck

    www.mapleandhoney.com

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Frankford, Ontario
    Posts
    1,045

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    Great to see that my original post is helping others to make their own flue pans. You might be interested in the new thread I started that shows making a syrup pan using the same brake with a twist.
    Big_Eddy
    Eastern Ontario (Quinte)
    20+ years on a 2x3 block arch,
    Homemade 20"x64" drop flue since 2011

    Build a Block Arch
    Build a Flat Pan
    Build a Flue Pan
    Sweetening the Pans
    Build a Bending Brake
    Using a Hydrotherm
    How much Sap to Sweeten?

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