OK I spent about 6 hours tonight messing with this damn thing. I finally realized what was going wrong. The burner was fine just as I made it. I used a #57 drill bit on the first one, but then went to the store and bought another 1/8 inch pipe to try a 1/32 inch hole. I ended up breaking my drill bit off in the pipe and had to take 40 minutes trying to bore another hole with a broken 1/32 inch bit. I succeeded but it was the most horrible thing to try to do. I had to go soooooo slow it was amazingly hard. Broken drill bits suck, but the store was closed by then.

So the 1/32 was attached and still the same problems ...WHAT is going on? I finally read something that made it all click. The pressures they were talking about were from 5 - 20 psi for propane. Oh my goodness! I ran down to look at my 20 dollar regulator. It was 1 PSI... that was the problem!

NEVER NEVER NEVER use a damn BBQ regulator because the PSI is too low for your burner to work!

-I read someone saying not to use the cheap BBQ regulators because they are junk, but he never said why. I though it was because you couldn't control the flow of gas well. DUH! -Damn, if he had said the PSI was too low on them, I would have saved myself 5 hours of "Learning the Hard Way" ...but ok I probably didn't read well enough or something? -Anyway it is a learning experience. I hope I pointed this out enough now that I will save you from the same mistake.

Also, a big word of warning here. I read tonight about having the tank too close to the furnace as I DO! Yes I didn't see this warning till later tonight. If a check valve releases on your tank ...it will vent propane and guess what... it is right next to your red hot furnace! ---You would have an extremely loud demise this way. Don't do it!

Tomorrow I will buy a better regulator if I can find one and a much longer delivery hose. Then I will put the burner to the test. I will leave the 1/32 inch burner hole on first, since it is in there now. If it performs poorly I will switch to the #57 that I still have.

I did have metal in my crucible for about 30 minutes today and it never got close to melting. Poor pathetic 1 psi ...any freaking wonder! OK tomorrow we dance.

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9/16/2002 -I have not had any updates to post for a few days because I have been trying to find the regulators. I finally decided to stop looking for something that may or may not do the job properly, and decided to buy exactly what I need.

Many thanks goes to Jay Hayes for his help in both speaking to me on the phone for well over 1 hour and also for having all of the parts that I needed to order for my burner. Jay has a website where he lists his phone number so Click Here if you would like to see his web page. He has ANY part or kit that you might want for your burners, forges and foundry projects. Thank you again Jay! -Hopefully this little plug will send you a bit more business.

I ended up ordering the single burner kit from Jay ($69 bucks at the time of my ordering it). It includes a regulator that I can set anywhere from 1 - 35 PSI, it will connect directly to my propane tank. The kit comes with a gauge for pressure monitoring and a ball valve for quick shut off. It has all the connections that I will need and I ordered a bit longer hose than the 5 foot hose that comes with this kit. I ended up getting a 15 foot hose, just for some added safety. I hope to have my kit by Wednesday (9/18/2002). I am very anxious to smelt some aluminum!

In the meantime, I plan on making some styrofoam molds. I have further clarified exactly what I need to do for the lost foam process. Thanks goes out to Frank and his help on this subject. You can view Frank's site by just Clicking Here. He has also provided information on our Forum to further clarify this styrofoam process. Thank you Frank!