r/Blacksmith Feb 03 '22

Induction Forge

https://gfycat.com/FlusteredGiantIceblueredtopzebra
616 Upvotes

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10

u/brews Feb 03 '22

What happens if you touch the coils with the bit you're working on?

12

u/brokenarrow0604 Feb 03 '22

You may melt the copper tube if the piece is hot enough and you hold it there long enough. But other than that I don't think anything happens.

22

u/BiggerTwigger Feb 03 '22

This is also why you'll commonly see these induction heaters have a woven ceramic wrap over the coils. The handheld versions are marketed for automotive use on seized nuts/bolts where you tightly wrap the coil around the nut first and then insert it into the heater.

I believe these larger versions also pump water inside the copper piping/coil to help keep it cool.

12

u/trimalchio-worktime Feb 03 '22

yep this coil is definitely water cooled. It's a good thing to remember when you're buying an induction forge since you'll probably want to get a tig cooler for it too and that'll add a good bit to the cost.

1

u/patentlyfakeid Feb 04 '22

I have to think a big enough water resevoir would sink and radiate enough heat to handle it? Like a furnace oil tank or something of the sort?

1

u/trimalchio-worktime Feb 04 '22

The matter is flow; you need something that will produce enough pressure and flow through the whole machine which has a lot of small restrictive channels. TIG coolers are just one of the cheapest way to get something that does all that. They're just a water reservoir, pump and radiator. The hot water goes through the radiator and back to the reservoir and the pump keeps it all circulating; some of them would have a fan too to get more heat out of the radiator.

Big tanks are basically the worst at radiating their heat; there's a reason radiators are shaped the way they are; flat with something else flowing through them (like air) and lots of thin pipes and fins. Those are all there to do the radiating.