Babington Burner

[KenB]

Balls?

I got mine from the local blacksmith who makes up decorative ironwork such as gates and fences.

50mm diameter, hollow, cast from brass with a 6mm wall thickness.  M8 threaded female screw connection which will take an air pipe directly.

Cost me a tenner each.

Drilling them is the fun bit, but with a high speed pcb drill mounted in a very rigid stand, you can peck drill them with the 10 thou drill from the outside and counter bore from behind with a larger size.



Ken

[homebrewpower]

Ken, have you actually managed to 'Peck Drill' them or is this theory as to how it can be done???

Have you fired it up yet? Would be interested to see the results.

Think Ivans set up is looking promising, hope it works for him.

[Ivan]

Looking at Ken's pic, I see two holes in the top of the ball - so it looks like Ken's is drilled. What's the story, Ken?

I am using a heavy cast ball too, but I decided to counter-drill from behind first, then drill the fine hole in the front of the ball. I was worried that swarf from the counter-drilled hole would block the fine hole. I was also careful to blow it out with an airline before - just in case.

I've just got a single hole in my burner. I'll see how that goes first.

[homebrewpower]

Hi Ken / Ivan,

What are you guys using for your compressed air source? I am looking at sourcing something compact and cheap to supply air at 15-60PSI Low volume for an automated system I am working on. Anyone know of such an item? It will require some pressure control and a small compressed air tank.

[SteveH]

 Need to know volume of air requiered too...? (m³/s)

 A small vane compresser is going to be cheapest route, but will probably need 2 stages to get to 60psi.

[Ivan]

I'm planning on using an airline - it already has a pressure regulator. An alternative would be a mini-compressor. Navitron can supply these pretty cheaply (under a tenner). However, they don't have a pressure regulator or pressure switch. A pressure regulator is around £20, not sure how much a switch is, or where you'd buy one. You could use propane instead of air, but the idea doesn't appeal to me.

[Lincsoldbird]

Hi Machine Mart do pressure switches cheap. Also look at Murphy's Machines Waste oil heater he uses production
misting nozzles instead of the ball. About 10 pounds each. I have the plans if any body would like a copy.

[Ivan]

I'd certainly be interested to have a look at the plans. Now it's getting cold, I keep thinking I should have spent more time on the oil boiler conversion. Maybe I'll find a few days over Christmas, when no-one is looking...

[Lincsoldbird]

Hi Ivan I hope you got the E mails. It shows the basic principles of the design. the full plans are about 60 pages long and i will need to scan them as my link to the web site as expired. If you wont any more details let me know and I will see what I can do. Not got round to building one yet so don't know how well it works.

[Ivan]

Thanks, but I only got one email (one page attachment) - any chance of resending? Also, if it's possible to send in slightly higher resolution, as I can't make out the text.

Many thanks


Ivan