Furnace burner upgrade to oil and/or propane

Inspired by Rtsquirrels thread on The Home Foundry site and the brilliant video by luckygen1001 on youtube describing an open pipe forced air propane burner
I have decided to upgrade my oil burner along the same lines to burn both oil and propane.
I used to start the furnace with anything combustible, wood, charcoal, paper, cardboard to get it up to the temperature
where I could switch the oil on. Very messy. A propane start would be very much more useful, cleaner and easier to set up.
The burner will also become a dual fuel burner.
It is very simple, no complicated valves, just open pipes and a taps to turn it on and off.
The gas is controlled by a regulator on the bottle and the air flow by a redirectional valve from the blower.
forums.thehomefoundry.org/inde...
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• How to make a simple f...

[@bradyrose]

Always run your oil burning furnace next to your wood pile. Absolute mad lad.

[@jagboy69]

Looking good Jimmy. Hook it up to the black goo and let's watch it chooch!

[@JimmyCogg]

I'm gonna do it!

[@luckygen1001]

I could never understand why people use wood to light a oil burner when propane is so much easier to burn. Good to see that my videos were useful to you.

[@JimmyCogg]

Absolutely useful! Thank you! I am really pleased with it. The shear simplicity is a beauty. I was so hung up with jets, orifices, air flow.....then your video...."length of tube doesn't matter"...."pipe in gas"...."position doesn't matter"....but "has to be used in a furnace"......it was like a breath of fresh air! Cheers!

[@TroyeWelch]

The answer is cost. I can burn through an entire 5 gallon/20 pound (9 kg) tank of propane to get my furnace started (up to the temperature where the oil burns well). Of course it has 350 pounds (159kg) of refractory in it to heat up. I can get wood for free, but a tank of propane costs $15 US. If you make a furnace with Kaowool and try and melt iron in it, you will be replacing your lining as most mineral wools are not up to the temperatures encountered. I have not had to repair the lining of mine for several years now of firing hard. If you live where wood is scarce you might ask someone who lives in the forest why they use wood for everything.