Gas Burner Reuses Printer Nozzle For Metalwork

Even if you don’t cast or forge metal yourself, you’re probably aware that you need to get the material very, very hot to make that happen. While some smiths might …read more

Jun 19, 2025 - 08:30

Gas Burner Reuses Printer Nozzle For Metalwork

Even if you don’t cast or forge metal yourself, you’re probably aware that you need to get the material very, very hot to make that happen. While some smiths might still stoke coal fires, that’s a minority taste these days; most, like [mikeandmertle] use gas burners to generate the heat. Tired of expensive burners or finicky DIY options [mikeandmertle] built their own Better Burner out of easily-available parts.

Everything you need to make this burner comes from the hardware store: threaded iron pipes of various sizes, hoses and adapters– except for one key piece: a 3D printer nozzle. The nozzle is used here as the all-important gas jet that introduces flammable gas into the burner’s mixing chamber. A demo video below shows it running with a 0.3mm nozzle, which looks like it is putting out some serious heat, but [mikeandmertle] found that could go out if the breather was opened too wide (allowing too much air in the mixture). Eventually he settled on a 0.4mm nozzle, at least for the LPG that is common down under. If one was to try this with propane, their mileage would differ.

That’s the great thing about using printer nozzles, though: with a tapped M6 hole on the cap of the gas pipe serving as intake, one can quickly and easily swap jets without worrying about re-boring. Printer nozzles are machined to reasonable accuracy and you can get a variety pack with all available sizes (including ones so small you’re probably better off using resin) very cheaply.

These sorts of use-what-you-have-on-hand hacks seem to be [mikeandmertle]’s specialty– we’ve seen their PVC thumb nut and their very simple mostly-wooden wood lathe here before.