new forge building question

[Jesse]

so i have a small forge I am building and have almost finished the outside.  I have ordered the kaowool and my question is is their a glue or something that I am to use to adhere the kaowool to the inside walls of the forge?  the forge will be circular on the inside, thanks for any help or pics you may have.

[Wampus]

The wool is fairly stiff.  If you cut it a little larger than the inside diameter of your forger and jam the ends together, it will stay in place fine without any kind of adhesive.  It's a good idea to coat the wool with some kind of refratory mortar to keep the fibers from floating around and to make it more durable.  Satanite from Darren ellis knifeworks is great for that.  Spray the wool with water from an old spray bottle before you start applying the coating and it will go a lot easier.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Wampus is right.

As untreated Kaowool fibers burn off the residue is incredibly carcinogenic.  You most definately want to use satanite and cover the wool in your forge.  If you want to maximize the heat for damascus welding you will want to use A cearmic coating as well.  ITC 900 is one that I am familiar with.  You can coat the wool or the mortar with it.  It helps keep the forge temp higher by being a thermal barrier which keeps the forge heat from bleeding thru to the mortar and wool.

I just remortared mine.  It had some good size cracks and I had taken to using a two filter face mask while forging to keep any potential burned Kaowool out of my lungs.  I am loking forward to firing the mortar in several heats and getting back to hammering some steel.

[Jesse]

thanks for the advice i was unaware that the kaowool NEEDED to be covered I thought it was just to help with keeping the heat in.  I will take your advice to heart thanks again

[Lamey]

Jesse,  if you can,  find some folks with functioning forges in your area, should be plenty around S.A.  Go see what works well, what you like, what you dont like etc... this will help you a ton.

GOOD LUCK!  Have fun.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Jesse,

Do a ton of research on the web.  There are a ton of great forge building tutorials and designs available for free.  Also check our Zoeller Forge's website for ideas and designs.  I am using two of their burners in my forge and love them.

[tippit]

Ragnarok Forge,  

Which Zoeller burners are you using?  I'm just about ready to order up some burners and parts from either Zoeller or Ellis.  tippit

[LAR43]

Doc,
Have you looked at  www.hybridburners.com?  I was at Aldo's & he had his forge running with a t-rex
IMO they're the best atmospheric burners going.

Larry