Getting ready! - Added Forge Questions

[Rusty Snuffers]

Picked this up from the flea market a few weeks ago for $20.

 

Finally found time to take a day off and spend it in my brother-in-law's fab shop.  I wish I had thought to take more than the one pic of it before, but here's how it looked as I started shaping the horn.

 

And here it is after cleaning it up with the sanding wheel.

 

Next stop is the machine shop at the office to visit the sandblaster and the CNC to mill the top and punch a few holes to strap it down.

Oh yea, and we threw this together too.  Just needs the burner and blower and some heat-resistant stuffing.    :D  


 
To be continued.....

[akaboomer]

Your getting it all put together. Can't wait to see you get a running start. Your almost where you can start forging. Congrats.  I am happy for you.

Be sure to get some pictures of the hot work when you get your forge up and running.

Chris

[kansas stik man]

if you need any help making burner let me know.

[Rusty Snuffers]

Thanks for the offer, JD.  I've got a good idea of what we're going to use.  I just need to get the parts to the machine shop one evening when one of the mills is free.

I can't wait!

Rusty

[akaboomer]

I know how you feel Rusty. I am happy for you that your getting set up. I look forward to seeing your creations.

Chris

[Rusty Snuffers]

After a trip to the sandblaster and a coat of high-heat paint.

 

Now I need to finish that forge!

Getting excited,
Rusty

[akaboomer]

Getting closer Rusty. Get pics when you get to fire your forge up. I am sure you will be relieved when you can start forging.

Chris

[Rusty Snuffers]

Here's my original idea for insulating the forge:

Front and back will be made of two 9"x4.5"x2.5" 2600* firebricks, cut down to fit so that there's 2.5" of brick insulation on the front and back walls, with a slot in the back wall to allow material to pass through and a 4"x4" opening for the front door.  The bricks will all be secured with refractory cement or mortar.  Next I'm planning on using two wraps of 1" cerawool to insulate the sides and top, with a 2" hole for the burner at the top.  The bottom will be 1" of cerawool under a 9"x4.5"x1" 3000* hard brick.  The entire inside of the forge will then be coated with ITC 100 or Plistix 900.

As I was browsing the McMaster-Carr catalog, I see they have a tub of 3000* mortar for setting firebrick.  Could that be used (safely of course) to form the entire bottom of the forge?  Just the mortar?  I seem to remember reading that Johnny Jones uses some sort of poured insulation so was wondering if this would work effectively with ITC or Plistix on top.

Thoughts?

Rusty

[gables]

My experience with the mortar (satanite) is that is is very fragile on it's own. The pourable insulation is  called castable refractory.

I put this same link in your other thread. They sell the castable refracory.

   http://www.hightemptools.com/supplies-mainpage.html  

Some forge makers use only castable refractory instead of the Inswool. In round forges, for example, you create a plug that is the desired diameter of your finished forge space. Pour in the castable refractory around outside of your plug. I have seen guys weld small L-shaped pieces to the inside of their forge wall to hold the refractory in place.

I don't see why you couldn't do this with the square forge you show above. Look at this link. These forges show cutaways to see the castable refractory.

 http://mankelforge.com/forges.html