I have designed the refractory lining for a forge I'd like to build - I happen to work at an industrial refractory specialist, so I can have it cast out of the finest, strongest, most heat resistant refractory material available for essentially no cost. This is the current stage of my design, and before I push it to be cast I'd like a review - criticisms, dangers, warnings, praises, whatever. I'm especially unsure about the design of the trough - does it need to be deeper, less deep, wider, and so on.
This is just the refractory lining; it would be surrounded and held by a steel plate construction. I'm building a box bellows to go along with it.
All dimensions are in inches.
refractory.pdf