mariom2

Floor is a separate cast on the same kastolite. One crack is under the floor and the other on top. They have gone worst, very thin but almost all the way to the back, if this happens I will eventually have two separate pieces!!

Thank you for the replies. Yes, it is insulated. 2 inches of ceramic blanket.

It happened during the firing. Tried to be gently, 5 minutes, cool for a while, 10 minutes cool half hour, 15 minutes, cool.........cracks!! Too hot, too soon!!....I do not know. Guess now it needs fixing. Read in another post to butter it and use the same Kast o lite??. Any comments. No metrikote, no plastic, no ITC100 around here.

Life has been very busy these past months, very little shop time, some delay but project keeps going. It now needs to be fired. There is no loose Kaowool except for the burner port. I do not want to have loose fibers of ceramic blanket so I need to rigidize and plaster it with the same Kastolite. It should work ok. I also need to think on some type of doors for the openings.

Yes this is the idea, I guess the should bond together. What makes me think and have to decide is the size and position in reference to the burner hole.

Here the cast!!. Actually it came out better than I thought for a first timer The molds are still reusable. If I have to do it again would try to use some type of funnel to pour the cast, as it was not easy. First I calculated the volume and add about 10% more, then got the weight. As per the instructions measured 2.75 oz of water /pound and got ready to use 3oz just in case. After mixing with 2.75 and then 3.00 oz realized it was way to hard to pour it in that shape, so I add a little bit more and got it better. Guess I was l lucky the amount of mix was just enough to complete it. Next time will put 15% more instead of 10%. I used car wax on the outside and the burner tube as release agent but did not put nothing in the inside. To my surprise it came out very easy, being opened on one side. I am planing to cast a small flat portion at the bottom to use it as a kiln, but I am not sure if it is a good idea. Suggestions??

Actually yes, I misunderstood. I have not bought the roll yet. Will call a couple of friends and ask just in case. Appreciate your help. Looking forward to try making a decent job with the cast.

This is what I was thinking about and use the same cast o lite. Let see what happens with the cast first.

Frosty, Thank you for your comments. Regarding the blanket, I doubt there is a kind of law like this here, they probably use it until it falls to pieces!! Will try anyway otherwise purchase new. I was planing to use a release agent. A friend toll me he always uses car wax with good results in regular concrete. I wonder how good it is with cast o lite. Have you ever heard about? Mikey, Kiln shelves are difficult to find around here. I found ceramic fiber board. Can you leave the ceramic board exposed to air, no bad dust?. Just now my worries are making a good cast, will decide later if everything goes the way it should. If the cast finishes up too long and needs to be cut, can you do it with a normal masonry grinder disk?

Yes, I already cut one side of the forge shell, otherwise there is no way to insert the cast with the blanket, but I do not want to cut the other side. As I mentioned I might cut a round hole the size of the cast so all will be concentric. Guess I use bricks as doors. After reading all the information regarding the danger of ceramic blanket dust, I do not want to leave any ceramic exposed. If I leave the other side of the shell will need to be thermally insulated and that means to cast the bottom. Actually I have been thinking about this, maybe to much. Will see how the casting goes first, my first time. The molds are reusable as they are cut on one side. 55 pounds of cast o lite is a lot, if it does not come right will do another one.

some delay but project keeps going...... Ready for casting, guess it should work. Will try to cast this week. Once the cast is finished I plan to put a little flat on the bottom. The burner position in the mold looks right to me. Any comments welcome.

Hi Mikey, Thank you for the follow up. Very slow. Been busy with other things, and the holidays. Opened up one side of the gas tank and I am working on the casting molds. The plastic pipe is perfect for the inside but I will have to make the outside. No sonotubes around here, I will roll a very thin (.5mm) piece of galvanized plate to the size. Will see how it goes. I think will leave the other side of the tank, cut a round hole the size of the cast and pass it trough, in this way the ceramic blanket will not be exposed. Will have to decide if I do the same in the opened side and use it as a cap or a door. Will post the progress. Mario

After some searching I found 1" ceramic blanket, ceramic board, soft bricks, kast-o-lite 26, mizzou, super kast set and a 20# propane tank that came with a BBK but was not able to use as we have different valves. No kast-o-lite 30, only 26. I have a piece of plastic pipe 6" diameter that could be used to cast the interior 3/4" layer with kast-o-lite 26 plus 2" layer of ceramic blanket. This will make about the 12" of the tank diameter. Will have to be adjusted with final measurements once the tank is open. As far as I have read kast-o-lite 26 is better than mizzou??. Refractory cover like ITC cement, not available. What I found is Max pumpable in 2# tube but I guess this has different use. Regarding size, it will be within the 300-350 cubic inch recommended for the 3/4" burner. Any comments on materials and size welcome.

With all the information found here and having a good burner I believe it does not make sense to build a poor forge, but circumstances are not the same for everybody. I found a few vendors offering refractory products, they all sell 25 kg of castable and complete coils of ceramic blanket minimum quantities. It is reasonable with the castable but not the blanket. I will keep inquiring and searching to see if I can find a small piece. Anyway, in the meantime with the burner working OK in open air I feel the need to keep learning and going, and this meant finding how it behaves withing a forge, so I decided to make a forge, any forge just now to try the burner until I can build a proper one, so I made a quick job with some old discarded hard bricks that were rescued from going to junk and finished up with a classic brick pike box experimenting forge. The burner worked well, and I am very happy with it but have no idea about the flame. Here some pictures. Any comments are welcome.

Have you ever published a picture of your first gas forge here at IFI?