Salterclan

Ah ok got it. Yes that makes more sense and thanks for the clarification. I finished casting the Kastolite yesterday and I’ll start doing the low temp burns tomorrow so hopefully it was successful. Multiple mistakes in the order of how you do it, but it’s good practice. I am hoping to make a large kiln for melting aluminum and copper etc. in a crucible as well as a larger forge for those rarer big projects.

Right and you wrote we want as thin a layer as possible. That was the part that was unclear. Either way you both seem to be saying that 3/4 inch is good so I’ll shoot for close to that. Thanks again for advice.

I’ll be doing it later today. I’ll shoot for 3/4 inch ish.

So one person said 3/4 inch and one said also, as thin as possible. What is that? 1/4 inch?

I moved the seam over after this picture was taken so they are clocked about 90 degrees which was a pain (ruined a piece of insulation) and added in a bit of insulation on the bottom for the shelf. As far as the Kastolite is concerned is best to paint it in or just make an interior mold from cardboard or metal or plastic the size you need and pour it in? I read a few places that a 1/2 inch all around is good but I also read other thicknesses. From 1/4 to 1” depending on who was talking. I would assume thick enough to be solid but not so thick that it takes longer to get it up to heat. Just not sure what that amount is.

Do I do two layers of 1” insulation on the ends as well? -Saltee

Makes sense about the k bond. I think I originally bought it to put together fire bricks but the ones I got that were for 2500 deg F totally didn’t handle anything above around 1500 degrees and fell apart. I’ll keep it around honestly because I’m making a regular fire pit outside where the first layer is that weak firebrick. It will be fine for a firepit. Also, my past self was being nice to my present self. Just found a box that I never opened. It says Kastolite 30 LI Plus 55 lb. So really the only thing I need to find now is whether I have that original hose or if I need to pick one up. I would hope some store around here would have it since it’s for Propane. Looks like I’m making a forge this week after all.

I found it. Bought it on Ebay quite a while ago. link removed Morgan K Bond 3000 deg fahrenheit. I would say that it is relatively fragile based on how it has worked with my older forge. It did eventually crack in some places and flake off of the insulation, requiring more coats just to stay safe. However, I have no idea if that is similar to Satanite. I'll stick with the Kastolite and Plistix. Now I just need to see if I have Kastolite around here somewhere. The reason I'm years behind on this is I built an addition to the house for my parents. The good side of that is I now have a larger garage, but I also have a big mess to clean up as all of the work to build the house was either constructed or stored in the garage.

Ok sounds good. I thought I bought Kastolite in the past so I’ll look around. No need to use a high heat adhesive to hold the ceramic blanket to the steel surface? I know the rigidizer is good for the encapsulation part so should I put it on both sides near the ends where over time the metal may pull away or just fill any spaces that might open up with Kastolite / plistix? Thanks again!!

Hey all, long time reader first time poster out of Charleston SC. I have owned a forge before but it is falling apart and really was more of a farrier style forge from 10 years ago anyway. I have done some forge welding (not like Damascus. Just putting Mild or junk steel together to make cool decorative trivets etc.) So, I am attempting to build a forge from what I purchased a few years back and while I have tried to read a good bit and catch up, some things appear to have changed or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place. The hope is to build something better insulated and a good first forge for small items again like knives small hammers and all of the other trivets I used to build. Later, I'll do a larger oval forge after I learn from this one. I might even try my hand at a ribbon burner in the future. Pretty sure a lot of what I bought was from Larry Zoeller a few years back when I thought I was going to have time to do Blacksmithing, and then life got in the way. So I'm back and ready to go. I'll include pictures of everything I have found. Hopefully I can get some feed back as to whether these steps are still good options or if things have changed. I've attached a photo of the burner he produces which I am assuming is still great for a Freon Tank size forge. I also have the Rigidizer and what looks like some cheap parts to do the plumbing. I don't know if I can find the original hoses I purchased so I'll need to get those. Can anyone confirm which type of coating this is? I think I used this to coat my original furnace in the areas I replaced firebrick with the ceramic fiber insulation. I can't remember what it is or if it's a good choice for the one I am making now. This is obviously Plistix. I was planningg to use this instead of the other coating to cover the rigidized insulation. However, that part leaves me with a few questions. 1. Is Plistix the only thing needed? I think I got it because the thought at the time was you wanted something reflecting back the heat so a relatively thin layer of Plistix versus a thick layer of something else means quicker heating and less propane etc. 2. If I do this should I be putting in a Firebrick on the bottom? If not should I just flatten the bottom with more Plistix? I'm not sure if I have enough either way. 3. When I am putting the ceramic fiber in should I be using some type of high temp glue to hold it to the metal? My last forge had quite a lot of distortion at the mouth on both sides so whatever I can do to help with that. I know over time there isn't much you can do about metal warping. I do have a lot of 1/4 inch plate so I could make a large flat plate on the front to leave metal a place to hang out. Maybe that would help where the tank, and ceramic fiber meet. I know there isn't a perfect answer and everyone has opinions, but I'm open to whatever the respected voices suggest. If you guys think building a circle is a waste of time and I should just go ahead and make an oval I can do that as well. I just assumed that with only one burner it's not like I will have a lot of room either way to heat up, so I'd just make the hole whatever the size is with 2" of ceramic in it. thanks for any help and I'll put some progress photos as soon as I know I'm not wasting my time with the freon tank and how I attach the insulation. -Salterclan