WT-Fab

Well I didn't come to a forum like this expecting that I was even close to being up to speed. I love the quick response and wealth of knowledge!

Lol Thanks! At least I got one thing right!

Yeah it's ceramic wool of some sort...

Good info, I'm not above scrapping the 30 bucks in refractory I have used. I'd rather do it better the first time. Ill be looking into these things. I truly want to get to forge welding temp and do some Damascus stuff. I want to build something that isn't going to collapse on me. It will drop right out after it's hardened. I like the size of my shell so I'm keeping that. I'm more or less just wanting to do knives and other small things. Damascus intrigues me as do other challenges. What would be the best "bang for the buck" refractory while staying as "safe" as possible... I mean asbestos would be a great refractory right? I'm not a fan of cancer...

The perlite will get coated with waterglass and aluminum oxide mix. What is the downfall to perlite? I only ask questions to better the product. Thanks! As far as the burner goes it has an astounding amount of adjustability. First actually successful burner I've made, so I appreciate that! I will refine parts as I learn more, this is just another thing that has always intrigued me. I am not wanting to spend inordinate amount of time on things until I know what I'm doing... ; )

Hey guys, brand new to the site and I figured I'd throw out there what I'm doing with my Forge. This is my first time building a forge and I really don't know what I'm doing other than what I've seen in YouTube videos and on line forums like this. I've built a burner similar to something that I've seen kind of like a t style burner. This is sort of just a trial and error burner seems to work okay I don't know how hot the inner chamber will get. The main tube for the burner is 1 inch by 12 inch long black pipe nipple both Bell ends are 1 inch to inch and a half couplers with the threads machined out of them. the forge body itself I'm using the drum out of an old furnace and coating the inside with a readily available refractory cement and perlite mixture. The refractory cement is rated to 3000 degrees so I figured it would be alright for a first-time shot worst case scenario I chip it out and start over. I'm curious as to how thick the refractory layer should be on a chamber that will be roughly 11in in diameter and 12in deep. I will be using a 5 gallon bucket as a form for the inner chamber I figured the tapered sides of the bucket would release nicely from the inside of the chamber. I'm also wondering on Burner placement if it should be at an angle or straight down towards the bottom or floor of the burn chamber. I planned on getting a couple of fire bricks to sit in the floor to help with wear and tear on the forge itself. I would truly appreciate any insight that anybody would be willing to give also I take all criticism is constructive and only use it to better what I'm looking to do with this project. Check out the pictures and let me know what you guys think! Thanks! As an afterthought I wanted to see how well the back of the forge or the bottom would set up before I got too far into setting my burner placement and buying a whole lot of extra refractory cement. Thanks again guys I'm really looking forward to comments and any advice anybody is willing to give!