Tevan144

I'm aware of the dangers of ceramic fiber insulation. Its one of the major reasons for why I'm building a new aluminum foundry that will be properly sealed. That foundry is a different project though; I'm definitely prioritizing building the forge. I know that rigidizer can seal in the fibers, but since my forge will have a 1/2" layer of satanite covering all inside surfaces, won't that seal in the fibers just as well? Also, will satanite stick to the ceiling of the forge without a steel grid for it to hold on to? I'm want to put it on all inside surfaces for safety and longevity, but I don't have any experience with the material so I don't know if that's even possible. Also, thanks for the recommendation to see the local ABANA. I spend several hours forging with them and learned a lot. Its nice to have blacksmiths who know what they're doing to tell me how to fix the pieces I inevitably screw up. I'm going to have to ask them where they get their good anvils as well. My anvil is so soft that a missed blow will dent the anvil face by 1/8".

Thanks for the fast response guys. I am planning to weld in this forge once I am skilled enough. I will be doing mostly knifes to start out with, but I hope to do swords and small custom parts eventually. I've done casting + machining to make parts before, and I'd assume forging + machining is pretty similar. Frosty, you mentioned rigidizing the ceramic blanket before putting the satanite on. Is that a needed step to make the forge last or does it just make construction easier? I'm trying to keep costs down as much as possible, but if its a needed step, or prolongs forge life, I don't mind giving up the cash for it. I'll make sure to attend some meetings. Looks like there's a monthly meeting at Armand Bayou (A 20 minute drive for me) done by my local ABANA location. I could learn a lot from more experienced smiths. Best of all, it only costs $20/year to participate. I'd much rather do that than spend $200 on a forge that I don't like. Thanks for your help.

Hello everyone, I've been reading posts from this website for a while and finally decided to make an account to start asking questions. I began forging last summer using a really, really crappy charcoal forge. I really liked forging but I don't like charcoal. As a result, I'm building a new forge that will run on propane. I already have the burner done. It is essentially a 3/4" Reil burner. I am planning to use 1-2" of Kaowool with a refractory liner like Satanite (reinforced by a steel grid) to seal in the fibers and provide a hot face. I'm planning to put a coat of Metrikote over that. The problem I'm encountering is I don't know what I should use to take the heat of where the burner is pointed. Hard fire bricks seem to be quite common for that purpose, but they also reduce forge temperature. I've also considered using sand to take the heat but I imagine that won't help the forge's temperature either. Will satanite alone handle the temperatures? I'm planning to use a 5 gallon compressed air tank or maybe an oval design of similar or slightly larger size for the forge body if that makes any difference. Any suggestions are welcome, I haven't bought anything other than the burner so the design is completely flexible. I'm in Houston, TX by the way. Thank you all for providing advice to all the new blacksmiths out there.