I know I'm late to this thread but I would like to comment on turning off the forge. I have a ribbon burner and set a timer for 2 hours to turn off so I don't burn out the blower. I also cast a preheat wall with a small diameter hole so heating up takes less time, and put it back on at the end of the day to prevent rapid cooling on the face of the burner. However, my forge is also used for blowing glass so that's why I cast the front. Some fire bricks in front will do just fine for forges. The reason I do this is to prevent thermal shock inside the cooler burner head that can lead to cracks between each port. Hope this helps!
Also best thread I've seen in a forge construction
