Seirei

Thank you for the welcome and the helpful link. I'm primarily looking to use them for blocking off my propane forge (serving as "doors) to help insulate the forge. I would also like to put one in the forge itself to replace the hard firebrick I've been using as a shelf. I've been having trouble getting my forge up to proper forging temperatures and have heard that soft bricks would work a bit better to insulate it.

Hey everyone, I'm new to the blacksmithing world and was wondering if there were any smiths out in Western Pennsylvania that knew where I could buy some soft firebricks for a good price. I've searched around quite a bit online but can't seem to find anything relatively inexpensive. I mostly find some decently priced bricks but then the shipping is more than the bricks themselves. If anyone knows of a good brick and mortar store near(ish) Pittsburgh or of a good online retailer for soft firebrick, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Hey everyone, Hopefully this is in the right place. I am brand new to blacksmithing and recently finished building my first forge. I've run it a couple times now and I've noticed it doesn't seem to be getting quite hot enough however. It's a pretty standard build: 10" length, 6 1/2" inside diameter, two 1" layers of Kaowool coated with rigidizer and two coats of Satanite. The floor of the chamber is a hard firebrick with Kaowool under it and a coat of Satanite over it. The burner is a Mathewson that is currently sitting towards the top of the first layer of kaowool (near the body of the forge). I'm currently working on lowering the burner to allow the flame to he at more effectively and I've been using hard firebrick inside and to serve as "doors" for the forge. Pictures of my build are attached. My issue is that I can't quite seem to get the heat up to proper forging temperatures. I've run it several times now and have turned the PSI all the way up to 30 with no noticeable increase in temperature. The image of it running is at 30 PSI when it had been running for about 10-15 minutes or so. The stock pictured had been sitting in there for about 5-10 minutes at the time of the image and had been heated and worked a few times. Just starting out, I've primarily worked with some rebar and steel rod to work on the basics a bit but it has typically cooled to a dull cherry by the time I've turned around and gotten a few strikes into it. As I said, I'm working on lowering the burner a bit and plan to have it sit between the two layers of kaowool (about an inch or so from the chamber). My boss who has been my blacksmithing guide recommended using soft firebricks as well since the hard can soak up the heat rather than insulate properly. Any other tips or recommendations to better heat the forge are greatly appreciated!