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I Forge Iron

Rich82

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Lincoln (England)
  • Interests
    Hunting, hikeing, camping, fishing, climbing and making/fixing things
  1. I now have most of the parts for my "foundry" build, my ceramic fibre blanket arrived yesterday along with adhesive which can be watered down slightly to make a rigidizer I've read so much about refractory and flame face recently that I've got a bit lost, it seems to me that kast-o-lite 30 on its own (after rigidizer) would probably be enough for the small amount of use the forge/foundry will get.... BUT it's difficult to find here in the UK and when you do, it's expensive. The old engineers here often mention fire clay, it's cheap and easy to find here too. I can get it in powdered form and I'm starting to wonder if I could mix it with (for example) 50/50 water and rigidizer to a thick paint consistency and paint it on in a couple of coats to protect the ceramic (to a certain extent). Does it have a chance or am I barking up the wrong tree altogether? Any other suggestions would be much appreciated
  2. I'll make do and mend if needs be, it's not something that'll get a lot of use really - more something that does get used occasionally and may get me out of a hole sometime. That being said, I'd still like to make a good job of it; if a job's worth doing and all.... For a vertical setup, should the burner be more or less level with the base (the bottom of the nozzle and the "floor" of the forge/foundry) or is 1/2" or 1" or whatever better? How about pointing upwards at a slight angle or perpendicular?
  3. Mostly because I had a cylinder and regulator to hand, I've used coal and a hair drier up to now but from the little experience I have, hitting near white hot with that much air present doesn't often end well - for me (though I've only ever ended up in that position by mistake) It seems I'll have a good amount of wool offcuts too so I should be able to create a cylinder shaped liner one way or another I think, without getting into wrapping knives in foil instead of the salt idea, it'll need to stay upright but I'll try to keep an open mind for now
  4. I've ordered some blanket and some water based ht adhesive to make sure it stays where I want it to. The next problem is the only suitable cylinder I have is a stainless beer keg, it's a little on the big side but I'm not overly concerned about that (20"x15" very roughly) it's the shape that may be an issue - would it be a mistake to use what's left of that cement to make the inside closer to cylindrical? I.e. it's wider in the middle, could I fill some of the widest part before putting the "kaowool" in? Internal volume is reduced significantly by the pot of salt which is around 5" x 9.5" and the blanket I bought is 2"
  5. Thanks again, I suspect what frosty said is the cause of the issue; just too much heat being soaked up. I ran it for around 45mins and couldn't get above 890°c (1634f) I've tried that twice with the same result The orange flame, I'm not concerned about yet. My guess is either fumes from the salt being burned off or the same for something in the refractory but I'll obviously keep an eye on it from now on. Initially, I've built it for heat treating knives but I figured it'll be useful for other jobs too, or perhaps more accurately the mk2 version may be. The upright configuration made most sense for getting knives in/out of the salt
  6. I'm in the UK but, my guess is this refractory came by the pallet load from China.... I really don't know any more than already stated apart from it was sold as castable refractory. So, I'm ok with starting from scratch and probably going the kaowool route - can anyone recommend a UK seller of ceramic fiber/wool blanket please? I could do with keeping costs down after my self-imposed-fail
  7. It is yes, 60lbs at a guess Is there anything that can be done with it or is it more a case of starting again?
  8. Actually, I didn't know there was such a thing so may well be that it's trying to heat the whole thing.... I do know it had a percentage of alumina and was rated to 1400°c for what it's worth?
  9. First up, hi all I'm new here. I dabble in a bit of everything but mostly knife making. I'm currently at the stage where I need to heat treat a knife that I've made from s90v (1150-1175°c) and I've decided to try the salt pot method. I've made the usual rookie mistake of building a propane forge and not really knowing what I was getting myself into and I can't seem to get above around 890°c - though it's time for a propane refill. I have a burner that I bought to save a bit of time, frosty style and with a 1" flare iirc, 6" pipe but I'm not sure what size jet. I'm at 30ft above sea level. The flame looks quite good to me, I'll get pictures next time I run it. I'm using a converted propane cylinder in the upright position with approx 11" tall by 7" internal chamber, 2.25" refractory cement lining and 4.5" exhaust. The burner is at the very bottom and arranged to create a swirl (like the devil forges). I get an orange flame out of the exhaust, not like unburned fuel to my mind - more like super hot fumes, of course I may be talking rubbish there though. I've had the regulator everywhere between 5psi and around 20psi - to get the very highest temperature, I need the pressure as high as it will go. The cylinder freezes in around 15mins at any pressure but it did start out around 1/2 full and we're 6-10°c outside at the moment. Any thoughts about what I might have wrong? Just from gut feeling and working on similar projects, I'm tempted to blame the refractory cement (looks a lot like mortar) but could do with you guys' more experienced opinion before I start throwing money at the problem. Any help would be much appreciated 20201201_131136.mp4 Inside the lid, showing the refractory that I used (Still not quite dry at that point)
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