Champion 242

[ddwilson]

I am all new to this and it is my first forge. Champion 242 forge @ 20x30 cast iron base with blower and 6 pair of tongs were given to me recently. The forge was full of mortor that was cracked and the grate( think there is another name for it but all new to me) was broken out. I cleaned the mortar out and replaced the grate with a cast iron floor drain cover. Oiled the blower, and it seems to work fine.
My question is do I need to line the cast iron with something?

Doug

[John McPherson]

Not necessary, but desirable. Cast iron can stand slow, even heating and cooling with no problems, or we would not have used it for cookware for centuries.

If you do not clay the pan, you run the risk of cracking the cast iron due to uneven thermal expansion/contraction, especially if you put water on a hot pan to control or extinguish the fire. You also lose some heat from the fire, the clay liner helps shape the fire and reflect the heat. Some liners are worse than useless, plaster of paris and straight mortar mix come to mind.

I have used a mixture of red clay, some sand or vermiculite, portland cement, and some sort of fiber binder on forges. The fiber can be anything non-synthetic: chopped up sisal rope strands, dried lawn clippings, straw, etc. (Old daub recipes called for grass processed thru the horse, but then, they didn't have lawn mowers.) Mix it all up dry, then add just enough water to a make a dough that you can shape into a ball, then flatten to half the thickness without crumbling. Too much sand or water, or not enough fiber will crumble.

Thicker sections will hold up better than thin, and never let it sit in the weather: a tarp to shed the rain at least. The thick wooden box with a sheet metal floor and cast iron firepot we made for the Boy Scout camp has lasted over decade in an open sided shed.

[metal99]

Nice looking forge :) I sure wish I would have read this post about 7 hours ago... I went to my dads house today to test out our new champion forge. It's a nice small one, the basin is about 2 feet in diameter. We got a nice fire going in it and I started the heat treat on one of my knives. All of a sudden BANG!!! the basin cracked... And I mean it CRACKED. I was pretty upset when that happened....

[JimsShip]

You should definitely line it.
I used a sand /cement mixture recommended to me by "Old N Rusty" thats held up well so far.

Mix 3 parts sand to 1 part portland cement (not concrete mix) and mix it until moist.
Shape as needed.

[RGraff]

I've got an old Champion that I'd like to start using but I gotta admit, I have no clue what it means to line a forge. JimsShip explains it pretty well but could someone post a picture or two of the process? I don't want to mess this up.

Sorry for the hijack Doug.

[ddwilson]

No problem I figured if I had a question others would as well. Too bad about the forge cracking, that is what a friend had said but did not say how to line it.

[JimsShip]

Not much more to explain- get a 5 gallon bucket and mix the sand/cement together dry. (3 to 1 ratio- if you use 3 scoops of sand, use 1 scoop of portland cement) Make enough to have leftovers! I'd rather have too much than to risk having to line the forge in layers!
Add water and mix until it becomes a nice putty. It should be wet all they way through, but keep it's form when shaped.
On my little rivet forge, I covered the bottom about 1/2-3/4" thick, covering the edges of the tuyere, but don't block the tuyere itself (You'll need the air for the fire!).
Afterwards (when it dried of course) someone suggested I shape the lining as a bowl with the edges built up and the tuyere lower in the middle, so that coal would feed downward.
This seemed like a good idea, but since I was already done I never redid it, and truthfully I don't think it's made that much of a difference.
Let it dry thoroughly for a day or so.

I am by no means an expert, but this was my experience and it's worked for me so I thought i'd share the favor.

[RGraff]

I'll give it a go. Thanks!