Captaincrash Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 I have a small propane forge I picked up from an old farrier. It is homemade and in need of a new liner. The only thing available in my area are hard firebricks. Provided I can cut and fit these to form the liner, are they suitable or am I wasting my time? I'm in rural ontario... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 You will spend much more in time and fuel getting it up to heat in use than it will cost to buy a proper material for the liner and pay for it's shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captaincrash Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 You will spend much more in time and fuel getting it up to heat in use than it will cost to buy a proper material for the liner and pay for it's shipping. The liner currently in the forge appears to be fiberboard with a coating of some sort and is only 1" thick,it is in bad shape with the coating falling off and the fiberboard crumbling. What would you recommend for the relining of this? Am i looking at a ceramic blanket material with a coating or soft brick with a coating? I am a total newbie when it comes to this and I really appreciate any advice! The burner works well and seems reasonably efficient so my other question is, should I carry on with a salvage attempt or start over and build a new forge entirely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Looks like a kaowool board type material probably with an ITC coating. replace with similar materials and then put hard firebrick "splits" over the floor to protect it in use. The board is more expensive than the bat; but that forge was designed for the board. May be cheaper to move the burner to a round forge that uses kaowool batting. Forge bodies are everywhere and quite cheap indeed. The batting is not very expensive either. The BURNER is the high dollar item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 As Thomas says the burner is the most spendy and or difficult to build. You can find refractory liner material at a number of places, try a HVAC, furnace, etc. supplier or maintenance company, if they don't retail it, they'll know who does. I put a ceramic supplier at the bottom of the list, they'll have or order it but they tend to cost a lot more. Fire brick, hard or soft, doesn't much like thermal shock, they'll take the heat but it's heating and cooling that break them up. Using 3,000f split hard brick for the floor holds up well, kiln shelf does as well but is more expensive. Laying an extra inch of kaowool, etc. under the floor will reduce the volume of your forge and bring it's temp up. Coating the interior with a product like ITC-100 is expensive but pays for itself by making the liner much more resistant to flux and making it more efficient. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captaincrash Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 You guys rock, thank you thank you thank you! I'm on the hunt for supplies now and will keep you posted! Looks like a kaowool board type material probably with an ITC coating. replace with similar materials and then put hard firebrick "splits" over the floor to protect it in use. The board is more expensive than the bat; but that forge was designed for the board. May be cheaper to move the burner to a round forge that uses kaowool batting. Forge bodies are everywhere and quite cheap indeed. The batting is not very expensive either. The BURNER is the high dollar item. As Thomas says the burner is the most spendy and or difficult to build. You can find refractory liner material at a number of places, try a HVAC, furnace, etc. supplier or maintenance company, if they don't retail it, they'll know who does. I put a ceramic supplier at the bottom of the list, they'll have or order it but they tend to cost a lot more. Fire brick, hard or soft, doesn't much like thermal shock, they'll take the heat but it's heating and cooling that break them up. Using 3,000f split hard brick for the floor holds up well, kiln shelf does as well but is more expensive. Laying an extra inch of kaowool, etc. under the floor will reduce the volume of your forge and bring it's temp up. Coating the interior with a product like ITC-100 is expensive but pays for itself by making the liner much more resistant to flux and making it more efficient. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Captain, so far this is what I have found in my recent searches for suppliers. Please let us know if you find other sources for materials: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWBlacksmith Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Seattle Pottery Supply has decent pricing. Great people to deal with. http://www.seattlepotterysupply.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=sps_ecat&Category_Code=R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcornell Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Unifrax (a brand of refractory board) is manufactured in Alberta, so there should be a dealer somewhere on your side of canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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