iron quake Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I’m looking for suggestions on casting a large 12” X 24” floor in a new forge. I’ve cast a floor in Resco Vibracast 60PC and it works and is very strong but has to high a thermal conductivity 14 BTU/ft2/Hr/°F/in. I see the Kast-O-Lite products are in the 4-4.5 range. Can I cast a floor this size a 1.25” thick and have it stay together? It will be on top of 1” of thermal blanket. Is there a better product to use? Should I include stainless needles in the mix to increase the strength? I don’t forge weld so I don’t care about flux issues. Thank You, Quake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Thermal stresses are hard on monolithic slabs in a forge. If you are not worried about flux why do it as a single piece? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron quake Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Well Thomas guess I thinking about getting parts in without stubbing a toe. I should rethink the idea perhaps as my current forge floor is 1" brick and I don't have any trouble, but they are on a steel floor so they set flat. Huummm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 If you don't care about the effects of flux, why use a hard floor at all? A thick coat of Satanite or Kastolite will protect the floor just fine and can be patched easily enough. You could just go with a high temp kiln shelf. Again, easy to replace when it get's damaged and not much thermal mass. Unless you are a production shop running long hours, shift on shift, I don't see the point of large masses of hard surface in a forge. It's just costing you gas. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron quake Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 Geoff, The kiln shelf is working well and no screwing around required. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Geoff: If what you're using works don't look for something else. It ain't broke don't fix it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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