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Forge coating question


Slayer63

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I just built my first gas forge, an 18" tube with 2" kaowool and a fire brick floor. My original plan was a think coating of satanite followed by a coating of itc100. I live in a rural area so shipping is killer. I drove an hour to the nearest larger town just to get blank stares at the mention of satanite. The home depot didnt even have any generic refractory cement. Even the concrete supply house shooed me away. The only thing I could come up with is a yellow bucket with the words "Zedmark Refractory" on it off a job site. Problem is, theres no heat rating or anythin on it. Would this be sutable to line my forge for now or should I just eat the cost of shipping?

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The only thing on the container is a warning followed by a defunct phone number and an address. In searching the web it seems like the company either sitched names or was bought out by a company called Minteq. In truth this stuff could be pretty old. Ill try emailing them.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi guys am able to get some perlite and fire cement, will do for a gas forge linning if i want to eventually forge damascus. will it reach temperatures high enough for forge welding. I've read a few discussions on other forums saying peralite melts at welding temperature. please help

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Wayne Coe, a member here, sells everything you need to line a forge, and the prices are very respectable.  Shipping can't be that bad anywhere in the US because it doesn't take more satanite/ITC than could fit in a flat-rate box down at the USPO.

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Welcome aboard Loyd, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might be surprised at how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Heck, you COULD live in Houston Alaska for all we know.

 

Using fire clay and perlite will work as a backer for the fire contact surface in a gas forge or you'll be limited to about 2,000f. Straight up fire clay with a few simple additives can produce a 3,000f fire contact surface but being a silicon oxide refractory it's susceptible to welding fluxes. the additives being grog and or sand. These will help prevent the fired clay from heat checking on warm up and cool downs.

 

There are commercially available refractories that work very well in forges. You can try calling furnace repair companies, they deal with HOT fire as a matter of course. They may not sell refractories but will be able to tell you who does. As a general rule of thumb for a forge being used to weld, the refractory needs at a minimum to be a high alumina refractory, better still is a phosphate bonded or high phosphate refractory.

 

High alumina is resistant to caustics, forge welding fluxes typically contain borax as the main ingredient and molten borax is quite caustic, it'll dissolve fire brick like candy.

 

High phosphate or phosphate bonded refractory is NOT effected by caustics so isn't going to care if you want to paint the inside with molten borax. The down side is it's generally not so easy to get and shipping can be a killer, it sure is here.

 

Most anything you need to know has been archived as discussions in the gas forge section of the site. Pull up a comfy chair, bring a lunch and something to drink, there's more data including failed ideas than you can go through in one day.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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