Nick, a burner isn't all that hard to put together. However locating decent insulating material for your forge might be. When I went to build mine originally, I bought regular fire bricks that Fizzano's down the street had in stock. These are hard bricks, not the soft insulating bricks. They take forever to heat up and suck down a tremendous amount of fuel. Because of this my forge really didn't do so good. I'd get things hot, but not really all that hot, certainly not hot enough to forge weld.  Don't bother buying the hard bricks, they aren't worth it. If you really want to buy some, let me know. I'll sell you the ones I have. You will want to invest in either soft insulating bricks, or insulating blanket like Kaowool. To get these, you'll have to order what you need. Wayne Coe here has all that stuff if you want to order some.

 

I've been kicking around redoing my gas forge. I've got one of the Reil style burners I built, as well as one of Steve Gesheimer's that I bought from him at one of the PABA meetings. Eventually I'd like to pick up a 2nd one of his burners possibly and build a forge similar to his 2 burner forge I posted up in the Smiths of NJ thread. I just need to find some decent flat sheet and buy the 2" insulation and coatings if I go that route.

Thanks for the info Doug, i have some hard bricks ( hey i didnt know any better at the time ) i think im leaning toward the kaowool. i got a refrigerant tank to cut apart waiting so the blanket is probably my best bet, unless someone has an idea im not thinkin about.

Nick, a burner isn't all that hard to put together. However locating decent insulating material for your forge might be. When I went to build mine originally, I bought regular fire bricks that Fizzano's down the street had in stock. These are hard bricks, not the soft insulating bricks. They take forever to heat up and suck down a tremendous amount of fuel. Because of this my forge really didn't do so good. I'd get things hot, but not really all that hot, certainly not hot enough to forge weld.  Don't bother buying the hard bricks, they aren't worth it. If you really want to buy some, let me know. I'll sell you the ones I have. You will want to invest in either soft insulating bricks, or insulating blanket like Kaowool. To get these, you'll have to order what you need. Wayne Coe here has all that stuff if you want to order some.

 

I've been kicking around redoing my gas forge. I've got one of the Reil style burners I built, as well as one of Steve Gesheimer's that I bought from him at one of the PABA meetings. Eventually I'd like to pick up a 2nd one of his burners possibly and build a forge similar to his 2 burner forge I posted up in the Smiths of NJ thread. I just need to find some decent flat sheet and buy the 2" insulation and coatings if I go that route.

He can have my old hard firebricks also (worthless for a forge.)  Do all of us have a pile of those laying around dating back to when we were clueless?

Bob

They are handy for floors in gas forges, as well as bits for throwing to gether a solid fuel forge. So mine have never been a wast (originaly bought for solid fuel

They're perfect for a hot work table top so you're not using a torch on something that doesn't like HOT much. Yeah, I still have a nice stack of fire bricks around. Split hard fire brick makes a pretty good forge floor.

Frosty The Lucky.

How do you split them Frosty? I could cut them on my wet saw, but that doesn't sound like the best idea.

Better than the way I do it...

kiln shelf is the ticket, lol

How do you split them Frosty? I could cut them on my wet saw, but that doesn't sound like the best idea.

I have cut them on a wet tile saw (diamond blade) or with a diamond tooth wet band saw. 

 

 

 

I buy them split.

the ones I have melt after a while.   I'm pretty sure they were intended for a fireplace floor.

I buy them split.

Ditto.

Where do these guys live Thomas? I'm next door to nowhere and can shop around for price.

Frosty The Lucky.

Using flux? That, or a big burner in a short forge tend to do that. 

the ones I have melt after a while.   I'm pretty sure they were intended for a fireplace floor.

You're right, fire brick come in several temp ratings. I use 3,000f hard split bricks for my forge floor. the ones for fireplaces and outdoor BBQs are rated just hotter than red brick. They're much more porous so moisture can evaporate as they get hot without spalling or outright exploding.

You want furnace rated fire brick, check with the local boiler repair place, they'll know of the closest supplier. FAR cheaper than buying from a ceramic supplier.

Frosty The Lucky.

Using flux? That, or a big burner in a short forge tend to do that. 

If that remark was intended for me,  The hard bricks I was refering to came from a local tile shop.  I am sure they were never intended for forge tempratures.  I later found a local source for soft fire brick for a brick pile forge.  after watching flux eat holes right through those  I  Moved on to a carved up five gallon propane tank with rock wool insulation and a  floor of poured castolite 3000. 

bob