Can someone help me design a Forge from this Kiln?

[FreeStyle786]

I was going to build a small forge out of a bucket as seen on YouTube and the like however I semi-recently got a free Kiln off Craigslist. It would be awesome to make it into a forge but before I start cutting and hacking pieces off it I would like some input on the best possible way to set it up/ design it.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

*There are two holes currently in the Kiln, one in the lower front and the other at the top of the opening. The inside is filled with extra firebricks at the moment*

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Mikey98118]

Well, yes you can do that. The brick surfaces itare made from soft insulating fire brick; easily cut through with a hole saw. The equipmant's top hole can be enlarged to accept a burner, and an exhaust opening can be pierced into the doors. A 1/2" thick coat of castable refractory can be installed to protect the soft brick. Presto change-o, and you have a forge.

[FreeStyle786]

Do you have a link to something similar so I can get a visual reference?... Also what kind of burner? And where can I get refractory bricks? Are the bricks that it came with no suitable by themselves?

[ede]

That looks like it would make a nice programmable heat treat furnace.   Are the wires all jacked inside?  What is the size of that thing?

[FreeStyle786]

I'm pretty sure the wires are jacked up. It used to be an electric kiln but I think the guy who gave it to me cut the electric part out and used propane instead to cure his pottery. Then he upgraded to a brandy new electric kiln and gave this away. It's a 2 ft. tall 28" square (not including the lid, which is 4" tall)

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard FreeStyle, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance.

Fire brick, it if FILLED with soft insulating fire brick. Mike suggested you cover the existing fire brick with a castable hard refractory as armor. Soft brick is fragile for general blacksmith forge work and if you wanted to do any welding in it the common forge welding fluxes contain borax which when melted dissolves soft fire brick like hot water through cotton candy. 1/2" of castable refractory can be easily troweled over the brick for a good layer of protection.

He suggested how easy it is to drill soft fire brick with a hole saw, it's just as easy to cut with a cheap hand saw. Just fine the hand saw at a yard sale, something old rusty and too dull to cut a board is perfect. You can literally scratch your initials in soft fire brick with your fingernail.

Placing burners, exhaust ports, etc. is a matter of you learning something about forges, burners and what you want to do at the anvil.

What I can tell you for sure is that puppy would make one darned BIG forge. Frankly way too big for a beginner. Had that fallen into my lap I'd be tempted to make several small forges, 1 & 2 burner models and sell them for reasonable to guys who're having trouble justifying the price of a commercial forge. I could then find something cool to buy with the extra money.  

My suggestion to you is to do some reading on Iforge. Get an idea of what you want to make see what folk who make those things say you need to make them. Look at all the different kinds of forges and burners, the folk who bought or made them. Once you have a handle on what's what, what it's called, why and who's got a clue is a good time to introduce yourself and start asking questions.

I'm not saying you shouldn't ask about your score and it's an excellent score it's good you did. What I'm saying is there is a lot involved and what you have in hand would make something you might not have a real use for.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ForgeNub]

I'd like to know what the volume of the interior would be to heat that bad boy.  My first forge was WAY over built for what I needed, 905 Cubic Inches, and that was out of a mid-sized 11 gallon portable air tank.  That thing would be a monstrosity to heat if not insulated properly and probably need like 4 or more burners, my new forge is 236 cubic inches out of a 5 gallon tank and its still got a pretty good size fire chamber...about 5 inches wide and 10 deep.  Thats the first objective I'd tackle is figuring out overall volume if it were completed then figuring out how to reduce the size if you are dead set on it, otherwise I would think (I'm no expert by any means) that you'd be spending a fortune in fuel to even run it and heat anything to forging temps.  On a side note, you could potentially make a reasonably sized foundry/furnace with existing openings maybe? Top loading for the materials and use the lower opening for a burner, either way I think it may be too large to really make unless its in a commercial application?

[John in Oly, WA]

If that were sitting in my shop with intention of turning it into a forge, I'd figure out what interior volume of forge I wanted, I'd take the thing apart and stack the bricks in a configuration to fit the interior volume size determined plus 2 inches bigger on each dimension interior size. I'd build a frame out of angle to hold all the bricks in that configuration. Add hole(s) where I want the burner(s) coming through. Then I'd cast an inch of kast-o-lite 30 all around on the inside surface to get the finished interior dimension, and ponder wrapping the exterior with ceramic blanket and use the sheet metal, rebent and resized to contain the ceramic blanket and make the whole thing look nice. That's just what I'd do.