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Crushed limestone (limestone dust)


Doglegged

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My question for you all is, will crushed limestone work in a forge much like people using sand in some charcoal forges? the limestone I have is crushed almost to the point were it is dust, kinda like baby powder just not as powdery. I know that with a little research crushed limestone was used as a cement way back in the day. My reason for asking is because I have about 4 tons of it sitting in a pile out in my field and when it gets wet its very hard and stays cool on very hot days. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

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2 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

 I learn-relearn stuff just about every time I visit here.

I second that. 

I believe limestone can also be used as a flux when forge welding, the finer a powder, the better. So having that much of it is definitely useful. 

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Right! I got my terms mixed around. Burnt or calcined lime comes out of the fire. Mixing water slakes it which is what happens to make it a binder in mortar, concrete etc. It doesn't DRY the H2O becomes part of the chemical structure and there is significant heat released. Burnt lime is NOT picky about where it gets water, it'll use your skin without a problem. For the LIME, you won't like it.

Breathing the dust is about the same as breathing lye dust. Very painful IF you're LUCKY enough to survive more than a very small exposure.

Frosty The Lucky. 

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Notwithstanding "limestone" is something of a generic term and could be any of a number of different materials. Carboniferous Limestone and Dolomitic Limestone are two very different rocks, look dissimilar and act completely contrary when wetted. Both (and others) are however widely used as subbase in buildings and road construction.

I'd follow Thomas' suggestion and use it on the shop floor, or an area of hard standing or track or path.

or use it on the land.....

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Calcite's (= calcium carbonate, = limestone) formula, is Ca(CO3).

Dolomite's formula is Ca Mg (CO3)2.

They are two different chemicals  with different properties as Frosty has cogently stated.

SLAG.

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Thanks for all the info guys I really appreciate it. Thomas powers, yea we do have clay I was just asking about the lime because its in a big pile right outside my door and its readily available to me all the time. Smoggy, the limestone yes is used for the farmland here in Kentucky. My father-in law owns a trucking and lime spreading business and our property lines meet and he just uses my field to pile up the lime because he has easier access to it from my property when loading into the lime truck. I'm liking the idea of using it on the floor Thomaspowers that stuff packs down like concrete.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On April 18, 2017 at 7:58 PM, Will W. said:

I believe limestone can also be used as a flux when forge welding, the finer a powder, the better. So having that much of it is definitely useful. 

I believe it can not. (on its own) Unlike borax/boric acid it does not dissolve oxides and unlike silica sand it does not form a kind of glaze that keeps oxygen out. However in complicated mixes it might react with silica and form a glassy substance that might work. Unfortunately some of the old recipies for flux relied on "sand" and that could be anything really so what worked in one place did not in another because the "sand" was all different..  

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