Doglegged Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Should work fine. One guy I know built a dirt box forge using 5/8 crushed lime stone with a lot of fine dust in it. He used it for years with lump charcoal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doglegged Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Thanks for the info, not a lot of on the internet that pertains to my question and I figured the next best thing is here and hopefully I can learn a lot from the community here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 If you put your location in your profile, you may be surprised how many Smiths are near enough to visit. You are right about learning here. I have been at this for 30 years and I learn-relearn stuff just about every time I visit here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will W. Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Just try not to get it hot enough to slake or you'll have "Quicklime" in your forge. Otherwise it should be just fine. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doglegged Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 I done some research on that and found out what your talking about can happen, correct me if I'm wrong though the only way that it will turn to Quicklime though is if it gets water on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 no it's the dust, slaked lime is after you add water to it. Breathing the calcined dust would be a bad thing. Don't you have any clay around those parts? (I'd use the crusher fines for a shop floor) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 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..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doglegged Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 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.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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