Hi Everyone,

I have access to a thermal spray shop with air plasma and HVOF guns. We also have several Thermal Barrier Coatings, refractory metals, etc. that can be applied.

Would it make sense to apply a TBC to the parts of the forge that come in direct contact with fire? I think it could extend the life of the components, but I'm not sure if there would be contamination or out-gassing issues.

Does anyone have any experience with this? All feedback welcome.

Best Regards,

Jason

Was not familiar with thermal barrier coatings, so did some research on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_barrier_coating .  Interesting stuff, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 As far as I know, correctly used, most of solid fuel forge body should not get up to the temperatures that would require such a coating.  The only place I could see getting that hot is the firepot, where I believe the typical failure mode is cracking from thermal cycling (for cast iron) or accelerated scaling for mild steel.  In the latter case the TBC coating might be appropriate.  Why not try it and get back to us with your results?

As far as gas forges (though you have this in the solid forge section) from the article it appears that there are several types of TBC, some of which prone to thermal shock and spalling at the temperatures that could be anticipated inside gas forges (particularly in the flame contact zone).  On the other hand, a top coating of a high alumina or a zirconate over the conventional refractory blanket/castable refractory lining might be just the ticket for both IR reflectivity and flux resistance in a gas forge.

As cheap as it is to build a gas forge, it may not make sense to spend money on extending it's life. The one I made about 15 years ago is still going strong and it's shell was free.

Ooooh, thanks for the link! Interesting reading but I don't know how applicable to forges. We've been using a TBC for a long time best known as ITC-100 though less expensive alternatives are commonly available. The Wiki link mentions Zirconate TBCs but application sounds out of reason for the typical home shop. How many guys have a plasma spray, vacuum chamber available? Some years ago I brainstormed setting up a small scale sputtering chamber but that much vacuum is darned dangerous and I was only thinking about a cofee mug sized chamber.

The other TBCs mentioned don't sound all that useful in gas forges though a coat on the steel shell where exposed to exhaust might be a good thing. I don't see much otherwise but haven't done much reading. 

Something like this never even occurred to me for a solid fuel forge but if it's an issue you can buy torch or oven cure porcelain enamels and add a dash of zircopax flour.

Thanks for the info about the products it's well worth looking into further. My opinions at the moment are based on very scant info so they'll change, I'm sure.

Frosty The Lucky.