Nathan637 Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 So I'm a 17 y/o and I'm working on designing my first forge. I plan on making a tube forge using an air bubble with a diameter of 12 inches. I plan on using ceramic blanket coated with stanite and ITC-100. The burner I have is a 3/4 inch forced air sidearm burner with a nozzle size of 1/16 in. The floor will be fire bricks. The hope for this forge is to be able to reach welding temps. My Questions are: Should I have 2 or 3 inches of ceramic blanket? How should I secure the Firebricks to the floor? Will My One burner be enough or will I need another one? Any feedback about anything would be greatly appreciated as I know only what I've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRR1143 Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Welcome to IForgeIron Nathan, you may want to add your location so people have a general idea of where you are located. I'll go ahead and share the prevailing initial advice for this forum, go ahead and read some more through the Forges and Burners 101 threads on here. There are a great list of instructions and recommendations on how to build a great forge. Many other more experienced members on here are also usually more than happy to help, they gave me great advice and help on my own build. You'll tend to find that 2x 1" thick layers of a kaowool material, ridigized is the go to first layer, followed by ~1/2" of a castable refractory like Kast-O-Lite 30 and a coating of Metrikote or Plistix works great, curing the materials before adding the next layer, working your way towards the inside with these layers to be clear. Fire bricks are durable but will take much more fuel to heat and hurt efficiency in the long run. They usually aren't the best choice if you desire welding heat and expect to use flux. High alumina kiln shelf is what I use for my floor and I love it. Burners are another topic all together but these forums have great experts to help with those. Keep in mind that the number and size of burners is heavily related to the volume you are trying to heat. 350 cubic inches for a well tuned 3/4" burner is a good rule to start with. Take an evening or two and get to reading, you'll end up building something great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan637 Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Thank you for the response. I did try reading the forges 101 and after about page 3 I was more confused than when I started. Haha, ig I'll just keep reading and hope it becomes clearer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 My consolidated notes for new forge builders This may help clear things up for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey98118 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 A1/16" gas orifice on your burner!?! Maybe you should read Burners 101 first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan637 Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 I hadn't dont much previous research before I built my burner. I simply found a video on youtube, made it like they said, and then just messed around with it. The burner was originally just going to be used in a sand and plaster of paris foundry for melting aluminum. I did try a smaller tip, .30 inch diameter. It was okay but I thought the 1/16" was better. I'm going to do some reading on burners too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 I hope you have read more and have decided to forego the sand and plaster of paris liner---truly terrible for what you want to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan637 Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Definitely! I had already built one out of a bucket for a foundry. It fell apart as I knew it would so now I'm going to make a proper forge for blacksmithing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 I really wish the "plaster of paris and sand" 'tube posts would get deleted as they mislead so many people. (And I live near 275 sq MILES of plaster of paris in the raw---White Sands National Monument). On the other hand they do provide a good "trap" for people who do not do due diligence researching things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan637 Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 I knew what I was getting into when I made it. I made it as a foundry just to see if I liked it before investing a decent amount of time and money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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