I currently have a forge built from a piece of 10 inch pipe with 2 inches of Kaowool ceramic blanket, satinite coating, and a plistix wash over that.

 

 

It's only a single burner, but gets plenty hot (thermocouple says 2400) and holds the heat well and rather evenly.

 

 

Now on to where I have a question. The floor is in pretty bad shape and it is going to need re-done. Currently, it is built up with kaowool to have a flat floor. When I re-line it, I was thinking of how to make the floor a bit more durable. I know hard brick like I use for the doors doesn't insulate well, but it is extremely durable. With the current configuration of 2 inches of kaowool that would be under it, would it still drain a lot of heat from me? I know it would take more energy to get it to heat, but would it work?

It is only a single burner and I am about at maximum output for my burner vs interior size to attain welding heat currently. My other concern would be if it would heat evenly enough. I do notice on the door bricks the orange doesn't travel much past the exposure area. If I did use them, I would apply the plistix to them like the rest of the interior, but I'm not sure if that would be enough to keep them from being as much of a heat sink or if they would heat unevenly anyway.

My other option would be that I have some 2 inch soft insulating fire brick left over from the little box forge build that I ran before building this one. I know it's not as durable, but does heat evenly and more efficiently.

I'm wanting to delve further into forge welding, so durability is definitely a concern, but as I said, I can't really afford to lose much heat at this point.

Any experience and/or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Make the Satanite or Kastolite on the floor thicker. Don't get silly though maybe add 1/4" more. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks Frosty. Another thought after looking the 101 thread I saw the high alumina kiln shelves mentioned. Would that be a feasible option? I found a 3/4 inch shelf that is just about the right size to fit my forge without much trimming. I read Mikey mentioning that they were good insulators and came up to heat quickly, as well as being durable under heat.

Oh, one other question as I can't find it anywhere... I saw in the supplies thread that 2 layers of 1 inch kaowool was better than 1 layer of 2 inch. Right now I have one layer of 2 inch. What is the difference? I'll get whatever is better, I was just wondering the reason behind it to help make me more smarterer.

Someone here posted a while back about forming a removable/replaceable forge floor out of Kasolite, cured in a bag that was form fit to the forge. It sounded like a good idea to me…

Also, two 1” layers bend into a forge’s radius without wrinkles. If I understand right, each layer should be rigidized separately.

David

That was me. It worked okay, but I ended up building a new forge anyway.

One 2" layer is fine; the advantage of two 1" layers is that they are easier to rigidize all the way through, and staggering the joints allows you to insulate the forge without any thin or weak spots in the kaowool.

Normally I would recommend a high-alumina kiln shelf, but Frosty is right. Keep things simple and minimal. Don't mess with success.

Got it. Do what I have that is working, just add a little more to the floor.

Thanks everyone for the help.

1" Kaowool will form to the curve with fewer and smaller wrinkles than 2". If you're making a box forge on the other hand, thicker blanket is more rigid and will hold it's shape better. Especially the roof. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks Frosty.