making a forge

[weldergirlinsac]

The city water people came out and had to replace a water main thingy from in the ground. I asked them if I could have it,they said sure one of my guys will dolly it up to your truck its really heavy. So I have it home now all rusty. I cut the top off which was to open a valve. It was open so I then just cut the wheel off plugged the hole with metal weld. The inside is rusty so i will clean it with some rust remover to make it super clean. the hole is about the size of a bowling or bigger. so why not make a cool forge out of it and put some of that heat blanket around it and drill a hole on the side and put something in it for the propane to fire up in it. Or am I just wasting my time and just junk it. I hate seeing a piece of metal go the scrap yard.
Let me know everyone what you think!

Thanks,
Devin

[usmcpop]

You need to find a grate that will fill the hole. Maybe you can find a cast iron drain cover that is about the right size to fit. You talking coal forge or what?

[Bob Warner]

A propane forge is what he is talking about. The "Heat Blanket" is called either Kaowool or Inswool. Both are ceramic fiber insulation and can handle heat up to around 2300. Either name brand requires the use of Rigidizer which makes the blanket stiff and keeps it from blowing out very fine fibers that can harm your lungs.

Devin, you should post a picture of what you have and we can suggest ideas. I have built many forges and they are easy but dangerous if you don't go about it correctly.

You also need to build the forge based on your potential use. If you want to simply forge steel to different shapes, fine. If you want to forge weld, you may want to take the poured refractory route, it holds up better to flux and to getting poked with your forged piece.

Bob

[moya034]

I prefer what Bob suggested about building a hotface layer on top of the ceramic blanket with castable refractory. If you want to up the efficiency, you can paint on a reflective coating such as ITC100 on top of the hot face. (ITC100 can also work as a rigidizer if you aren't using castable.)

In any event, you want to first ask yourself, what you're going to use the forge for so you know how big of a forge you need.

[LarryL]

Bob W., can you tell me where I might find a formula for a castable refractory made from fire clay that is suitable for a wood stove? Years ago I installed an old U.S. Army surplus wood stove in my workshop. Its fire chamber consists of a round steel cylinder (about the diameter of a 55 gallon drum) that was lined with fire brick. Shortly after I bought it, the fire brick fell off the walls. A neighbor made up a castable mix from fire clay and cement. We plastered the mix over the walls and allowed it to harden. This liner has held up for several years but is quite soft and easily damaged by the sharp edges of firewood. It may need replacing in the near future and I've got a bag of fire clay left over.
LarryL

[moya034]

You can mix fireclay with silica sand in a 1:2 - 1:3 ratio to make a basic non-insulating refractory. The only problem with using fireclay for something like a wood stove, is it's near impossible to fire the clay to sintering temperature so it will not last as long as you'd want to.

You do not want to use something like portland cement because it melts at relatively low temps.

You can try a fireclay/silica sand mixture, but I think it would be best to use firebrick, like the original design used. Another option would be something like an adobe mixture that can take the heat of a wood stove and doesn't need to be fired like clay in order to sinter it.