The Forge in progress

[michael_schaap]

Ok guys! The forge is happening now!

Got the stuff from Ellis in the mail today. Got the paint can. Got some legs made out of AL. Missing a bag I just had... but the wife was cleaning around the area I had left it so I'm waiting from a word from her.

One question though. The mortar.... came in a paper bag. Nothing but the name on it. How the heck do you mix this stuff?

Michael

[michael_schaap]

got it... when you open the paper bag the stuff is in a plastic bag with a label on it that tells you to see the FAQ on the webpage....

[michael_schaap]

For those wondering:

How do I mix and apply the Satanite?

Mix the Satanite to a thick paste...just keep adding water slowly until you get a pasty consistency that you can paint on with a paintbrush....roughly the consistency of sour cream. Spray the ceramic fiber insulation down using water with a hand sprayer to wet it lightly. Next, apply the Satanite to the wool using a paintbrush, covering all exposed wool surfaces. To cure it, you want to dry it slowly. First, let the forge sit for a few hours minimum to air dry a little, then fire up the forge just briefly and shut it down. Do this several times, allowing it to cool down in between and increasing the on-time with each subsequent cycle. You'll see water vapor evaporating the first few times you do this. Finally, fire it up and bring it up to full temp to fully cure it. You will probably want to apply at least two coats of Satanite in this manner...it's a little time consuming (do it over a couple of day period) but makes for a more robust coating. a 1/4" layer is a good thickness to shoot for. If you are going to apply ITC-100 over top of the Satanite, be sure to fully cure the Satanite first.

[Ray Rogers]

Yep, that works. Or, you can just mix the Satanite until it is about like paint, paint it on, and you're done. Let it dry for a day. The coating will be much thinner this way but it will still serve its purpose. True, it's not as durable but that just means it cracks a lot which doesn't seem to hurt anything. When I used a thicker coating that cracked too so now I just make the Satanite last longer by using less of it and recoat as needed.....

[michael_schaap]

I'm sitting here thinking of what to do witht he hard brick I got for the floor. If I laid down mortar and put the brick down would the brick be cemented down?

Michael

[huntforlife]

I put my fire brick in the blanket, pushed it down a little to make a good indentation in the wool to make the bed for my brick. Im going to try to coat mine tomorrow with 1 COAT. It should be thin enough to still let the firebrick engage. I may kinda force it a little side to side to ensure that though.

[Ray Rogers]

I like to cut the wool short and let the firebrick make up the difference. Works well since they have about the same thickness and that makes for a smooth transition (remember, we like smooth surfaces inside forges, no angles, which is why we avoid square forges). Paint the Satanite on the wool, don't worry about the brick since the brick is basically made from Satanite anyway.....

[michael_schaap]

It's progressing. I got the hole for the burner made and I got a handle on the top so I can carry it a bit easier. Working on the legs now. You know I have been making the holes but taking an awl and tapping it with a hammer till the hole is big enough for the screw. It's had to believe that something this flimsy will make a forge that will heat up to forging temperatures without the whole thing melting

Michael

[Ray Rogers]

QUOTE: It's had to believe that something this flimsy will make a forge that will heat up to forging temperatures without the whole thing melting

I know!! The first time I considered building a forge about 10 years ago I started looking around for a 10" diameter steel pipe that was 1/2" thick because I thought anything less wouldn't take the heat. Live and learn. The only reason you need the metal frame at all is to support the wool......

[ckluftinger]

Hi Ray, Michael.
That's exactly what I did. A 10 inch cast steel sewer pipe (see picture) with a cast iron skillet as a lid. It's skookum, but it works.


I agree with Ray that the satanite will crack no matter what. Its only purpose really is to keep the wool fibers from becoming airborne and causing a mess. You don't want to breathe that stuff. I got my supplies from a pottery supply house. They didn't know what satanite is, but their stuff is called "devil's putty". I suppose it's the same thing. When I made my forge, I took part of the mortar mix and sifted it through a kitchen sieve to get it really fine. I then mixed it into a slurry and coated the bare steel walls on the inside. Made the wool stick better and kept it from collapsing when I coated the inside. I then fit the wool,wetted it with a sprayer, then applied another coat of slurry. After that, a thicker coat, unsifted. My mortar has bits of wool fiber mixed into it which helps it from crumbling off the walls if it cracks. Works like rebar in concrete. I'm firing my forge with a tiger torch through the bottom of the steel table I built. My forge is heavy, and on wheels so I can wheel it out of the way if I have to.

[huntforlife]

Good deal Michael! Got mine lined yesterday and am going to fire it up this evening.

[michael_schaap]

Got pictures yet? How you doing the legs? Chris! Great pics. I love your use of the frying pan

[michael_schaap]

Here is where we are now.

[michael_schaap]

Next step is to give it a paint job.

[Ray Rogers]

Clean and shiny....and really big looking. What's the diameter of that can? If the interior diameter is more than 6 or 8" (depending on what kind of work you plan to put in there and what kind of burner you have - you might want to add more layers of wool to reduce it. Most any size will work but the forge will heat faster and use the least fuel if the interior is only as big as the intended use requires, or, at least, close to it.

One problem though: looks like the burner collar will have the burner pointed straight into forge body. The good news is, that forge body appears to be so large that the flame should pass over the work piece. The bad news is that the gasses won't circulate the way we'd like. The ideal way to mount the burner is so that the gasses enter the chamber at a tangent to the interior surface. The curved surface then guides the hot gasses around the circumference of the interior which helps distribute the heat and avoids hot spots (which are very bad on the work piece. So, if you can, you might want to tilt that collar over so that the gasses are pointed towards the roof ........