[TheForge] Castable Refractory

[Howell Steve]

I think more guys are trying the hybrid approach with the castable/wool combo these days. I've gone that route and it has helped the fuel economy considerably. Kaowool is available in a more dense sheet form (than normal)  in 1/8" and 1/4" thickness. I was told that it is primarily for glass or kiln use but it works great as a backup layer for a cast forge set-up. It's stiffer than the regular wool and is supposedly has a higher R value than the soft wool of the same thickness.  It holds it shape better than the soft stuff as you prepare your form. Line your shell with as thick a layer as you can get in there and make your form to cast in your refractory.
Mind you this is but one approach to the same conclusion- a hot forge that gets good gas milage.

An interesting side-note comes from a glassblower friend of ours with a ceramic engineering degree from MIT http://www.blowingsands.info/ . He's been casting his own "Bee-Hive" glory holes using hybrid mixes of castable, vermiculite, pearlite and other standard fare. Yes, there are temp. limitations to those elements but his concoctions are very notable for their utitlity: He makes a steel angle iron frame about 5 feet tall and creates the form around and inside of it, pours it upside down and the result is a one-piece kiln that he slaps casters on and can wheel around the shop. Really neat.

Steve
Seattle


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