[TheForge] Gas forges

[Michael H. Murphy]

That is a good, flexible design -- and good-looking to boot.  I hope you
don't mind if I steal a couple of ideas from your design.

"Stealing ideas from one person is plagiarism; stealing ideas from many is
research."  Can't remember the author.

Thanks for the good documentation with the pictures.

Mike Murphy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-
> bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Marc Godbout
> Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 10:19 PM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: RE: [TheForge] Gas forges
> 
> I used a 30lb propane tank, cut in half lengthwise then welded
> end-to-end to make an arched roof. The roof is insulated with insulating
> castable refractory. The walls and floor are insulating brick. All is
> coated with ITC-100. You can see it and its construction at
> http://ironringforge.com/NewForgeSaga/New_Forge_Saga.html
> 
> I used this construction to give me a raise-able roof, letting me
> re-arrange the walls to fit different sized pieces.
> 
> Anyway, this firebrick sometimes cracks, as you can see from the door. I
> used regular firebrick repair mortar to fix it. But it seems to crack
> once and never again. My previous forge was all the same type of brick.
> 
> It doesn't insulate as well as Kaowool, but it's close. I haven't seen
> any difference in initial heating compared with other Kaowool forges.
> 
> I would probably use Kaowool for the roof insulation, if doing it again.
> Castable is a lot of work with little to gain over wool. But I also like
> the harder walls and floor, so I would stay with brick for those. My
> other forge lasted three years and was only replaced because it was too
> small. Some bricks cracked in there, but the frame holds it together
> well.
> 
> -Marc
> 
> On Thu, 2004-05-20 at 19:45, Michael H. Murphy wrote:
> > One of the problems I've run into using brick instead of wool for the
> > insulation is that the bricks act like a heat sink, and it takes a while
> for
> > the forge to heat up -- and even longer to cool down.  I have not tried
> the
> > light-weight bricks, and I imagine the "heat sink" effect would be less
> with
> > them.  I've seen the light-weight bricks used as doors on a couple of
> > forges, and they didn't seem to hold up too well.
> 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-
> > > bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of korineks at rcn.com
> > > Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 11:42 AM
> > > To: Sponsored by ABANA
> > > Subject: Re: [TheForge] Gas forges
> > >
> > > I have a "pipe" forge I made from a 18" section of class-A
> > > chimney.  I added an additional 1" of kaowool to the inside.
> > > I also coated with ITC-100.  I used std Ron Reil burners.  The
> > > forge works well but when I replace it I will use a light
> > > refractory brick for insulation because it will be less
> > > fragile.  I will probabally use Larry Zoller's high
> > > performance burners also.
> > > -Rick
> 
> --
> Marc Godbout
> http://www.ironringforge.com
> 
> New England Blacksmiths Membership Director
> http://www.newenglandblacksmiths.org
> 
> 
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