Thread: I did it boys, made a forge

Awesome job mate.
Just thinking out loud, but i think you can get a mesh {think like matting in fibreglass} designed to hold the clay {at the same refactory suppliers} that you might find holds it together better than the wire.
Very, very impressive what you have achieved. Now comes the really therapeutic part of heating something super hot and beating the crap out of it with a hammer so that all that is left is a knife or razor.
Adam

Right on Grant! Way to go man. I can't wait to see what starts coming out of your shop.

This is awesome! I found this for you:
"The silica firebricks that line steel-making furnaces are used at temperatures up to 1650°C (3000°F), which would melt many other types of ceramic, and in fact part of the silica firebrick liquefies. HRSI, a material with the same composition, is used to make the insulating tiles of the space shuttle."

Silica is Quartz

Grant nice work Brother

I have been thinking of doing something but I figure I am just going to wait for Mike Blue to move up this way and beg for him to visit and help me hehehe


@Jack and everyone else that quoted,, Dont ******ing make me work that hard again Please

g

Dude ! That's seven colours of awesome ! You burnt out the fireproof clay .
Fireworks R Us ...

Mate that looks portable enough . You should bring it down to Sydney for a demo next time, maybe not in the Summer tho.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Dude ! That's seven colours of awesome !

Better than I could say it, have fun with the fire.

Charlie

Another tip for getting a more efficient fire: cut a cinder block down to bricks, and use that to build an open 'log cabin' over the fire.
A lot more heat will stay inside, you'll need less fuel, and the metal will heat up quicker. A big cinder block costs only a buck or so.

If you're heating metal for heat treating, you may or may not want to do that. Quicker heating is nice when forging, but perhaps less so if you want to get the steel to an even heat. I am still experimenting with different ways of heating a kitchen knife to an even temperature in a fire (which is a lot harder than a razor).

Well done Grant. Awesome forge. Looking forward to seeing some sharp things get brought to life in those flames.

I like your new avatar

Stu

Well, and here I was thining along the lines of using the old disc plough out on the farm to make a forge. I wished I had have thought about cutting up a gas bottle or some such other thing to do the job with. I might have got around to it before now, myself. As it is, you've beaten me to it as well. Great job mate and I've already learnt something...Clay may not be the best insulator. But it will likely do me when I start anyway.


Mick

I can't comment on clay. But I use kitty litter mixed with ashes.
The lining of my forge (a repurposed BBQ) is about 2 inches, and even after 2 hours of forging, I can easily grab the sides and carry it out of the way.
It's not evne lukewarm at that point.