Darren Ellis forge owners

J

jackrabbitslim

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Jan 28, 2008
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Since, for the first time in my life, I have more money than time, I've decided to make the jump and buy one of Darren's blown gas forges. Specifically, the Ellis 8-HT, which looks like a well-built piece of equipment. My question to owners of his forges is, what, exactly, is included with the package for lining the forge? The product description says only, "This forge comes complete with all lining materials needed as well as a flux resistant coating for the floor..." but doesn't specify what those materials are. I know I want at least a 1" layer of Inswool with Satanite over that and a final interior coating of ITC-100 to make it as efficient as possible. I'm okay with ordering extra materials but I don't want to double up, either. I e-mailed Darren but haven't heard back. Hey, he's a busy guy, right? No problemo. :D But I still need to know, so here we are.

Gavin Rondeau
 
Darren is a very busy guy. He'll get back to you eventually; they usually spend Monday and Tuesday evenings answering e-mails.

I just got the 6-HT, and it's great. He includes Inswool, plenty of Satanite, enough ITC-100 for the initial lining, and some castable refractory to protect the bottom if you want to do forge-welding. So you don't need to order anything extra. :)

Warning: Lining the forge is a messy process. :)

Josh
 
Thanks Josh! That's exactly what I wanted to know and, happily, exactly what I hoped to hear. :D On a related note, does anyone know of a MORE efficient lining for a forge (one that won't be used for heavy forge welding) than Inswool, Satanite and ITC-100? I'm sure this will work for me now, I'm mostly just curious if the heavy-duty forge design guys have anything tricky to add.
Josh, thanks again,
Gavin Rondeau
 
I use the 2700F insulation called cerachem. It is actually zirconia. I then put a real heavy layer of 3000F castable refactory cement Satanite will work well. My forge has been running for almost 2 years without a serious rebuild, though it could use one now. I almost always forge weld. If you want a very tough unit go with all castable refactory. It takes along time to get up to heat (between 45 and 60 minutes) but the thermal mass is tremendous and will hold the heat for a very long time. It will also stand up to the flux. Oh I did not mention that I do most of my welding via the dry method, little or no flux used. This in itself will allow the forge to last much longer.
 
The triple-threat Ellis recipe seems really efficient, especially with the ITC-100. That stuff reflects heat like crazy. The Satanite was markedly less reflective.

It's not bullet-proof like castable, but this setup comes up to heat in less than five minutes in my small forge. I do small blades (straight razors) and don't do much forge-welding (yet, anyway :D).

Josh
 
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