Finishing my forge

JTknives

JTknives

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Jun 11, 2006
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I'm Finishing my forge and have some question. i installed the one layer of blanket then put a coating of rigidizer to it and let it dry. i then put a coat of sanitite around 1/4" thick on top of that. as it was drying cracks would show up. i would then fill the cracks and let dry some more. well i did a burn in it to night and more cracks showed up. the funny thing is that the cracks are on the floor not the cealing. i still need to apaly the itc-100, can i just fill the small cracks with that or should i put moer sanitite in the cracks. i am doing a bubble alum floor so how do i make sure it does not crack. Is cracking normal or do i have a problem
 
Jarod-


Satanite doesn't usually hold up very well as a forge insulation coating that thick.

I tried it a couple times just to see how it would work, and I had the same results as you're getting.

I've always had good results with 2" of ceramic blanket and ITC-100 directly over that. I just spray the blanket with a water bottle before applying the ITC-100.

I'd remove the Satanite and wait until you can put the ITC on instead :)
 
i filled the cracks with sanatite and cured by running the burnner and no more cracks. its just that its so thick that its like curing concrete. last night i cured it in my kitchen oven at 200, 350, 450, 550 for like 30 min each. i got most of the water out that way. but every time i would pull the forge out of the oven there would be cracks. i would fill them while it was still hot and it would dry quickly. i then would put it out side and let it cool off. then did a test run with taking it up to say 1300 and a few cracks showed up but not very bad as i said. the roof is perfect it was just the floor that had the crack as all the moisture made its way to the lowest point. but every thing seams ok now. i think i might have more then 1/4 of an inch as i used all 5 pounds to line a forge that is a hair over 12" long with a 6" chamber diameter
 
well its all done. yay yay. its drying and should be able to test fire tomorrow. one question i have is this. is it normal to get loud popping explosion sounds from the Bubble Alumina
 
JTknives said:
well its all done. yay yay. its drying and should be able to test fire tomorrow. one question i have is this. is it normal to get loud popping explosion sounds from the Bubble Alumina
Click to expand...

yep, i get them with the castable i use on my floors, its trapped moisture, that turns to steam and has to find a way out.

andrew
 
Jarod,
I hope you went to bed and got some sleep. Once again, you need to slow down.

Take your time with making a forge. Build up layers slowly. Now that you have it coated, wait about two or three days to let all the refractory cure.Then start it slow.

What you should have done was to coat the satanite in thin layers, adding a bit each day for three days. Then let it dry and cure for at least four days.Once cured, fire at a low heat to fully dry the refractory. Patch any cracks and let dry again. Then once all is well, coat with the ITC-100. Let dry again. Then fire it up on low for about one minute and let it cool down. Fire for about five minutes and let it cool down, then fire it at full for about ten minutes.
Bubble alumina will pop and crackle if still wet.

Read all the FAQs and info on Darren Ellis' site.All this is covered there.
Stacy
 
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