Forge liner

[Erik Fritz]

okay guys just started makeing damascus billets but the borax is eating the liner out of a forge i borrowed am I doing something wrong here? what can i do to fix it? any other liner material i can use?

 

[Plain ol Bill]

Welding flux goes through kaowool like gasoline through sterofoam. Nothing you can do except keep the flux off the liner. If you borrowed a forge you will likely have to re-line it for your friend unless you don't want him for a friend anymore. The only thing that will stand up to welding flux is a castable liner and flux even reacts to that to a small extent if it gets on it. Good luck.

 

[rfrink]

I had the perfect stuff. But I gave it all away at Ron Claiborne's Hammer In.

It is a castable/rammable refractory that contains graphite to resist flux erosion. It was designed for blast furnaces for iron casting. Good for 3300F I think, and impervious to flux.

I is called TeK RAM from a company called Allied Mineral Products here in Columbus, Ohio. The web site is:

allied mineral

Good Luck,
Rob

 

[Erik Fritz]

thanks for the replies

 

[Matlock]

you might look at itc-100 to salvage the current forge. There was a iForge demo on it a couple of weeks ago at: http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/


Matt

 

[ddavelarsen]

I seem to remember Bruce Evans saying something about a stainless steel floor in his forge. I've been meaning to give that a shot but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I'm just dreaming, too, hope Bruce clears the air!

Dave

 

[Bruce Evans]

Yes a 304 stainlesspan in the bottom of the forge will work great.Really all it is,is a sheet of 304 with the edges turned up so the flux can't run out.But you still have to be careful and not hit the liner with the bar as it will eat the wool like cancer if you just get a little bit of flux on it.I poured castable in the one I use now and have had great results with it.
Bruce

 

[burke531]

I saw a post some where, I think from kalindras, about using vermiculite mixed with furnace cement. I made up some of this stuff and put it in the bottom and on the sides of my forge the last time that I relined it. so far this is working great. One though I did use ITC 100 and then ITC 296 over the entire lining. I have spent three full days welding and there is no sign of damage YET. one other thing that I have done is to put hard fire brick in the bottom of the forge and then a second layer of sacrificial hard brick on top of that. If you use the thin (about an inch thick) then the floor dosen't get too high.