• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

forge lining

Joined
Oct 16, 2001
Messages
1,917
I have decided to go with Kaowool/ceramic blanket for my forge lining. I understand the arguments for castable, but I will be the only one using this forge(s) and will be making little pattern welded material for the time being.

That said, I have been hearing of people going with 2 and even 3 inches of kaowool, claiming that the savings in gas well makes up for the initial cost and continual bulkiness of the forge.

Has anyone here compared the thermal efficiency of 1 vs. 2 vs. 3" kaowool linings?

Also, has anyone compared ITC-100 to Satanite (or any other coatings for that matter)?

Thanks,

John
 
John: I only use 1" of the wool with the ITC-100. My forges are the only ones that I have used. I have had my little forge up to 2800 deg. (burnt thermocoupling) You have used my smaller forge what do you think, compared to the other ones you have used. I have tried the Satanite, but like the ITC better.
 
Hi John,

One way to go is with 1" Kaowool and coat this with a healthy coat or two of Satanite. Then, after the Satanite has cured, apply a thin coating of ITC-100. Satanite is cheap, cheap enough to use as a mechanical refractory coating to protect the Kaowool. ITC-100 is fairly expensive in comparison, use it in a very thin layer for its refractory properties only.

I don't know of any *real* experiments comparing Satanite to ITC-100, at least ones that yield quantitative results. However, the pottery community are probably the biggest users of ITC-100 and the positive effects are noted by many of them in their heating bill. If I ever get enough free time, I may do some measurements and put up some hard data on a web page for a comparison....but things are a bit busy at the moment so it may be a while.

If you need any refractory materials in small quantities, I sell them on my web page, let me know if I can be of any assistance. :)

http://StraightRazor.net


-Darren
 
Back
Top