Forge Size

M

MKustom

Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
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I am new to forge welding. I know this question has been asked before, but as I reviewed previuse threads they seem all over the board. So here goes, I am building a new forge to weld in. I am wondering a few things, what is the best size for a draft induced horizontal? Is bigger better?

Here is my plan, I have an 12" pipe 20" long I am planning to line the pipe with 2" of inswool and the a 2" layer of 3000 degree castable refractory. Add doors on either end insulated of course. This should leave me a chamber of 8" by 16". The burner will be one of Ellis's

I can get my hands on smaller or larger pipe and am looking for suggestions on size.

One final question would be verticle or horizontal?


Thanks in advance for all your help!!
 
MKustom said:
I am new to forge welding. I know this question has been asked before, but as I reviewed previuse threads they seem all over the board. So here goes, I am building a new forge to weld in. I am wondering a few things, what is the best size for a draft induced horizontal? Is bigger better?

Here is my plan, I have an 12" pipe 20" long I am planning to line the pipe with 2" of inswool and the a 2" layer of 3000 degree castable refractory. Add doors on either end insulated of course. This should leave me a chamber of 8" by 16". The burner will be one of Ellis's

I can get my hands on smaller or larger pipe and am looking for suggestions on size.

One final question would be verticle or horizontal?


Thanks in advance for all your help!!
Click to expand...


It will take a LONG time to get up to heat with that much castable. If you're looking to primarily do welding in this forge, you might want to look at a Fogg style vertical forge. The 12" pipe will work very well for a vertical welding forge. If you want to go horizontal, 12" may be a bit big. You'll eat a lot of propane to keep it at welding temps. Take a look at Darren Ellis' Forge Gallery for more ideas as well.

-d
 
I'm not sure if you mis-wrote the insulation thicknesses you are using, but if you line a 12" pipe with 2" of wool and 2" of castable refractory, you will get a 4" chamber, not an 8" one. I would suggest just using a 2" layer of High temp HTZ wool with either ITC-100 or bubble alumina coating. That should give you an 8" chamber (more like 7.5") and will get plenty hot enough to weld. Forget the castable refractory.
Also, do you really need a 20" long forge? That is a lot longer than most makers will ever need, unless you are going to use it for HT as well as forging. A vertical forge made from 12" pipe makes a great welding forge, horizontal is easier for general forging. Either one will make a big knife or a sword, since you only need to heat one section at a time while forging (actually, it is better that way.) I would cut it down to 16". Bigger is not always better. If you go with 20" ,you might also consider two smaller burners, instead of one large one.
Stacy
 
Thanks for the advice and the links guy's!! Would Mizzou castable work as a coat over the inswool? I think I will take your advice and build a verticle forge and use the castable in the bottom for sure.

Seeing as I have already purchased the castable, have you ever used it for clay for heat treating?
 
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