How do you keep flux from eating holes in your forge?

Belstain

Belstain

Joined
Sep 17, 1999
Messages
320
I want to build a new forge with kaowool lining but i don't want to worry about welding flux messing it up. What is good to line it with? Cheaper is better.
The forge I have now is lined with cat litter from walmart. It cost me $2 and works great exept for welding. If I keep it at welding heat for more than about 15 minutes the clay starts to get soft and almost runny. I don't like having to hold the billet off the floor of the forge all the time.

What is the best type of forge for welding? Verticle ala Don Fogg or horizontal or something else?
 
On my forge I put in a stainless steel shelf held up off the bottom of the forge with SS bolts welded to it and on top of the shelf I put 1/2 fire bricks. The shelf and brick take up 1/3 of the forge total capacity and covers the entire floor. The shelf is higher in the back, so the flux has a tendency to run forward. The forge is mounted horizontal.
 
I have two forges.One for doing my heat treat and straightening in and I have no problems with it being Kao Wool with a thin coating of castable on it.Now on the other hand my main all the time use for everything forge has to be patched quite often like in everytime I use it if I was doing Damascus the last time I forged.All it takes is a bump on the wool that will cause a crack of any kind in the coating of the wool and the flux will find it and after a good day of orging the liner has a big hole in it.I patch with a mixture of ceramic slip and kitty litter which melts after a couple of hours at a real high heat and mixes with the flux at the bottom of my upright forge and thus plugs the inlet hole after a month or two.
So I am going to make myself a horizontal forge that is lined with only castable and put a channel in the bottom of it to run the flux out of the forge thus lesoning the build up in the bottom,and I have heard that the flux doesn't eat the castable very easy or fast.
I am also going to make a stand that will hold the billet off the floor of the forge while it is heating,I am taking a stand outside the forge so I don't take up room in the forge.
The castable will take allot longer to heat up than the wool but I guess it is a trade off either wait for the patch to dry some and heat the forge until it is dry or just start heating and wait.I guess you could start heating a bar of steel to forge out a carbon steel blade while you are waiting to get to a welding heat might work...
But to answer your question:Don't use wool in a welding forge unless you plan on patching and re-lininig allot.
Bruce
 
Where can I get castable? Do the kiln shelf plates resist flux? Is there any type of high temp fire brick that won't get eaten?
 
Originally posted by Belstain
Where can I get castable? Do the kiln shelf plates resist flux? Is there any type of high temp fire brick that won't get eaten?
Click to expand...

In my forge, the idea was that the kiln shelf was disposable. It's alot easier to replace than the Kaowool. When the kiln shelf was saturated with flux, I scraped as much off as I could. When it was eaten to a point of dimishing returns, I chucked it, and put in a new piece.

In a bizarre twist of fate, when I wasn't using it, a tree limb fell on the forge, and crushed it. I was able to salvage the blower, airgate, and fuel/air delivery tube. So until I rebuild the forge, I'm back to forging and welding in a coal forge at the local historic blacksmith shop.
 
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