Recommendation? Mr. Volcano Hero 2 (satanite refractory drying)

T

TopoChico

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Mar 28, 2023
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I recently set up my Hero 2 (4/1/23). I finished the set-up with the "first" coat of Satanite Refractory cement, and I have a couple questions.
1: Do I need to apply the second coat of Satanite Refractory cement after the first coat is dry?
2: Can I speed up the drying process by igniting the forge?

If anyone can please provide a solid answer, I would appreciate it. As I would love to start forging a.s.a.p.


NOTE: I live in a fairly humid climate; somewhat dry if the weather permits. And the forge is currently air drying in a closed garage.
 
Don't try to cure wet refractory with the burner.

You want about 1/4" of refractory over the wool. That is best built up in a couple of thinner coats. Let dry overnight for each coat.

Once the refractory is completely dry (give it a week or more) you cure or "fire" it by starting the forge at LOW and running for 30 seconds. Shut it off and wait 10 minutes, repeat several times. After about 5 firings increase the time until you are running the forge for 10 minutes/ Shut it down and let cool overnight.

Patch any cracks or pops with fresh refractory and cure it after two or three days in a similar fashion.
 
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Occupy yourself with other things for a few weeks.
Although It wouldn't hurt to run a fan in the garage to move the air.

Watch Nick Wheele'rs hand sanding videos, actually all his videos
Watch Kyle Royer's videos, all of them
Watch Karl B Anderson / Andersen's videos

Learn how to make tongs

Gather materials
Quench Oil,
A steel pail full of pearlite for annealing
good files and abrasive cloth-paper


Draw sketches
Draw our your blade sketches and post them here for review.
That will help you improve more than anything else at this stage.
 
Stacy and Forest Ninja - good info!

I built a freon tank forge: 2 layers of 1" 8# ceramic fiber rigidized; a thin layer of Satanite on bottom half; let dry overnight; rolled it over and a thin layer of Satanite on the other half and let it dry overnight; repeated this process till the satanite is about 1/4" thick. Inserted the bulb of a 40 watt drop light into the forge while standing it on end, covered the exhaust opening with a piece of aluminum foil and left for a day.... the satanite it hot enough to burn the hand! Put my burner in it ... several ramp up heats over day...see above comments: then a very thin coat of ITC-100, let dry overnight.. then I fired up a burner, ramped up over a couple hours then a final 'curing fire' till damn near white hot!
 
12345678910 said:
Occupy yourself with other things for a few weeks.
Although It wouldn't hurt to run a fan in the garage to move the air.

Watch Nick Wheele'rs hand sanding videos, actually all his videos
Watch Kyle Royer's videos, all of them
Watch Karl B Anderson / Andersen's videos

Learn how to make tongs

Gather materials
Quench Oil,
A steel pail full of pearlite for annealing
good files and abrasive cloth-paper


Draw sketches
Draw our your blade sketches and post them here for review.
That will help you improve more than anything else at this stage.
Click to expand...
I've looked at a few videos on how to make my own tongs. I have a day job, so I'm not active in the forge while I prep it for use. But I did purchase some tongs from amazon, and I will need to make some modifications to them.
But nonetheless, I love your ideas to keep my time occupied!
 
Forest Ninja said:
To answer question #2:

Rushing the process is not a good idea. The #1 issue with cracking is not allowing enough time for it all to dry before
firing it all up. Water in drying material can create superheated steam if heated which results in problems. There's more
than few people with cracking forges, pizza ovens, etc. who tried to go too fast. Just wait between coatings.

I made a small BBQ forge with Refractory Wool, Kaowool Rigidizer, Insulating Plaster, ITC 100 HT Ceramic Coating.
I gave the Rigidizer 3 days to dry with a 15 second propane torch roast before applying the Insulating Plaster. I then
waited a couple of more days for that to dry before applying the ITC 100 HT Ceramic Coating. I applied a 2nd ITC
coating 3 days later.

I probably waited 2 weeks before the initial firing with only a few small branches of dry maple for about 5 minutes
before taking the wood out. To do it properly it takes several firings of increasingly hotter and longer duration before
you can go full warp speed.

I do have Satanite but didn't use it yet.

Note: Cement that dries fast tends to crack and is weaker than slow cured cement. Anyone who has poured a cement floor can tell you this.

Good Luck
Click to expand...
Good to know! It's been a couple days since, and I've let the first coat dry. I'm following instructions, and will take the help that you and others have provided!
 
Update to this thread! I have the Hero 2 up and running. I purchased some rebar from my local ACE hardware, and got some hammering practice in!
 
A small electric space heater is the best way to dry a forge in this situation. Forget light bulbs, they take much longer and aren't as effective. Once dried for a good 24 hours in this method, consider sticking it in the oven at 400 for about 4 hours. Baking in this method will actually "cure" most refractories beyond simply drying.
 
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