One brick forge help

[Atlas Knife Company]

What kind of wire should I use to wrap around the brick? Will any steel wire work or does it need to be something special? Can I make an aluminum stand to support it or will the outside of the brick get really hot and melt the aluminum?

SAM! I have an anvil, please start making hammers again.

 

[Patrickknives]

The outside of the brick will not get that hot so you should be ok, there will be fire out the holes which can be a problem, so be careful.

 

[AcridSaint]

Never wrapped any wire around mine, just used refractory cement on areas where it started coming apart. There's basically no heat control in one of those things.


I'd consider a forge upgrade before getting into custom hammers.

 

[jorasco312]

I used some of my wife's picture hanger wire, thin and pliable. The outside of the forge will not melt aluminum, well it didn't on mine which is a two bricker. I used 1" pieces of half inch aluminum angle on the edges to prevent the wire from cutting into the soft fire brick. I found the wire binds on the edges and didn't want to slide as I took up the tension on the wire. I resolved that by using two pieces and twist tied them. Two wraps around the thickness and two wraps around the length. You will get expansion and contraction cracks in the soft firebrick. I have a crack that runs completely around the two bricker where the two faces meet. I covered the exterior with refractory mortar to protect the fire brick from wear and tear. Interior chamber has a skim coat of refractory mortar coated with ITC-100. It rests on four soft firebrick when fired up.
Used it for four years till I built a freon tank forge last summer.