Stainless steel vertical forge build.... w/pics and regular updates

Don't feel bad about making changes in the materials and procedures. We are all tempted to try our ideas first...sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.

A while back, I had a fellow in a remote part of the former USSR emailing be about building a forge. He said that he couldn't find Satanite, but found bags of a refractory cement rated at 1600°C ( about 3000°F) in an abandoned foundry nearby that had no guards or gates. All the locals scrounged metal and things from it. He also said no one knew what they used to make there, as it was a "state secret". All the workers had left when the plant was closed in the 1980's. I advised him against using things from such a place, but he said everyone went in there and no one had got sick.

I said that the refractory sounded like it should work, and to make a 1" thick shell, and then wrap it in an insulating wool blanket. He could not find any insulation wool, but cast the 1" liner and tried to use it alone.... it cracked. Then, he decided that if the refractory was good in a 1" layer, a solid refractory liner would be great. He cast the entire forge as a 4" thick cylinder of refractory by putting two concentric pipes together and casting the cement between them. Problem was, it wasn't up to temp after an hour running the burner on high.....and the outside got HOT. Luckily he was using a waste oil burner he made from an old fuel oil burner that ran a boiler, so the fuel cost wasn't a problem.
After some back and forth, he wrapped the thick shell inside a 4" insulating blanket he came up with ( he took this from the foundary,too....God knows what it was made of - probably asbestos), and wrapped a sheet metal casing around it ( also scrounged from the mill I am sure).
The forge took a very long time to soak to temp, but sure held its heat once up to temp. Not the best idea, but it worked out in the end. His forge ended up looking like some sort of old time mortar, about 20" long and 20" wide, with a 4" hole in the middle....and weighed a couple hundred pounds.
 
Don't feel bad about making changes in the materials and procedures. We are all tempted to try our ideas first...sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.

A while back, I had a fellow in a remote part of the former USSR emailing be about building a forge. He said that he couldn't find Satanite, but found bags of a refractory cement rated at 1600°C ( about 3000°F) in an abandoned foundry nearby that had no guards or gates. All the locals scrounged metal and things from it. He also said no one knew what they used to make there, as it was a "state secret". All the workers had left when the plant was closed in the 1980's. I advised him against using things from such a place, but he said everyone went in there and no one had got sick.

I said that the refractory sounded like it should work, and to make a 1" thick shell, and then wrap it in an insulating wool blanket. He could not find any insulation wool, but cast the 1" liner and tried to use it alone.... it cracked. Then, he decided that if the refractory was good in a 1" layer, a solid refractory liner would be great. He cast the entire forge as a 4" thick cylinder of refractory by putting two concentric pipes together and casting the cement between them. Problem was, it wasn't up to temp after an hour running the burner on high.....and the outside got HOT. Luckily he was using a waste oil burner he made from an old fuel oil burner that ran a boiler, so the fuel cost wasn't a problem.
After some back and forth, he wrapped the thick shell inside a 4" insulating blanket he came up with ( he took this from the foundary,too....God knows what it was made of - probably asbestos), and wrapped a sheet metal casing around it ( also scrounged from the mill I am sure).
The forge took a very long time to soak to temp, but sure held its heat once up to temp. Not the best idea, but it worked out in the end. His forge ended up looking like some sort of old time mortar, about 20" long and 20" wide, with a 4" hole in the middle....and weighed a couple hundred pounds.
 
All very true. I was hoping to start on a new blade this week, but it'll have to wait till next week now while I wait to get a regulator and some satanite. In the mean time, I'll just work on a blade I started with that old forge. I made some micarta with burlap and some with canvas that both turned out really nice, so I think I'll finish it up with the burlap micarta handle. Maybe that will keep my mind off of the forge. Maybe.
 
LOL Stacy, he must have REALLY wanted to forge a blade. I guess thats the great thing about some people. If we put our minds to something, we try and try until we succeed, and work with whatever resources are available.
 
My forge is finally up and running successfully. Runs very hot. I removed most of that crappy cement and tried to put satanite over it. No success. The satanite just didn't want to stick to it, and was cracking like crazy when it dried. So I used a 3000 degree refractory from menards (meeco red devil), the same stuff I used in my first brick forge. I'll swear by this stuff. It doesn't crack like the satanite, forms nicely, and is WAY tougher then the satanite. I put an additional 1 1/2 gallons of that cement in, and then a thin layer of satanite on top (only because its what everyone recommends) followed by a brushed on coat of ITC 100. The walls of this forge are very thick now. The ID only measures 8" across now (3" thick walls) and this whole thing weighs about 200 lbs. You should have seen me carrying the damn thing down the steps out to the garage (did the cement work inside because the garage is not heated). What a tank! Anyhow, I have a temp gauge, regulator, and pressure gauge installed now. This thing gets HOT! Thanks everyone for all the kind words of encouragement and your seemingly endless knowledge.
 
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