temp. OUTSIDE forge

J

John Frankl

Joined
Oct 16, 2001
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Just fired up a newly constructed Don Fogg-style forge today. Temp inside was killer. Got insanely hot in a few minutes on 1-2 lbs. of propane. But it also got pretty darn hot on the outside. Just wondering what typical temps. are for forge shells at heat. Thanks,

John
 
Thats a good question to ask....

just last night, I fired up my new NC low boy forge for the very first time....and had the forge sitting on a wood table...

well after about a hour of hammering on a John Deere Load shaft I noticed the wood of the table top under the side door of the forge was smokeing!

I dumped quench water on the wood,,,,and the water boiled off fast...

Clearly I need to get some sort of steel under the forge to protect whats left of my table...
 
John,
Last weekend at a smithing demo a customer had a pyrometer and got a reading of 425 on the shell of a Fogg style vertical forge. We didn't believe it, but 4 readings of 425 is what we got. That's with 2" of Insulwool with satanite (Dale Baxter's forge.)
 
Daqo'ta probably better to put a firebrick under each leg on the forge, a big piece of metal would just take longer to burn and good chance of burning yourself or someone else in the shop.
 
I would guess that 400 to 500 degrees on the outside of the forge is pretty normal. I just use regular clay pavers under my forges except for my demo forge which is on a stand out of light weigth angle iron. Looks kind of like a mini water tower.....
 
That's why in a steel mill they all have hot lunches !!! And that's why , when setting up a shop fire prevention needs serious thought.
 
for all the replies so far. I don't feel so bad now. I only have one layer of Kaowool, so I'm guessing my shell is more like 5-600 (parts of exposed metal turned blue!) degrees. I fired it without ITC-100 in order to "set" the Kaowool before applying the ITC. Once the ITC is on, maybe less heat will escape through the Kaowool and into the shell.

Keep the ideas coming,

John
 
I didn't think there was enough room in Cambridge for a forge (grew up in Natick):p
 
I'm back home in CA. As far as I'm concerned, there is not enough room in all of MA for me or my forge. ;)

John
 
BadBamaUmp...

I have taken your advice,,,I got two cement stepping stone blocks, (1&1/2 inch high by 2 foot by 2 foot) and set the blocks on the table, and the forge sits on the blocks,,,

I forged about 3 hours today,,,and the wood never got hot enough to burn like it did last night.

Thanks for the good idea and advice
 
DaQuo'ta
We're here to help and pass on our experiences..... don't ask how I know the solution to your problem :footinmou ;)
 
Be aware that the cement could break down from the heat.
Water is chemically bound up when cement cures.
at around 572 F it begins to dehydrate.
 
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