What parts of the kaowool do you cast over?

[Surgo]

Obviously I want to cast over the floor, walls, ceiling, etc., of the forge. But there's a lot of miscellaneous surfaces too where it's not clear how to do it so well. Do you regularly cast over, say, the hole where the burner enters, or do you just leave the wool exposed there and pressed against the sides of the burner? What about the front face, when you open the forge door -- cast the exposed wool there, or leave it exposed? Or the back of the forge, where there might not be a door at all but an exposed port.

I'm not so much concerned with liner lifetime as I am with safety. I want to ensure that there aren't fibers coming off the wool and into the air.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Youn want to cover all the exposed wool. It is more of a coating than a casting. About 1/4" is sufficient.

 

[Surgo]

Thank you Stacy. One final question then: for surfaces like the back where there is a hole but no door, would I be better off putting down a shim so the coating doesn't get against the forge shell but rather just wraps the wool (easy to pull out then), and rip the shim off once set? Or just coat over the wool onto the forge shell, so when it's set the whole thing shouldn't move anywhere?

I'd think the latter to prevent the whole lining from ever moving and possibly discharging fibers, but I'm the novice here.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Once the wool is coated the only way it is comming out is in pieces. Just spread the satanite on up to the shell. If it gets on the metal, it isn't a problem.

A really good option for ends is using 1" Ins-board. It can be cut to shape, hles added, and attached to the ens of the forge with some satanite and a few "L" brackets.