The Prestigious and Powerful Porcine Prelate
Posts: 954
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:59 am
Location: West Mids, UK
Huxleypig's Forging Thread
So here we go, I'll start with my forge(s). I have 2, a MAPP (or propane) powered little furnace and a coal/charcoal powered forge. The small gas powered one is cleaner but coal/charcoal is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying lots of gas! Both get plenty hot enough to do the job.
This is the small gas powered one:
With the crucible loaded:
With the MAPP torch in place and the lid on, ready to go:
It was made by putting a beer can inside of a huge coffee container then making a hole in both of them and putting a 1" pipe through them both. Then a mix of sand/cement/lime was poured into it until nearly full. When dry the beer can and pipe were removed and the inside was lined with fire cement. A lid of fire cement was also fashioned and left with a hole through it or else the furnace chokes from lack of oxygen.
Fun though that was, I needed a more permanent (and cheaper) solution and so I made the forge:
View of the inside with the gauze visible:
A view from the other side with the air supply pipe visible:
Loaded up with fuel and ready to go:
With the fire lit and the air being pumped through it:
Going good and proper:
This was made using a strange mixture of cement/sand/lime/crushed ceramic/bentonite. Once again I used a pipe and a bowl to make the form and poured the crazy refractory cement mixture into it. Once again, commercial fire cement has been used to line the heat exposed surfaces and the steel mesh/gauze was seated into the bottom of the forge. The air is supplied by way of a hair dryer attached to the other end of the pipe. Fully attaching it and sealing with tape is not practical because even on the lowest setting the hair dryer is too powerful and it shoots hot embers everywhere! The air supply required is surprisingly small.
Can someone tell me what a good, hot burning coal is? Obviously, the hotter the coal the less effort needed to get the metal up to heat. It seems that the charcoal I have is not as hot burning as the coal I have.
And here's me having a well deserved sit down:
Note I have adopted the latest security industry standard for the concealment of a face!
Next I'll document how my castings have gone so far and the lessons I have learned about molds.