Ok, i have no money. I need a forge. I have a propane torch. Will regular cement work as a insulator for a small forge? It is 2x3x12 inches. The cement is surrounding a square plate of metal, so it doesn't come in direct contact with the flame. It is also almost completely surrounded by metal, so chipping isn't that much of a concern (unless it destroys the cement). Any input is welcome, as i don't have any experience in this.

Thanks,
KJ

I'm gona be brutal on this one for safety sake...... NO! NO! NO! Mixing regualr cement requires aggregate (rocks), which have tiny air pockets within them. Even if the cement would hold up, there is a very real danger of super heating the air pockets within the aggregate and blowing the concrete/aggregate apart. I have seen this happen a couple of times, one of those instances was like a rifle shot, right through the side the building. Had a person been in line with that, they would be dead.

Concrete also take 28 days to fully cure, but that's not to say that there still won't be moisture trapped in the aggregate, which can create super heated steam and cause even more deadly effects.

I would rather see you build a forge out of fire brick, or Ka-wool. Fire bricks are about $1.50 each in my part of the world, and ka-wool (cermaic wool fiber) is about $6.00 per square foot. Trying to get by on the cheap can often times get you seriously hurt unless you know exactly what your doing.

Hi KJ,

I've got a scrap piece of 6# density Ceramic Fiber blanket that I won't sell due to the lower density value...you pay shipping and I'll send you enough to line your forge for free. Shoot me an email offline and we can make arrangements. I don't want to see you get hurt either...

-Darren

I urge you to find a copy of Wayne Goddard's "$50 Knife Shop". A lot can be done with few $$ and Wayne does a fantastic job of describing the work.

If memory serves, there's a picture of a one-brick forge on Darren Ellis' site. (See his post.) I built one - per the book above - and used a propane torch. To my eternal shock, it works pretty good.

I'm sure Jason Cutter uses a plumbers propane torch because I copied off of him. Seems to work for the heat side of things,

Have a look on the Darren Ellis Forge Gallery Pages (link above) - Jason's forge is pretty simple but from what he has said to me EFFECTIVE

Phantom23

I can remember camping once and finding a concrete slab where a shed or something used to be. We put our campfire on it. About halfway through cooking dinner, it detonated. We were showered with hunks of hot concrete, half-baked potatoes and semi raw chicken raining down from 20+ feet in the air!

You can mix poor-man's refractory from perlite, cat-litter clay and pure cement, but it's not the most efficient lining and it crumbles over time. Don't use standard concrete or you might be wearing your forge after a few minutes of heating!

Thanks for the replies. You guys responded like 5 mins before i was planning to mix the cement. Thanks alot, and i'll definitly not us cement!

"Halter's Detonating Chicken" :lol

Now there's a recipe you just don't see every day.

Yeah...that was one camping trip I'll never forget! I'm sure the raccoons loved us the next day!

If you wan't the recipe I can send it to you. :)

I was wondering if that was the purpose of those "free range chickens" you told us to expect at the Hammer-In!
:D

Nah...that would be blackened forge-bird. :)

Hey,

Check out some of the Out post archives too. I know some guys buy the really cheap cat litter made from (pure) clay with no perfume in it. You can soak it in water and use the clay to insulate a forge pretty easily. It is probably more labor intensive, but if you have more time than money it is real cheap, and you can patch it repair it easily too. I plan to put a layer of the clay on my coal table forge when I get home next this spring. Just an idea, and you can't have to many of those. I think Mr. Natural himself uses a washtub forge lined with clay. Just have to keep the cats away or forge smells like **** :lol

good luck

Rick