Building forge questions

[Txcwboy]

I bought a 7.5 gal air tank and I am going to cut it open. I am looking for somewhere to get the shelf for the bottom of it .Whats the material of the shelf called ? Mullite ?
Also I am going to pick up a piece of pipe to use as support of the burner. It shouldnt be galvanized correct ? I have one side burner I was going to use with it. Just for heat treating. Any links to help out also would be nice

thanks !
Dave

[cdent]

Hi Dave,
You may not need any special floor in a heat treat forge (satanite, maybe itc? on the wool right). If you decide you really need something, then how about a piece of fire brick.

I got a lot of info from Ron Riel/abana and zoeller forge websites.I'd steer away from galvanized, but my mounting tube really doesn't get too hot. You should be able to use this set up for general forging, and it doesn't have to be a specialty ht forge.

Best New Year, Craig

[Doug Lester]

I use Mizzou refractory that I bought from Darrel Ellis to coat the lining of my last forge with. From what I understand, it is about as flux resistant as it can get and it gives a nice thick layer of refractory to protect the ceramic fiber insulation. To be on the safe side I would agree not to use galvinized pipe where it will be exposed to temperature greater than a couple hundred degrees. That should give a more than adequate safety margin.

Doug Lester

[Ed Caffrey]

I agree with Craig, use a "half" fire brick for the shelf. If you were referring the the insul-board that a lot of commercial kilns use, that stuff is god awful expensive, and is more fragile than glass. I've been using the half fire bricks in the bottom of my horizontal forge for over 15 years, and at about $1 each, its a whole lot more economical than the insul-board. About every 6 months, or whenever I reline the forge, I change out the firebrick on the bottom. If you use the insul-board, especially if you set stuff on it, it will get torn up very quickly and will cost much more to replace.

[Txcwboy]

When you say "fire brick" , do you mean the light weight stuff or the heavy stuff ? I have some heavy stuff already.

Dave

[Ed Caffrey]

The "heavy stuff", it is tougher, and will last much longer than the light weight ones. (their less expensive too) If you were to take a regular sized brick and split it lengthwise, you'd have two pieces....thats what I refer to as a "split". It will be the same length and width as a brick, but only 1/2 the thickness. They will be thin enough to line the bottom of a forge/kiln, and provide a relatively durable surface to sit work on and prevent damage to the lining.