How to line the inside of your forge.

In this article I will cover how to reline your forge so that you don't have kaowool fibers floating around (you really don't want to breath those in at all) and you'll be able to retain heat better. Whether you are just starting out or have been forging for awhile you will need to make sure that your forge is well lined for your safety as well as to keep your forge in optimal working order. Gas aint cheap and your lungs aren't indestructible. Yes I'm talk to you folks in your early 20's that are bulletproof. 

Refractory Cements

I am using Green Patch 421 that I bought from Iron Dungeon Forge for this but you may be working with some other popular forge liners like satanite, Hellcoat or a myriad of any other refractory cements. 

Application

For the application you can use a small cheap paint brush or even a gloved hand. It ultimately doesn't matter what you use to apply the refractory lining but you will want to make sure that you have complete coverage of the kaowool insulated lining. For this application I used a very expensive brush <sarcasm> as you can tell from its description. 

100% Pure Bristle (Maybe I find this a lot funnier than I should.)

noun

1. a short stiff hair, typically one of those on an animal's skin, a man's face, or a plant.

Anyway I digress. Some refractory lining comes premixed and others you will need to mix yourself. If a lining is premixed and is fairly thick you can use water to thin it out. For most refractory linings that I have worked with I have found that a little thicker than pancake batter like consistency works best. In the image below I had just added the water but didn't think about taking a second image after I had mixed it up. Make sure that the refractory doesn't have a lumpy consistency as that will translate into your forge lining.

For the application, I have found it best to start at the center point of the forge and work out towards the lip. You are looking to have an even coating all the way out. You can see that my forge was definitely in need of a good relining as it had been used and abused but I did break / tear out a bunch of chunks of the satanite lining that had been severely damaged.

This process will likely take many repeated coats. Again the primary goal here is to apply a layer that covers all kaowool fibers and is somewhat smoothed out. 

Once you have the entire inside of your forge lined you will now be able to go and wash all the refractory lining you got all over your arms and clothes off. I swear the stuffs like sand and you wonder how it manages to get some places.

Manufacturer's Cure Time

 

Consult the manufacturers instructions on cure time but it is typically 24 hours. Let it sit for whatever the time table given is before firing it up.

In the case of the Green Patch 421 the recommended time is 24 hours.

Final Cure

After letting the forge cure up you will then want to fire up your forge and give it some flame curing. For santanite you will want to fire up the forge and run it for 30 seconds or so to make sure you are evaporating out any remaining moisture. For green patch you get the inside of the forge lining to red to evaporate out the moisture. If you don't get the moisture out you will have cracking occur and could lead you to having to reline the forge again so make sure you finish out the cure by firing up the forge.

Once you have completed the forge lining process you'll be ready to fire that bad boy up and get back to beating on flaming pointy things again. I hope this article helps someone that was wondering how to tackle relining their forge. Remember to have fun, be safe, and as always Forge Ahead.

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