So I am trying to get a basic forge running and I was wondering if I were to use found bricks. Would they exploded when heated? maybe just reinforce it with more brick? I'm doing this because I have zero budget. Also I know about using rail road track as an anvil but is there anything else? I was thinking if I could get a Large barbell that could work by filing off on end to a point and hammer it into a stump? Just tossing it out there. But really exploding brick?
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Will non fire bricks explode?
- Thread starter Get Sharp
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Your local welding supply would have some welding bricks that will not explode. We use then when oxy-acetylene welding
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A sledge hammer buried in a bucket of cement is common. However, you'd be better off selling the barbell and buying a 16lb. sledge hammer with the money. The barbell is low carbon and will dent quickly. Clay bricks will be useless and you will spend more on propane trying to keep it hot enough than you would have spent on $8 worth of bricks from the tractor supply store.
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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Regular masonry bricks will not work for a forge. They have little or no refractory ability, and if they are "found" bricks that have been sitting on/in the ground, they may well explode, crack, or have chips fly off.
Even the "fire brick" used for lining fireplaces and stoves isn't what you want. Use insulating "fire brick...which is a soft magnesia brick. Just ask for "soft fire brick".
Even the "fire brick" used for lining fireplaces and stoves isn't what you want. Use insulating "fire brick...which is a soft magnesia brick. Just ask for "soft fire brick".
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Bricks are extremely variable in composition, density and ability to withstand temperature.
Basically, in most cases bricks have a fairly simple task to do and are made from the cheapest material that will get the job done. Because transporting bricks is expensive, cheap generally means local and the composition of bricks is dependent on the local geology.
As the job the brick is used for gets more demanding, the specification gets tighter and the bricks usually need to travel further (on average) and get more expensive.
Bricks used in hot, arid regions can be quite porous, for example, whereas those used in damp climates with cold winters need to be waterproof to prevent them absorbing water and cracking as it freezes; a tighter spec..
The strength requirements when constructing two-storey buildings are relatively low. For twenty storey buildings the bricks need to be considerably stronger.
I live just down the road from Accrington, England, where the extremely hard bricks used in the foundations of the Empire State Building were made. The cost per brick on that job was obviously pretty high and included 3000-plus miles of transport. However, all the houses round here are made from the same brick because it's local and therefore cheap.
Where the job requirement is for a brick able to withstand high temperature, the number of places with the geology to produce such bricks is relatively small.
There are some places that have local deposits of fireclay and their local brick is therefore effectively a firebrick (or passably close to one). Over here, these bricks are often buff-colored.
The local Accrington Nori bricks are red, but are also made from a fireclay and are able to withstand high temperatures. In combination with their extreme hardness, this made them ideal for building the very tall chimneys that provided the draft for the boilers towards the end of the age of steam.
If you live somewhere that has locally-made bricks from fireclay, you may well be able to use found brick as refractory brick. It could be worth checking around.
Most importantly, if you see that someone somewhere has used found bricks to build a forge, furnace, etc, with no issues, do not assume that a brick is just a brick and that you can safely do the same where you are.
If you are looking to use a solid fuel (charcoal) forge to get started, a hole in the ground and something to produce a draft has worked pretty effectively for several millennia. It might be worth checking out youtube: there's a guy in Devon I know by the name of Dave Budd. He does a bit of Iron-Age metalworking and I've seen him on youtube, so he might make a good starting point.
Almost any decent-sized lump of steel will do as an anvil to start with; cold mild steel is still harder than hot carbon steel. Avoid cast iron though.
Basically, in most cases bricks have a fairly simple task to do and are made from the cheapest material that will get the job done. Because transporting bricks is expensive, cheap generally means local and the composition of bricks is dependent on the local geology.
As the job the brick is used for gets more demanding, the specification gets tighter and the bricks usually need to travel further (on average) and get more expensive.
Bricks used in hot, arid regions can be quite porous, for example, whereas those used in damp climates with cold winters need to be waterproof to prevent them absorbing water and cracking as it freezes; a tighter spec..
The strength requirements when constructing two-storey buildings are relatively low. For twenty storey buildings the bricks need to be considerably stronger.
I live just down the road from Accrington, England, where the extremely hard bricks used in the foundations of the Empire State Building were made. The cost per brick on that job was obviously pretty high and included 3000-plus miles of transport. However, all the houses round here are made from the same brick because it's local and therefore cheap.
Where the job requirement is for a brick able to withstand high temperature, the number of places with the geology to produce such bricks is relatively small.
There are some places that have local deposits of fireclay and their local brick is therefore effectively a firebrick (or passably close to one). Over here, these bricks are often buff-colored.
The local Accrington Nori bricks are red, but are also made from a fireclay and are able to withstand high temperatures. In combination with their extreme hardness, this made them ideal for building the very tall chimneys that provided the draft for the boilers towards the end of the age of steam.
If you live somewhere that has locally-made bricks from fireclay, you may well be able to use found brick as refractory brick. It could be worth checking around.
Most importantly, if you see that someone somewhere has used found bricks to build a forge, furnace, etc, with no issues, do not assume that a brick is just a brick and that you can safely do the same where you are.
If you are looking to use a solid fuel (charcoal) forge to get started, a hole in the ground and something to produce a draft has worked pretty effectively for several millennia. It might be worth checking out youtube: there's a guy in Devon I know by the name of Dave Budd. He does a bit of Iron-Age metalworking and I've seen him on youtube, so he might make a good starting point.
Almost any decent-sized lump of steel will do as an anvil to start with; cold mild steel is still harder than hot carbon steel. Avoid cast iron though.
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the insulating fire bricks are made by Morgan Thermal Ceramics
Try their website to find a local supplier
You're best bet is a local pottery supplies place as they sell them to repair or build a kiln.
Try their website to find a local supplier
You're best bet is a local pottery supplies place as they sell them to repair or build a kiln.
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Not trying to keep reiterating that the count has all the answers, but I did exactly this about 2 months ago and visited a rather small pottery operation. This woman had bags of all kinds of refractory additives, cement, brick, and kaowool... I will say that had I found her sooner, I would have cut my forge repair cost in half, and wouldn't have had to endure any shipping costs...
They have a completely different jargon when it comes to high-temp terminology... lol what's a cone?
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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Here is a perfect example of why people need to fill out their profile. Get Sharp lives....somewhere. People are giving advice that live all over the continent.
If he had but filled out his profile, someone might have said something like, "Go to Ace Pottery Supply in Elmhurst. They have all you will need."
For all we know right now, Get Sharp lives in Canberra, Caracas, Cape town, or Calcutta.
If he had but filled out his profile, someone might have said something like, "Go to Ace Pottery Supply in Elmhurst. They have all you will need."
For all we know right now, Get Sharp lives in Canberra, Caracas, Cape town, or Calcutta.
Brian.Evans
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I will say, everyone always says, "go to a local pottery place." I have called around no everywhere in my home area (265,000 people), and around my work area (125,000 people.). No one has even heard of soft fire brick or brick to line a kiln. I hat to order it, but I'm at that point now.
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Some people live in the sticks, some industries are localized
As a general comment,
That's where the internet, customer service and telephones come in
The industrial items we use are not always on the internet
You still have to track stuff down like the old days, find a supplier and then call and ask who their local distributor and local STOCKING retailers are
Thermal Ceramics
115 East Mound
Girard, Illinois 62640
United States
T: +1 (706) 796 4200
Get directions http://www.morganthermalceramics.com/
Contact Us
They have an office in Illinois, just for fun call them and ask for local retailers, see what turns up
OP
Do the same for your area
http://www.morganthermalceramics.com/our-locations/Thermal Ceramics/all
In Ontario I go here
http://www.psh.ca/
Bill DeShivs
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Firebrick is used in boilers. Look up a mechanical contractor.