Vent: Bought a cheap 'forge ready' refractory mix that cracked after one firing

Wasted about $45 and a whole afternoon patching it up. Anyone have a go-to brand for small forge linings that actually holds up?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_hall882mo ago

That "forge ready" label is basically a dare from the universe. I had the same thing happen with a bag of Firebrick brand stuff, total junk. These days I just bite the bullet and mix my own with some kaowool and a proper castable, it's a pain but at least it survives past the first heat cycle.

jamieperez2mo ago

Yeah @jake_hall88, it's like they count on people not knowing what a real refractory mix even looks like. That pre-made stuff often has way too much sand or cheap fillers. Saw a guy online who cut open a "forge ready" brick and it was basically colored cement inside, crumbled at like 1200 degrees. Mixing your own is the only way to control what's actually in there.

michael69310d ago

A buddy of mine tried the same shortcut last year, bought a bag of pre-mix from a hardware store that claimed it was good for forges. He spent a whole weekend building this nice little forge, fired it up, and the lining cracked into three pieces on the second heat cycle. He was so mad he just threw the whole thing in the dumpster and started over with a bucket of Mizzou castable he ordered online. That mix he made himself has been going strong for like eight months now, no cracks at all. Sometimes the extra work upfront really does save you the headache later.