[John Schaefer]

I have recently modified my small gas forge and ran into a little problem. I cut a hole in the front to allow crucibles to be put in and wanted to attach a door that will swing open and close to trap the heat and also be able to close when I am forging blades. The door opening is 1.5x1 inch opening. The problem I have is I do not know how to attach the durablanket to the new door I made. Do I need glue or some type of tape to hold it there, I am kind of lost. Any help would be great.

Thanks

John

[Michael Pikula]

Hi John,

If I was doing it, I would make the door with a lip so that it holds the ceramic blanket in place, then coat the edges and face that will be exposed to the inside with so kind of ceramic coating. ITC 100 and Satinate are two of the most common used. Don't skip on the ceramic coating, your lungs won't like you if you do.

Another option would be to forget the door, and build a small shelf in front of the forge opening, and stack hard fire bricks to create the sized opening that you want or need for the application that you are using it for.

Hope this helps, also check out Don Fogg's forum which is geared more toward blade smithing for more information and ideas.

[Justin King]

I drilled the doors on my forge and ran some screws through that are long enough to poke all the way through the wool, then criss-crossed bailing wire around and between the screws, tying the inswool down, then covered the whole thing in satanite.