After checking on the new forge this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it appeared cured enough to remove the forms… so I did. It wasn’t too tough of a job. I cut the tape with a razor knife, and pried the forms out of the “door” areas. Luckily, everything came out smoothly.
I suspected there would be some dressing up needed on the door openings, so I grabbed a ceramic tile file that’s been in the shop for years…
After a bit up filing, I got the front and rear openings cleaned up nicely…
I’m thinking that forming in a “flame channel” might have been a good thing. Guess I’ll find out when it cures enough to put in place and fire. A little bit of the duct tape got hung up in the curing refractory, but my guess is that won’t be any big deal… it should just burn out when I fire the forge for the first time.
Looks like my measurements worked out correctly for using fire brick in the front and back “doors”. Here’s a pic of the front door… from inside the forge.
I’m thinking that after it cures, I’ll take the torch to the inside to burn away all the stuff left over by the forms… gotta make sure the surfaces are fairly clean prior to coating the interior with ITC-100.
MORE TO COME!! STAY TUNED!!