Quote from Ed Caffrey on October 20, 2022, 6:27 am

 After teaching a recent Damascus class, I noticed that the welding forge wasn't heating as well, and after checking into it, found the burner/flame was coming through a hole about the size of my thumb (it should have been 1 1/2" in diameter.      So after pulling the forge  off it's table (a job that requires a  an engine hoist/cherry picker) I found that flux had accumulated to the point of blocking the burner.     A hammer/chisel only got me sparks, so out comes the hilti tool, and after a couple of hours, the forge now needs the front and rear of the forge completely recast, including the area where the burner enters.

  I typically keep a 5 gal bucket of castable around for repairs, but that's only a fraction of what I need.  So, after a couple of days, most of being flabbergasted at the shipping costs, I found an outfit in MA. where I could get the castable I need for $110 per bag, including the shipping.    The closest to me was a place in Oregon, but the same material there was $197 per bag shipped.   I also found that my 3200F fire mortar had dried up, so there went another $117 for another bucket of fire mortar.... which would have been only $45 had I been able to pick it up.    I did some quick calculations, and if I were to totally rebuild/reline this forge, it would could be as much as $1,182 just in refractory!     As it stands, it'll be around $600 just to repair this forge....and of course it won't be ready to use until likely the middle of January.    Guess that means it's time to get busy in the finish shop and finish up some knives!  🙂