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Houston, TX 77095-2649

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To Preserve and Promote the Art and Craft of Blacksmithing Through Education.

Welcome to HABAIRON.ORG, the website of the Houston Area Blacksmith's Association, the Internet resource of choice for the blacksmith in and around Houston, Texas. We have the technology!

August 19, 2006

Refractory Technique
with
Bill and Clint Jones

Bill Jones The August 19 HABA meeting will be hosted by Ed Malmgren at Components Inc at East 610 Loop and McCarty. The featured demonstrators will be the team of Bill and Clint Jones of Beaumont. The August meeting will be your opportunity to learn about refractory from different manufacturers...and the application, installation and repair techniques for various kinds. There is a lot of misinformation out there about refractory and much of that misinformation will be clarified at this meeting.

Bill and Clint plan to demonstrate refractory mixing and packing techniques for a raku furnace, and a ribbon burner. They will also build a new style forge using expanded metal with four inches of blanket and a spray-on 95% reflective rigidizer. (Pink is Good Stuff!)

Another part of the demonstration will be learning how to cut your own fire brick. You will then have the option to pay someone to cut brick for you or you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself. Learning these techniques would be especially important to those members who also have kilns.

And now for the best part. If you have a forge which needs some kind of castable refractory, bring it along. Bill will probably have enough refractory on hand to get it running again. There is a catch however! You need to call Dave Koenig at 281-855-2869 or send him an e-mail at: handforgedmetals@yahoo.com and let him know what the outside dimensions of your forge is. You will now have an opportunity to apply what you learned about mixing and packing refractory to your own forge.

Here are some relevent links about refractory, forges, and some suppliers....


These are some of the people and sights provided by Gerald Pollard from Balcones. Another page of extensive photos of the triple demo are available at Refractory Demos .
When & Where :

Saturday, August 19 :

The schedule looks like this for Saturday morning:

  • 8:00 am : Sign in and setup
  • 8:30 am : HABA Meeting and announcements
  • 9:00 am : Begin Demo
  • 12:00 pm : Lunch
  • 1:00 pm : Continue demo
  • 4:00 pm : Conclude and cleanup


Where :

Components Etc. at 8866 North Loop East, Houston, TX.

Components Etc. is the yellow building by the Citgo Station in the northwest corner of the East 610 Loop and McCarty. If you need to get in touch with Ed, call 713-673-3286.

Follow North Loop 610 East until it turns south. As you drive over a railroad overpass on the curve, exit the feeder at McCarty and turn right into the first driveway, the Hart Radiator Parking Lot. Ed will have a big HABA Parking sign in place. Component Etc is three doors to the South.

For people who need to offload equipment, drive up to Component and offload. There is limited parking at Component itself and that parking will be reserved for those offloading things for the meeting.


What to Bring

  • Bring safety glasses with side shields. This is a requirement!
  • Bring a chair.
  • Bring a forge to be relined with a castable form of refractory
  • Gloves and hearing protection are highly recommended.
  • HABA will provide water and soda.
  • Pack a lunch or decide to have lunch at one of the many restaurants in the immediate area.
You do not have to be a member to attend our meetings! Bring a Guest!

Bring your Membership Dues if you want to work at a forge and are not a current Member !

Minors are welcome but must be accompanied by a responsible adult.



Notes about this Website

This website is Under Development and will continue to evolve for HABA Members.

The use any of the material from this site is at your own risk. All persons associated with this material disclaim any responsibility or liability for damages or injuries resulting from the use or application of this information. They assume no responsibility or liability for the accuracy, fitness, proper design, safety or safe use of any information presented here.

Please send all feedback/correction/omission/suggestions to your webmaster, Richard Boswell .
Enjoy!

http://www.habairon.org
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Last updates were on August 20, 2006

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