Old Foundry: Brainstorming

On our property we have a machine shed with an old foundry. There is a fan, the base for an anvil, a brick flu, and a large stone / concrete foundry.

I'm wondering if I can reuse this for metallurgical purposes with a rocket stove for the heat.

Any ideas would be most welcome!

A. J. : It looks like your original mason knew what he was doing, The chimney itself appears to be made of soft building brick, this can be tested easily !

Will it leave a brick colored streak behind if rubbed against a large but manageable hunk of concrete ! The front of your foundry may indeed be a non-portland
type of cement, but I THINK it is all a type of high temp sandstone. All laid down in the 1940's.

Partially due to the metal plate shown in the pictures as part of the transitional area between the open throat of the combustion zone and the base of the
chimney !

You can use what you have as a final chimney, after a Thermal mass or use the bricks ( with a confirming test, as the heart of the combustion zone of a
Rocket Mass Heater RMH !

Question ? Have you been to Cobcottage.com to download your PDF Copy of into Evans' Brand new 3rd ed. of Rocket Mass Heaters?

This is ''The Book"" and allows you to return to Permies.com knowing that you are using the same words and terms to describe the shape, size and Orientation
of all parts to themselves and each other when discussing the build of an individual RMH ! For the good of the crafts ! Big AL !

A foundry is for melting metals, so you can pour them into molds- casting.

A forge is for heating metals so you can bend, twist, cut, or otherwise shape them- forging.

It definitely looks like you've got a forge there rather than a foundry. And if there's an anvil stand, that would be confirmation.

Now, I'm not pointing this out to pick on your terminology. It's good to know which one is which is which so you can search the right places and find what you're after. I haven't seen anybody rework a brick forge to run off a rocket-style wood burner, but I haven't searched for it either. I DO do some forging, and I'd be surprised if you were able to do it well without air control. You don't normally work with your fire constantly running at max. If you're hoping to forge some steel, then you'd google things like, 'brick forge', 'rocket forge', 'rework old brick forge', 'add rocket to old brick forge', 'install rocket to existing forge chimney', etc.


On the other hand, if your "metallurgical purposes" are casting rather than forging, that might be another story. You'd want an insulated container for your crucible to sit in, where the rocket output would wash across it and heat it up. Those, you DO just run at max until your pour is ready (that is, until whatever you're melting is all liquid and ready to go). I don't see a convenient way to build such a container with the forge setup in the picture there, but that doesn't mean it impossible. If casting metal is what you're hoping to do, then you'd google things like 'wood fired foundry', 'rocket metal foundry', 'rocket metalcasting', 'build rocket to smelt aluminum', 'add crucible furnace to existing chimney', etc.



I hope that helps!

Thank you both for your input! I'm a newbie, so corrections on concepts and terms is MOST welcome!