I made a hood to retain more heat instead of just having a barrier in the back of what I would be pointing my torch at. This'll bounce more heat around and get the object very hot.

I carved this from pumice, which is a stone that comes from volcanic eruptions. Gasses cause a lot of air bubbles and the rapid cooling freezes it all in place to form a foam-like sponge of silica.

Because of its porosity and the fact that it is silicic mineral it will act as a very good refractory. Something that is refractory means that the material is able to withstand high temperatures and not decompose from the heat, or lose its rigidity and or strength. A lot of refractories are oxides of elements such as aluminum oxide or in this case, silicon dioxide.

The purpose of using this when I apply heat to something with a torch is to make as much use of the heat of the flame as I can. I use a gasoline fueled blow torch from the 1900's and it burns rather hot, but not as hot as a oxy-propane or oxy-acetylene torch, but with this torch table I'll be able to not waste the heat by letting it blaze through the air.

The fact that is rather light weight is a bonus.