Found Collection

by **John Seni** » Fri, 28 Aug 1992 04:19:23

I am hoping to build a kiln for salt-firing.. A major obstacle that
I have come up against is the price of firebricks. I need ~500
bricks and they cost ~1.50 each - which is too much. I am hoping
to get some of the bricks free from an old furnace or something
similar, but I will still need some in all probability. It occurred
to me that I could maybe make & fire some bricks myself. So, the
question - does anyone know anything about making firebricks?
Where could I find recipes etc.? Also if anyone knows of any
interesting (working) designs for kilns I'd love to hear from you.

Yours,

John.
--

by **Dale G** » Fri, 28 Aug 1992 12:52:05

Quote:

>I am hoping to build a kiln for salt-firing.. A major obstacle that
>I have come up against is the price of firebricks. I need ~500
>bricks and they cost ~1.50 each - which is too much. I am hoping
>to get some of the bricks free from an old furnace or something
>similar, but I will still need some in all probability. It occurred
>to me that I could maybe make & fire some bricks myself. So, the
>question - does anyone know anything about making firebricks?
>Where could I find recipes etc.? Also if anyone knows of any
>interesting (working) designs for kilns I'd love to hear from you.

>Yours,

>John.
>--

Yes, it's called refractory cement. Go back to your fire brick place and ask
for it. Another idea is to use KO-Wool (phonetic spelling) It's a cermanic
material that comes in a blanket. We use it in our forge. I love it.
It's light weight, easy to install. Only draw back it makes you itch, so
wear gloves when handling it.

Dale

Village Blacksmith

by **Boyd Ha** » Fri, 28 Aug 1992 22:36:17

Hello,

Another option is to use bricks that are designed for flue liners. I used
to build hard brick kilns from these bricks, which at the time were 10% the
cost of a regulation fire brick. They worked fine at cone 10 although one
might want to fire a couple in a salt kiln to see if the additional flux
doesn't cause problems.

These bricks apparently are intended for use in the flues of chimneys and
as such mature at higher tempatures than "normal" bricks. I used to purchase
them from a company in the Los Angeles area "Pacific Clay Products" although
you can probably find them most anywhere.

Boyd Hays

by **John Seni** » Sat, 29 Aug 1992 00:53:43

Quote:

> Yes, it's called refractory cement. Go back to your fire brick place and ask
> for it. Another idea is to use KO-Wool (phonetic spelling) It's a cermanic
> material that comes in a blanket. We use it in our forge. I love it.
> It's light weight, easy to install. Only draw back it makes you itch, so
> wear gloves when handling it.

Refractory cement is still very expensive. I just had a look at "Pioneer
pottery" by Michael Cardew - and he gives a recipe for fire-brick as
20% bond clay and 80% fine grog. Does anyone happen to know what bond
clay is? How did you use the ceramic fibre in your forge? Did you
build a frame from ordinary bricks and line it or something similar?
I am pretty sure that it has a high silica content and so would be
completely unsuitable for salt-firing (also the smoke probably wouldn't
do it any good.)

John.
--

by **Dale G** » Sun, 30 Aug 1992 02:41:41

Quote:

>Refractory cement is still very expensive. I just had a look at "Pioneer
>pottery" by Michael Cardew - and he gives a recipe for fire-brick as
>20% bond clay and 80% fine grog. Does anyone happen to know what bond
>clay is? How did you use the ceramic fibre in your forge? Did you
>build a frame from ordinary bricks and line it or something similar?
>I am pretty sure that it has a high silica content and so would be
>completely unsuitable for salt-firing (also the smoke probably wouldn't
>do it any good.)

>John.
>--

I used piece of sewer pipe for the body of my forge. What kind of heat
source are you planing to use for your kiln. We use propane to fire
our forge. The sewer pipe has a thickness of aprox 14 gauge. I don't know
what smoke will do it. It might do nothing to it. We purchased our ko-wool
from a place that sells and builds wood stoves.

Send me some more info about your kiln and I will ring up the place we
purschased it and ask.

About fire bricks. We use fire brick for the bottom and ends of the forge.
We are noticing that after awhile the heating and cooling of the bricks
is starting to make them crack. My best friend builds industrial size
kilns, induction furnaces and they pour the linings for them. I will
give him a call tonight and pick his brain for you.

Dale

Found Collection

Kilns and firebricks.

Kilns and firebricks.

Kilns and firebricks.

Kilns and firebricks.

Kilns and firebricks.

Kilns and firebricks.