Jack Troy on wed 11 sep 96
It is always a challenge to find refractories that'll stand up to the
extreme conditions of salt kiln fireboxes. As George VanOstrand points out,
pieces of used Corderite shelves will do pretty well; usually better than
silicon carbide, which varies so much in its manufacture that some pieces seem
to last forever while others disintegrate through stages of glassy, foamy,
spittley grundge. Alumina and zircon washes have been used by lots of
salt-firers who paint the fireboxes and bagwalls before each firing. And there
are pure zircon and pure alumina bricks and other specialized refractories that
are well-suited to salt kiln use; it's worth looking for them anywhere there are
high-temperature industries especially where glass and steel manufacturing take
place. They're expensive, but so, in their own way, are the bricks that don't
cost much and don't hold up. Most of us have to get by with applying protective
washes - it's a kind of 3-D ritualistic mantra that adds life to the parts of
the kiln that are most vulnerable to dragon's breath.
Jack Troy
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