Kurt Unterschuetz on sun 31 mar 96
I'm going to build a garbage raku kiln and have a question regarding the
type of bricks to use for a base. Here's what I thought I'd do:
Put a layer of cinder block on top of which I'd put two to three layers
of soft insulating bricks. then the fiber lined garbage can kiln on
top. Someone thought I should use hard fire bricks since they were
cheaper. I found that soft brick was preferable but do not know why.
Does anyone know why?
ps what's sodium silicate used for when building such a kiln?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Kurt Unterschuetz
bburruss@csn.net on mon 1 apr 96
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I'm going to build a garbage raku kiln and have a question regarding the
>type of bricks to use for a base. Here's what I thought I'd do:
>Put a layer of cinder block on top of which I'd put two to three layers
>of soft insulating bricks. then the fiber lined garbage can kiln on
>top. Someone thought I should use hard fire bricks since they were
>cheaper. I found that soft brick was preferable but do not know why.
>Does anyone know why?
>
>ps what's sodium silicate used for when building such a kiln?
>Thanks in advance for your time.
>Kurt Unterschuetz
Kurt,
I use the design in Steve Branfman's book: one layer of IFBs on
top of the cinder block and a second layer that has IFBs as the outside
coarse, but hard brick on the inside to act as a durable floor. You do not
want to use hard brick for the entire base because you will use way too
much fuel heating the brick.
If you have to buy brand new brick, both insulating and hard, the
cost differential for enough to build the base will not be too large. If
you can scrounge cheap or free hard brick then the cost differential will
seem huge. If you are near a large city, check the used brick yards.
Sometimes they have used IFB's. In Denver, I got lucky and bought 90 for
the cost of used hard brick. Another yard had more but they were so
crumbly, they weren't worth it at any price.
Have fun,
Bob
Pearl Joseph on mon 1 apr 96
I had the Hudson River Potter's Raku Kiln in my yard for some years, and we
started with soft bricks. However, the top layer which got most wear, tended
to crumble and crack. I replaced them with hard fire brick which held up
better. The trade off was the ability of the brick to hold the heat. The soft
brick are better for that reason. Hope this helps.
Pearl Joseph
Erin Hayes on tue 2 apr 96
I always figured soft bricks were best because they heat up fast. They
lose heat fast, too, but if you use hardbricks on the outside and line
the kiln box with soft, you can get the benefits of building heat quickly
and holding it for repeated firings.
=============================================================================
Erin Hayes, Art and Humanities Instructor Office: (509) 575-2418
Yakima Valley Community College E-mail: ehayes@ctc.edu
PO Box 1647
Yakima, WA 98907 "Clay is Good."
=============================================================================
bburruss@csn.net on wed 3 apr 96
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I'm going to build a garbage raku kiln and have a question regarding the
>type of bricks to use for a base. Here's what I thought I'd do:
>Put a layer of cinder block on top of which I'd put two to three layers
>of soft insulating bricks. then the fiber lined garbage can kiln on
>top. Someone thought I should use hard fire bricks since they were
>cheaper. I found that soft brick was preferable but do not know why.
>Does anyone know why?
>
>ps what's sodium silicate used for when building such a kiln?
>Thanks in advance for your time.
>Kurt Unterschuetz
Kurt,
I use the design in Steve Branfman's book: one layer of IFBs on
top of the cinder block and a second layer that has IFBs as the outside
coarse, but hard brick on the inside to act as a durable floor. You do not
want to use hard brick for the entire base because you will use way too
much fuel heating the brick.
If you have to buy brand new brick, both insulating and hard, the
cost differential for enough to build the base will not be too large. If
you can scrounge cheap or free hard brick then the cost differential will
seem huge. If you are near a large city, check the used brick yards.
Sometimes they have used IFB's. In Denver, I got lucky and bought 90 for
the cost of used hard brick. Another yard had more but they were so
crumbly, they weren't worth it at any price.
Have fun,
Bob
PlatypusD@aol.com on fri 5 apr 96
Kurt I've .built a lot of garbage can kilns. Silicate solution is high temp
glue! Just paint the inside of the can quickly before it drys then before
the silicate sets just press one inch fiber against it. I've also welded
incanol refractory studs one time one the inside of a steel drum and that
holds the fiber in place even better! Don Platypus d.
peter pinnell on mon 8 apr 96
Just make sure that you use the sodium silicate only on the cold face of the
fiber. Sodium silicate plus fiber plus heat equals glass. If you
want to rigidize fiber use a colloidal silica or a colloidal alumina.
They won't flux the fiber.
Pete Pinnell
On Fri, 5 Apr 1996 PlatypusD@aol.com wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Kurt I've .built a lot of garbage can kilns. Silicate solution is high temp
> glue! Just paint the inside of the can quickly before it drys then before
> the silicate sets just press one inch fiber against it. I've also welded
> incanol refractory studs one time one the inside of a steel drum and that
> holds the fiber in place even better! Don Platypus d.
>
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