WeinhardtA@aol.com on sat 4 may 96
It seems that we, as potters, should develop a clearinghouse for used brick.
I, too need a bunch and have not been having alot of luck locating any,
though certainly there must be some in the Philadelphia area. If anyone can
point me in the right direction... many thanks!
Albert Weinhardt
99 Bowls of Tea on the Wall Pottery
WeinhardtA@aol.com
Greg Van Velsir on sat 4 may 96
I was fairly certain that someone would suggest sources for used firebrick
- (hardbrick) - but since I haven't seen any .....
I have always gone to the local cement plants for used brick - generally
free - from their scrap yards. The bricks they use have odd sizes and
shapes (usually a large radius arc since their kilns are round and often
4-5 inches thick) and the face exposed to the inside of the kiln has
deposits from the clinker. But they usually use a high quality brick
("Diablo" is one I remember). So if you can live with some uneven sides you
will get as much brick as you need ..... for hauling it away. Even if you
don't use hardbrick for your exposed kiln faces (I only use fiber these
days) the scrap brick works great for bases, fireboxes, bag walls, etc.
Good luck with your kiln building.
Greg Van Velsir
Lancaster, CA
e-mail: vnvelsir@hughes.net
Phone: 1.805.724.1158
Indianapolis Art Center on sun 5 may 96
Used firebrick can be difficult to find if you are in a hurry. If you are
one to stockpile materials that you know you will need someday, then you
probably will have some success.
I have had good luck in a number of different places. First, try calling
ALL the refractory material suppliers within a comfortable driving distance
and ask them (preferably the warehouse "guy") if they have any used, scrap,
clearance, miscut, etc. firebrick that they can let go at a cheaper rate.
Be sure to also ask about fiber scraps and opened buckets of mortar. Some
of these places never keep anything used but some can never throw anything
away. Last fall I bought a whole skid of old hand-cut IFB's for ten
dollars. Seems they had been kicking around the warehouse about 20 years
and they just put them outside the week before. Some were a little wet but
they made a great arch.
If you don't have any luck with that then ask one of the employees (not the
administrative boss or the receptionist) if they do their own installation
work or if they contract it out. If they do their own, try to arrange a
situation where you can show up at a jobsite and literally dig bricks out of
the dumpster. If they are real nice they might even stack some up for you.
Most industrial sites that are replacing or rebuilding equipment will
discard ALL the old materials including backup bricks that show little wear
and tear. One company told me that I just missed by two days literally
thousands of slightly used perfectly good IFB's that I could have taken from
the dumpster.
If these options fail you could try advertising in your nearest potter's
guild, craft guild, etc. newsletters. Also be sure to check out the weekly
classified advertising papers that most urban areas have. Many great and
unusual bargains can be found there.
You can also try checking out military surplus. There are a lot of
military bases closing these days and they all seem to have unusual items
including firebrick. I bought a skid (600) of new Morex cheaply from a guy
who buys and sells used machinery and things. He bought the bricks from
Grissom AFB at auction.
This should give you some ideas of where to start. It can be some work but
perseverance will pay off. Give your name and phone number to the people
you talk to because eventually someone will call you.
By the way, keep your eyes open for burners and other free stuff while you
are searching for bricks. You never know where it will turn up.
Brian Moore
Indianapolis, IN
inartctr@inetdirect.net
Andy Misner on wed 23 aug 06
We have just come into about 500 used hard and a few insulator firebrick. We
are selling these for $400.00. We are located in Grand Rapids, Mi and you
would need to pick these up. I can provide pictures if you want of the brick
pallets.
Andy
www.indfirebrick.com
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