Vince Pitelka on mon 25 oct 04
>I was doing some cleanup work this weekend and part of the job was cleaning
> up some broken IFB. Some of it got tossed but, packrat that I am, most of
> it
> got stacked away along with some good bricks, despite the fact that I have
> no idea what I might do with it.
Bruce -
It is unwise for a potter to ever discard refractory products. Softbrick
scraps are especially useful. The junkers are easily crushed and used as
grog in refractory mortar or castable refractory. The ones that are over
1/2 brick are easily trimmed to make half bricks. You need plenty of those
in kiln construction. Also, almost any IFB pieces that are 2.5" thick can
be used for one of the IFB layers beneath the final hardbrick layer in a
kiln floor. They can also be mortared together for the insulating layer
over the arch.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Bruce Girrell on mon 25 oct 04
I was doing some cleanup work this weekend and part of the job was cleaning
up some broken IFB. Some of it got tossed but, packrat that I am, most of it
got stacked away along with some good bricks, despite the fact that I have
no idea what I might do with it.
My observation is that the bricks fall into three types:
Type 1) Bricks that are broken but you have the exact pieces (typically 2,
but sometimes 3) that fit back together to make a full sized brick
Type 2) Portions of bricks that are longer than 1/2 brick in length at the
shortest point
Type 3) Portions of brick that are shorter than 1/2 brick in length
So the question is: What do you do with broken firebrick?
Will lightning strike me down if I use one of those Type 1 bricks in my next
kiln? Where would it be better/worse to make use of one? For the Type 1
bricks, do you make any differentiation between what you would do with a
2-piece brick as opposed to a 3-piece one? Is there any better way to make
use of the Type 2 bricks than to cut them down to half-bricks? What do you
do with the Type 3 bricks?
Bruce "Honey, when you're done with the garage, do you think you could..."
Girrell
Mike Gordon on mon 25 oct 04
On Oct 25, 2004, at 6:10 AM, Bruce Girrell wrote:
> So the question is: What do you do with broken firebrick?
>
> Bruce,
You can cut the broken bricks into usable sizes, they are always
useful, especially if you can get a full half size out of the piece.
Smaller ones come in handy, too, I cut them down for that 1/4 " piece
that I need to raise a kiln shelf up a little higher than a post will
do. I do large sculpture as well as pots so I can use the small broken
pieces ,too, I grind and crush them into sand size pieces spread them
out on the shelf or floor of the kiln and slide the piece into the
kiln. Works great. Lots of uses to be sure. I can't seem to throw away
anything that I think I might be able to use at a later date.. need
lots of room! Mike Gordon
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Earl Brunner on tue 26 oct 04
I would be cautious about using soft brick (especially parts of bricks) for
shelf supports. They don't support weight well. I had a friend who used
them because his shelf supports were back ordered and he lost most of the
load as the soft brick crumbled under the combined affects of heat and
weight.
Earl Brunner
Las Vegas, NV
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Stephen
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 6:02 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Broken bricks
Or short posts, temporary kilns, simple earthenware kilns, calcining kilns,
raku, etc.
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
David Hendley on tue 26 oct 04
Vince is correct - don't throw away insulating firebricks, no matter
how broken they are.
Crushed IFBs make an excellent addition to castable refractory mixtures.
I have a layer of larger pieces on top of my IFB kiln arch, as 3" of more
insulation (3" thick bricks). They were just set in place, end to end, and
then
covered with fireclay mortar.
A great use for broken IFBs is to crush them (wear a respirator) to
"window screen" mesh, and make a mixture of 1/2 fireclay and
1/2 crushed bricks. Extrude this through a 1 1/2" square die to
make kiln posts. After extruding and cutting, roll them in hydrated
alumina to make them last even longer, especially in atmospheric kilns.
David Hendley
Working hard to make sure there is no mug left behind
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> >I was doing some cleanup work this weekend and part of the job was
cleaning
> > up some broken IFB. Some of it got tossed but, packrat that I am, most
of
> > it
> > got stacked away along with some good bricks, despite the fact that I
have
> > no idea what I might do with it.
>
> Bruce -
> It is unwise for a potter to ever discard refractory products. Softbrick
> scraps are especially useful. The junkers are easily crushed and used as
> grog in refractory mortar or castable refractory. The ones that are over
> 1/2 brick are easily trimmed to make half bricks. You need plenty of
those
> in kiln construction. Also, almost any IFB pieces that are 2.5" thick can
> be used for one of the IFB layers beneath the final hardbrick layer in a
> kiln floor. They can also be mortared together for the insulating layer
> over the arch.
> - Vince
Stephen on tue 26 oct 04
Or short posts, temporary kilns, simple earthenware kilns, calcining kilns,
raku, etc.
Stephen on wed 27 oct 04
I guesse I need to go back and read the origional post again. I thought
they were hard and soft bricks.
Ron Roy on wed 27 oct 04
Careful now - soft brick as posts in a high fire kiln can be a disaster.
RR
>Or short posts, temporary kilns, simple earthenware kilns, calcining kilns,
>raku, etc.
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513
Bobbruch1@AOL.COM on thu 28 oct 04
> Earl Brunner writes:
> Subject: Re: Broken bricks
>=20
> I would be cautious about using soft brick=20
> (especially parts of bricks) for
> shelf supports.=A0They don't support=20
> weight well.
>=20
I find a good place for old softbrick is=20
under pieces with runny glazes.
Yolu can saw it into usable shapes,
although one should use a mask
a venting when doing this.
It is easier to get glaze runs off
softbrick than off kiln shelves. And
softbrick that clings to the bottom
of a pot is usually easy to remove.
Bob Bruch
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