Jon Brinley on tue 1 feb 05
Hello Mark Tiggs, all =20
I am building a Minnisota/Midland Flat Top. This is because=20
I am altering the building materials. Using what I have on hand.
I have an abundance(about 10,000) of old solid red bricks.
Also have 10 old electric kilns that I have taken apart, salvaged
the bricks. Squared the ends so all are uniform in size.
I can feel the bristles rising on some of the diehards necks.
But I have thought this through and can prove them wrong.
=20
Mine will be built and sprayed with ITC 100. Areas like burner=20
ports, chimney flue and door will be K-26 hard bricks. Interior will=20
be lined with the soft brick from the kilns. Roof/ceiling will be 2
layers if ceramic fiber(soaked in ITC) under the bricks, exterior=20
will be coated with refractory cement. Burners will be high
pressure propane coated with ITC 213. Shelves will be silicon=20
carbide sprayed with ITC 100.
End result will have a setting area about 48" square.
All this for under $400.00 US, excluding cost of slab and roof=20
of shed. Which was $310.00.
Ok I am ready for the onslaught!!
Jon in Midland
Jon Brinley on wed 2 feb 05
All,
Well first let me say the bricks where fired at the factory to =
2500 degrees(according to their representative). I know from an =
employee(not the representative) that this is the temp the train kiln =
runs at. They probably are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2300 =
according to the employee.
As for durability. I can show you two kilns locally that are made of =
local(clay) red brick. One(wood fired) has been salted heavily, and has =
never been reworked, built in early 70's, only minor repairs. Taken to =
^12+. The other is a dome kiln at the brickyard and is lined with =
firebrick. Not fired now but in its day was a steady production kiln. =
Couldn't tell you what temp it was fired to.
I have fired a few of the bricks in my electric to ^8. Only because I =
didn't have a ^10 for the sitter or shelf. Used one as a shelf support, =
just to see if a load would have an effect...I saw no measurable =
difference going or coming. One was so reduced when I put it in it was =
purple. It came out with a new look, almost like refiring a pot. It =
re-oxidized and looks similar to the others, though a shade darker.
The thought here is the ITC should provide enough protection with 4" =
soft firebrick between it and the red brick. The refractory cement =
coating is going to be for the roof only. As Nils Lous plans show, just =
to keep them together.
Jon in Midland
Kurt Wild on wed 2 feb 05
Jon Brinley
- no "bristles rising" from me;
in fact, I think you have a great idea.
And, based on my experience with ITC and a flattop-
I am convinced it will work out fine for you.
It's great to know about individuals like your self that -
have the courage of their convictions even in light of
anticipated "bristles rising"
to move forward ---
Kurt
*******************************************************************
Kurt Wild
1000 E. Cascade Ave.
River Falls, WI 54022
phone: 715-425-5715
email: kurtwild@sbcglobal.net
web site: www.uwrf.edu/~W1044055
Mark Cortright on wed 2 feb 05
>John Brinley wrote:
>
>>Using what I have on hand.
>>I have an abundance(about 10,000) of old solid red bricks.
> >Mine will be built and sprayed with ITC 100.
Is your time worth anything???
Let is know after the 1st cone 10 fire how things are going. I
really want to hear about the 2 inches of fiber under the red brick
flat top roof and how it holds up?
"no bristles here" just 10 kilns behind me. Good luck
Mark Cortright
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
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dannon rhudy on wed 2 feb 05
Jon said:
I am building a Minnisota/Midland Flat Top. ....I have an
abundance(about 10,000) of old solid red bricks.....
Well, Jon, what temp can your "old red brick" take?
Have you tried putting some in bisque bowls and firing
to your usual glaze temp, see what happens? How hot
do you expect those bricks to get during a firing, and
what will be your glaze temp, anyway? Are you saying
that the kiln will be lined with insulating brick and these
will be your outer layer? If so, it might very well work,
since you won't be using them for the roof of kiln. But
if I were you I'd sure test a lot before I went to that much
trouble.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
Bruce Girrell on wed 2 feb 05
John Brinley wrote:
>Using what I have on hand.
>I have an abundance(about 10,000) of old solid red bricks.
>Mine will be built and sprayed with ITC 100.
Another interesting demo that Nils Lou documents in The Art of Firing is the
construction of a kiln from *plywood*. The plywood is protected by a coating
of ITC100. I don't recall if the book specifies the peak temperature the
kiln was fired to, how fast it was fired, or how many firings it survived,
but I suspect that the red brick will fare better than plywood. The liner
will help too, of course.
Just guessing, but I would think that you'll get some non-fatal cracking of
the red brick from thermal stresses. Between that and the fact that I'm an
S.O.B. (Stak-O-Brix) proponent, I'm not sure how much benefit you'll derive
from the exterior coating.
Good Luck. Let us know how it turns out.
Bruce "no bristles here" Girrell
Louis Katz on wed 2 feb 05
A folk potter in Itawamba Mississippi, can't think of his name builds
his kilns out of yellow house brick. My first kiln, a wood burning raku
kiln in my backyard used a bunch of red brick, and had a wooden firebox
(thick logs). Good luck. Have fun and make sure that catastrophic
failures won't be a catastrophe.
Louis
On Feb 1, 2005, at 4:59 PM, Jon Brinley wrote:
> Hello Mark Tiggs, all
> I am building a Minnisota/Midland Flat Top. This is because
> I am altering the building materials. Using what I have on hand.
> I have an abundance(about 10,000) of old solid red bricks.
> Also have 10 old electric kilns that I have taken apart, salvaged
> the bricks. Squared the ends so all are uniform in size.
>
> I can feel the bristles rising on some of the diehards necks.
> But I have thought this through and can prove them wrong.
>
> Mine will be built and sprayed with ITC 100. Areas like burner
> ports, chimney flue and door will be K-26 hard bricks. Interior will
> be lined with the soft brick from the kilns. Roof/ceiling will be 2
> layers if ceramic fiber(soaked in ITC) under the bricks, exterior
> will be coated with refractory cement. Burners will be high
> pressure propane coated with ITC 213. Shelves will be silicon
> carbide sprayed with ITC 100.
> End result will have a setting area about 48" square.
>
> All this for under $400.00 US, excluding cost of slab and roof
> of shed. Which was $310.00.
>
> Ok I am ready for the onslaught!!
>
>
> Jon in Midland
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> 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.
>
>
http://falcon.tamucc.edu/~lkatz/
Lee Love on thu 3 feb 05
dannon rhudy wrote:
>Well, Jon, what temp can your "old red brick" take?
>Have you tried putting some in bisque bowls and firing
>to your usual glaze temp, see what happens?
>
Testing sounds like a good idea. "Never say Never"! Oops!
Steve Mills pointed us previously to this webpage, of
the simple woodfired kiln he built of housebrick.:
http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk/web2/page4.html
Here is even a simpler version, pictures from New Zealand (like
the gomigama in my back yard that I used to bisque in for work in my
teacher's noborigama when I was doing my apprenticeship):
http://www.gartside.info/woodkilnintro.htm
If your bricks are not hot enough for the fireface, you can
always use them for the top of your chimney.
--
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/ WEB LOG
http://public.fotki.com/togeika/ Photos!
Jon Brinley on fri 4 feb 05
Michael,
That sounds great. BUT I'm not building a electric kiln.
Mine will be propane fired. And will be lined with insulating
firebrick.
Jon in Midland
Michael Wendt on sun 6 feb 05
Sorry Jon,
I must have mixed two posts.
Seemed like someone was building an electric.
As to red brick as backing for soft brick, they would be more likely to work
in this application and if several courses were stacked up in staggered
fashion, would add a lot of thermal mass that would slow cooling while not
hurting the heating rate provided they can otherwise take the heat as you
already determined ... so, go for it!
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
USA
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com
Jon wrote:
Michael,
That sounds great. BUT I'm not building a electric kiln.
Mine will be propane fired. And will be lined with insulating
firebrick.
Jon in Midland
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