Looking For A K-26 Firebrick Recipe

[AVPottery]

I love being a DIY'er and looking for a firebrick recipe that could compare to K-26 IFB, so I can fire to cone 10 in it.  None of the local brick companies sell IFB so this seems like a way to go.  Im not really interested in feedback whether I should or not.  Just a recipe will do, preferably from someone who has made and fired the brick and experience with the results.

 

Thanks,

 

 

[Magnolia Mud Research]

You might look up the oxide analysis of a commercial IFB and back calculate the recipe using a mixture of fire clays, feldspars, sand, and sawdust.  The calculation is the same as taking an glaze oxide analysis and working out a recipe.  tedious, yes, but not all that difficult.

The sawdust provides the open pores that makes fire brick into Insulated fire brick.  My memory is that about 30-40 % sawdust by volume should work.

If you can get a copy of the Dennis Parks book  "A Potter's Guide to Raw Glazing and Oil Firing", you might find a recipe. He built kilns with local materials firing his own fire bricks.

LT

[Mark C.]

Dennis was the man on this-I second the sawdust for burn out .

[AVPottery]

Took your advice and have the book on the way.  Cant wait!

[Mark C.]

A brick press will come in handy and you can build one.

[High Bridge Pottery]

I had this table lying around. Never tried it out though.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jPhBlTCVd3B6V9PdIkFW8A-npnOGui-evnfmJzIdUEE/edit?usp=sharing

[AVPottery]

I have added a formula that I pulled for a K-26 firebrick.  I was not able to reverse engineer it so far.  I figure I would share this in case any of you gurus know how to create a recipe from this.  Im going to keep trying myself and see what I can come up with.  From what I can tell it looks like this is still mostly fireclay and silica.  Thanks for any help! 

 

Chemical Analysis, %

Alumina, Al 2O3 - 48  

Silica, SiO2 - 37.5

Ferric oxide, Fe2O3 - 0.3  

Titanium oxide, TiO2 - 1.2  

Calcium oxide, CaO - 13

Magnesium oxide, MgO - 0.1

Alkalies, as Na2O and K2O - 0.3

 

http://www.morganthermalceramics.com/sites/default/files/datasheets/6_1-14-2hightempifb.pdf

[Mark C.]

I have a friend who is potter like myself who got into brick making for fun-specialty bricks with a town name on them.They where made from ground up bricks and clay. They are more hard than soft in weights and feel. Not nearly as strong as the real deal. I have one in brick collection.

[Magnolia Mud Research]

A good starting point for reverse engineering the oxides to a batch recipe is Susan Peterson's textbook, "The Craft and Art of Clay".  for the fourth edition look at page 359. 

 

LT

[Marcia Selsor]

I watched a video of how wood frames were used as a gang mold for the bricks. Fascinating.

Marcia

[Marcia Selsor]

If you are thinking about soda firing, I would go with the high alumina formula on the inside layer of bricks. You can reduce the alumina on a second outside layer. When it is time to rebuild, just turn them around with the fresh face on the inside.Second thought, the bricks might be toast after soda firing.

 

Marcia

[Mark C.]

old  damaged soft bricks are easy to come by -how about grinding them up and putting a binder in the mix and making the bricks from that?

[AVPottery]

Well laughably I got the "potters guide to raw glazing and oil firing" book.  The author actually did not make his own fire brick or fire his own.  Instead he bought firebrick and made dirt bricks for external insulation.  It was a good read but disappointing that the fire bricks were still commercially purchased.  

[bciskepottery]

http://www.potters.org/subject55523.htm

 

http://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/5599-looking-for-recipe-for-light-weight-kiln-bricks-for-electric-kiln/