Arnak
Seasoned Member
Posts: 146
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Post by Arnak on Jul 1, 2007 20:55:29 GMT
Hi,
I need to build a small brazing hearth, can anyone suggest where I can buy a small quantity of fire bricks and insulating bricks please?
Arnak
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Post by Tel on Jul 1, 2007 21:38:43 GMT
A BBQ supplier would be a good place to start. Our local one (BBQ's Galore) carries a pretty good range of 'em.
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steam4ian
Elder Statesman
One good turn deserves another
Posts: 2,069
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Post by steam4ian on Jul 1, 2007 22:02:52 GMT
G'day Tel. Thanks for the advice; I too have been wondering where to get fire bricks as I want to build up a brazing hearth. I don't want to set the kitchen alight again. I'll try BBQs Galour for castable refractory as well, it's a great material. Years ago I made some fire bricks for a 12"/ft T class loco with castable refractory, great stuff.
Thks Ian
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Post by GWRdriver on Jul 1, 2007 22:04:02 GMT
Arnak, The key word is Refractory . . . look for a seller of refractory lining materials, such as a boiler or furnace supplier. They are likely to have what's known as lightweight refractory brick which is very good for hearths. The other alternative will be building materials suppliers, particularly masonry suppliers who may have what we call "firebrick", a whitish or cream hard-fired clay brick used to line fireplaces.
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Post by Tel on Jul 1, 2007 22:06:41 GMT
Yeah mate, the castable refractory is a good choice as well, that way you can make exactly what you want. I've done two casting furnaces with it. Best source, I've found, is a potter's supply house. I get mine from Oberon and it's well worth the 40 min drive.
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abby
Statesman
Posts: 925
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Post by abby on Jul 1, 2007 23:31:04 GMT
Nice one Tel. you shown me yours so heres mine lol! many suppliers online if you search for castable refractory
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Post by baggo on Jul 2, 2007 0:24:50 GMT
For a brazing hearth I just use ordinary lightweight insulating building blocks which are available from any builders merchants or DIY stores such as B&Q, Wickes, etc.
John
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ace
Statesman
Posts: 528
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Post by ace on Jul 2, 2007 8:41:36 GMT
You could try Chronos Engineering Supplies, Thats where I bought my stuff. They sell it in blocks or flat board, and you can cut it to size.
ACE
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Post by Tel on Jul 2, 2007 9:42:01 GMT
Is that a chimney at the rear Abby? Mine just exhausts thru the vent hole. Very nice setup any'ow.
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Arnak
Seasoned Member
Posts: 146
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Post by Arnak on Jul 2, 2007 14:12:13 GMT
Hi Folks, Thanks for the replies, I'll try my local builders and see what they have got. If not then the nearest B&Q. I never could spell Refractoy, err.. Reffactry, oh...** FireBricks. ) Arnak
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S.D.L.
Seasoned Member
Posts: 107
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Post by S.D.L. on Jul 2, 2007 17:43:00 GMT
Shesto do thel ightweight blocks and sheet that you see at the exibitions next to the Sievert gas burners / torches. These are great as a top working surface. not on there web site but contact details below Shesto Ltd, Unit 2, Sapcote Trading Centre, 374 High Road, Willesden, London, NW10 2DH, UK Alternatively, you can call on: 020 8451 6188 (International +44 20 8451 6188) or fax us on 020 8451 5450. Website with burners for interest www.shesto.co.uk/acatalog/Sievert_Pro_Torches_&_Burners.htmlNo interest other than as customer. Steve Larner
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Post by chris vine on Jul 2, 2007 21:08:57 GMT
Hi Abby and Tel,
What metals are you melting?
I have an old friend in Kent who has a foundry in an old barn where he casts everything for his locomotives from old bits of combine harvester pulleys and cogs. Recycling at its best. When melting several pounds of iron at night it is a real sight to behold.....
Once we cast some brass and got it much too hot. Suddenly we were in a snow storm. It must have been the zinc burning out and coming down all round us as zinc oxide. Probably poisonous, I don't know but I am still around to tell the tale, many years later.....
Chris.
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simonwass
Part of the e-furniture
Cecil Pagets 2-6-2 of 1908. Engine number 2299. Would make a fascinating model....
Posts: 472
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Post by simonwass on Jul 2, 2007 22:06:37 GMT
I was wandering around at work one night and came across 5 or 6 pallets of soft white firebricks. They'd probably be used to line some of the ducting from our boilers. I'm saying no more though I've always fancied doing some of my own castings, my dad has made patterns and had good castings made from them, melting our own metal is the next step, I even have the Backyard foundrywork book. An interesting comment on the book, it 'won' an award in one of the daily papers for the most ludricous book content - Foundrywork for the amateur! I mean, its deadly dangerous you know! I wonder if such a book could be published now? I'd probably fire my burner on waste oil, I have lots of crankcase drainings and well over a ton of waste vegetable oil sat at the bottom of the garden. See my website for an explanation.
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abby
Statesman
Posts: 925
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Post by abby on Jul 3, 2007 4:57:14 GMT
Yes Tel , the flue takes the exhaust out of the workshop , gets hotter than a possums bum without it lol! I generally have the vent closed off , it isn't really big enough for adding metal to the melt , it's for lighting and inspection. I melt copper and copper based alloys, in the main silicon brass/bronze and recently nickel silver. I haven't cast any iron, I have no real requirement for it , I would give it a go if the need arose , but would probably build a small cupola. I use propane , burners for waste oil are a pain , the crap in the oil clogs up jets and they are smokey until you get em running a while , I also have "foundrywork for the amateur" bought it over 40 years ago , I think it was 2/6d , ahhh they don't write books like that any more , nor money come to think of it . I also bought "electro-plating for the amateur" , never did find a copy of "sex for the amateur" , probably have been a better buy!
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Post by Tel on Jul 3, 2007 9:19:43 GMT
It's a nice set-up Abby. I also use propane, with Michael Porter type burners, easy to make and they work very well. Started off using charcoal, which is good, but a lot more work and when my stock was used up it was just too much hassle making viable quantities of the stuff. The difficulty I have is in obtaining 'real' crucibles, so I am pretty much limited to aluminium and the occasional shot of brass.
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abby
Statesman
Posts: 925
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Post by abby on Jul 4, 2007 4:06:01 GMT
Self blowing ? I use an oil burner with the jet removed ,works a treat but needs forced air, I am pretty lucky I suppose , almost anything you need for foundrywork or model making can be had within a thirty mile radius.
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Post by Tel on Jul 4, 2007 8:50:47 GMT
yep, self blowing and, as you can see, made out of (modified) standard plumbing fittings. The jet is a mig tip (.9mm in the big one). They work a treat.
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