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**Tscarborough** · 04-20-2010, 01:47 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Do they go "Clink!" or "thunk" when you hit them.

**aeu99217** · 04-20-2010, 01:58 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Not too sure. Think it was more of a 'thunk'. Which is better? I'll try it again tomorrow. Does it matter that it is on grass?

Cheers

**dmun** · 04-20-2010, 02:01 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

testing tinyPic box that says "IMG code for forums and message boards" It's right there next to the picture...

Yep, it works. If you want it smaller, download the free, easy picture viewer/editor, Irfanview if you're on a windows machine.

**Tscarborough** · 04-20-2010, 02:39 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Thunk is better.

**nissanneill** · 04-20-2010, 03:36 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Ross,
from a person who also supports the use of good red solid bricks for substitute firebrick builds, they are looking OK. I would get a larger sledge rather than the 'mash hammer' and give them a really hard hit. I use a 16lb sledge, the biggest one sold but don't put as much effort or you will turn this brick to dust. This will tell the final tale. if it crumbles into a powdery mess, the don't use, if it breaks into hard, sharp shards and less pieces, then they will be fine. I also try to crumble the centre of the brick with the fingers, a pair of pliers or a small hammer to see how it breaks down.
I used the 16lb sledge to break the 30 year old house brick (as I don't have any really old bricks around), it exploded and only left the impact area in the pic. I had to collect the pieces from around a metre and a half radius. Next was te clay fired paver, around half the energy and good results.
I have also included a range of hammers that I use, The smaller yellow handled one is is the same or similar size to the hammer you used, commonly called a mash hammer but with a longer handle rather than your stumpy one which is used mainly by bricklayers to cut bricks.

Cheers.

Neill

**Mitchamus** · 04-20-2010, 03:54 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Neil,

Are those red pavers a good substitute for firebricks?

I have my eye out for second hand reds - but I see those pavers for sale all the time...

cheers,
mitch.

**aeu99217** · 04-21-2010, 12:50 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the comments. Hopefully I've posted some pics below. I'm not sure what to make of them. They seem to have split in large pieces, although there is also some dust. I've also included a pic of the hammer i used. Also I did the test on the halves I had left over from last night's test with the mash hammer. Didn't think it would matter?

Cheers for any help in advance, Ross

**Tscarborough** · 04-21-2010, 01:22 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Those are fired pretty hard, but they also look to have been extruded (not that it matters). Out of curiosity, does the grain appear to be round like a log or stratified flat?

**aeu99217** · 04-21-2010, 01:37 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Hi Tscarborough,

I think that it made more of a thunk than a clunk. I've attached a photo of the grain. It definitley isn't round like a log, but I can't really make out much of a grain. What does it mean when they're extruded?

Cheers Ross

**Tscarborough** · 04-21-2010, 01:53 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

It looks rolled, so they are extruded. It doesn't mean anything for what we are doing here, it is just curiosity on my part. It is the method by which they are produced. Pressed are just that, the clay body is pressed into a mold. Extruded runs the clay through a machine that extrudes it through an opening and the brick are then cut to length. Most brick of that age in the US are pressed, and they may well be in Britain, but those do not appear to be.

**aeu99217** · 04-21-2010, 02:08 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

ah, interesting. They come from old buildings but they are from internal walls so they might not be as old as the buildings themselves. Certainly the brick in the picture in this thread looks different from the bricks i picked up last night from a different tenement. I'll crack one of them tomorrow night and have a look at the grain.

That's good news about the bricks. Thanks for the help. Hopefully start building in the next few weeks and I'll get the project posted up.

Thanks again

**Tscarborough** · 04-21-2010, 02:18 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

One way to tell for certain is if any are frogged or lettered on the big side. If so, then they are pressed.

The good news is that if they are from interior walls or wythes, then they are probably in better shape than the exterior brick. The bad news is that they used to use the softer brick (salmons) on the interior wythes and walls.

**nissanneill** · 04-21-2010, 10:59 PM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Steve,
they look good to me. Breaking into larger pieces rather than crumbly bits is good. To satisfy your curiosity (and mine) get a chunk from the centre of the brick and see if it crumbles at all between the thumb and fingers. If not, the go for it, if they do crumble, then I would find a batch that doesn't. This simply means that the bricks were fired hard but not for long enough th get the heat completely through the brick for thorough vitrification.

Mitch

Are those red pavers a good substitute for firebricks?
I have my eye out for second hand reds - but I see those pavers for sale all the time...

Have you read Russell Jeavons' book on "Your brick oven, building it and baking in it"?
He has a restaurant at Willunga, south of Adelaide and has 2 wood fired oven in there. Both are built with common red bricks (in fact he has built numerous ones without a firebrick at all). In his larger restaurant oven, he has 2 layers of 2" clay pavers for his hearth. Also Littlehampton Bricks in the Adelaide hills at Littlehmpton, sell many more solid 4" clay pavers for wood fired oven builds than they do firebricks. They are fired at 1200˚C and cause no problems at our oven temps of around 500˚C and less.

Neill

**aeu99217** · 04-22-2010, 10:08 AM

Re: Suitable Pressed Reds (photos)?

Hi Neil,

Did as you said and it didn't crumble. The centre is actually really hard.

Hi Tscarborough,

The batch i picked up the other night has really clear writing: 'Wilson and Sons: Patent'. I've googled it in the hope that it might throw up a bit of history about the firm but to no avail.

Lastly, cause these bricks are recycled there isn't really any that would make a nice 'smooth' floor. So I'm thinking that I might splash out and buy firebricks just for the floor. Are old pressed reads the only material except from firebricks that can be used for the floor?

Cheers Ross

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