Home Brew or Heat Stop?

[McPiazza]

So I have been doing a ton of research before getting my oven started and the one thing that is problematic is the availability of Heat Stop in Southern California. I just can not bring myself to spend $120/bag for Heat stop to have it shipped. So can anyone explain the benefits of either homebrew or heatstop other that the obvious price difference?

Thanks

[huskerduck]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

Im trying to figure this out as well, seems like too many variables in Homebrew especially since its raining and 99% humidity here for the next 4 months, Im covered but you can see buckets of water in the air. Theres also something about Portland cement and 900 degrees that seems worrisome.

But.....heat stop 50 says 100 bricks @ 1/8 joint and Im building a 54" oven, I really wish someone had the heat stop home brew formula

[deejayoh]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I used a bag of heat stop when I started my oven. Ran out much sooner than I expected, and I switched to homebrew.

My advice: Skip the heatstop. Its expensive and doesn't provide any performance benefit. I don't think really intended for our usage. It's supposed to be used in really tight joints. Homebrew is much better for the big gaps at the back of the dome. It's easier to work with. Plus its way way cheaper.

As for humidity - others with more expertise can weigh in here - but I think homebrew dries more predictably and with less shrinkage than heatstop. I'm in Seattle and never once worried about that issue.

[huskerduck]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I used a bag of heat stop when I started my oven. Ran out much sooner than I expected, and I switched to homebrew.

My advice: Skip the heatstop. Its expensive and doesn't provide any performance benefit. I don't think really intended for our usage. It's supposed to be used in really tight joints. Homebrew is much better for the big gaps at the back of the dome. It's easier to work with. Plus its way way cheaper.

As for humidity - others with more expertise can weigh in here - but I think homebrew dries more predictably and with less shrinkage than heatstop. I'm in Seattle and never once worried about that issue.

So what was your home-brew exactly, I'm seeing Hydrated lime, Lime and I'm also seeing more sand, fine silica sand, less portland, more portland and in Fireclay I have 2 options Lincoln 60 and Ione Greenstripe, is there a definitive Homebrew?

The fire clays are same sized bags but one is ultra cheap ( Lincoln 60) and the Ione Greenstripe is double the price

[deejayoh]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I thought the recipe was pretty well established on the site. I used 1:1:1:3 cement/fireclay/lime/sand. The only think I'd say you need to watch is the sand. Fine sand works best. First batch I got, I used brickies sand and it had a lot of coarse-grained bits. I ended up having to sift it through mesh which was a PITA. Next bag was fine sand and it worked much better.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

Actually, masonry sand is fine for laying the bricks and concrete sand is better for filling in the gaps. Aggregate gradation is based upon design size of the joint. The proper ratio is 1/1/1/5-6.

Edit-but 1-1-1-3 will work fine, but will have more cracking and fire off faster.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

McPiazza,

I too am in Orange County and dropped my Heatstop 50 research when their corp service person acted like she was doing me a giant favor by talking to me. I switched to homebrew and tweaked the 1-1-1-3 formula, favoring lime and fireclay while reducing the portland percentages slightly.

The homebrew was a pleasure to work with, minimal cost, and dried diamond hard. I would use it again in a heartbeat.

Where you getting your bricks?

[McPiazza]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I was looking at Thompson because they are close and had them ready to go, do you have any suggestions? I found 12 x 24 x 2.5 for the floor that will cut down on layout time but for the dome I am still trying to find the deal that makes me feel good.

Thoughts?

McPiazza,

I too am in Orange County and dropped my Heatstop 50 research when their corp service person acted like she was doing me a giant favor by talking to me. I switched to homebrew and tweaked the 1-1-1-3 formula, favoring lime and fireclay while reducing the portland percentages slightly.

The homebrew was a pleasure to work with, minimal cost, and dried diamond hard. I would use it again in a heartbeat.

Where you getting your bricks?

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

Thompson, although they carry really pretty stuff, tends to be pricy. What do they want for a 9x4.5x2.5" firebrick? Locally, you can get these for around $1.14ea.

I bought a pallet (377 pcs) of firebrick seconds from Pacific Clay for $50. The bricks weren't perfectly rectangle, but it didn't matter since I was cutting them anyway.

[McPiazza]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I got a quote a couple weeks ago for Muddox firebricks at 1.19 a piece. Seemed reasonable when comparing with everyone else locally. I also liked the off white color option. I believe he told me they had WG firebrick in stock also, i am going to driver over and look in person at what they have before I order anything.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I haven't seen the Muddox bricks but feel they hold a respected place in the refractory industry. I would be interested to see what they look/feel like. I buy my construction supplies from Imperial Supply at Imperial Hwy/Cypress in La Habra.

It seems you are just a stone's throw from me (I'm off Beach/Imperial) If you would like to see my oven and/or have any questions, just ask.

John

[huskerduck]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

Well the wife went to pick up the material for home brew and comes back with nothing that says fire clay nor silica sand but instead says Greenstripe http://www.ioneminerals.com/document...ripe083108.pdf and the silica says Industrial quartz....is this right?

[McPiazza]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

I went ahead and ordered 3 bags of FB Refmix a couple days ago. The shipping turned out to be far more reasonable then I thought it would be. But I was emailed yesterday saying it was back ordered, I know some of the folks on this board have had the same experience.

That leads me to my question, How long did it actually take for you to get your order? Worth the wait?

[WJW]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

My two cents...homebrew mortar. Worked wonderfully well...easy to use for a beginner like myself. Now over two years and hundreds of fires later...everything is rock solid.

You mix by volume. In my garage I lined up a bag of Portland cement, a bag of lime, a bag of fire clay, and a bag of sand. A red Solo cup was placed in each bag. When I needed mortar I grabbed my bucket and walked down the line dumping one cup each of Portland, lime, and clay into the bucket. Then three cups of sand. Then a bit less than two cups of water. Mix well. Ridiculously cheap and worked perfectly.

Bill

[Greenman]

Re: Home Brew or Heat Stop?

Like Bill said - the homebrew is cheap easy and good to use. Worked for me.