Wet refractory mortar

[hb2474]

I found a spot that would sell me 50# of wet mortar for 35.00. Is that a good price. Also anybody have a clue how many of those buckets I would need for a 36" pompei?

[dmun]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

Pre/mixed, wet refractory mortar in buckets isn't generally recommended. Building a dome requires larger joints on the outside than the stuff is designed for. There have also been problems with this mortar setting properly.

Besides, why pay refractory mortar prices for water?

[hb2474]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

I asked them for Dry mortar and they didn't have it. They only had wet mortar which I really dont want to use. The search continues.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

So many builders have reported success and ease-of-use with the homebrew mortar, (not to mention cost-effectiveness) why not just go this route?

[hb2474]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

I thought about it and will probably go that route. Now I need to find fireclay. Is this hard to find?

[hb2474]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

Found it. Valley building materials down the street from me sells it for 8.62 for a 50 lb bag. Thanks for the help.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

hb,
what you doing for firebricks?
John

[ArkansasOven]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

Reading this... maybe I just made a mistake.
I couldnt find fireclay in NW Arkansas or SW Missouri so I decided to go the wet mortar route... So far I have only used it as a leveling medium under the firebrick floor. Anyone think this will cause me headaches down the road?

[Tscarborough]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

As noted, the aggregate is to fine for the width of the joints on the backside of the oven. It is designed for 1/16 to 1/8" joints in normal flat laid firebrick. Where you have used it so far it is not a problem. You can actually use it with no worries to lay the dome, but you should come back and fill in the gaps on the backside with refractory containing a larger aggregate.

The wet mortars are also usually water soluble too, so you need to keep the oven covered while under construction.

[hb2474]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

Gianni,

I was thinking about going your route with the .25 pacific clay bricks. I can get them for another supplier for 1.09 a brick. How did you bricks turn out? We're they square enough to use? This could mean the difference between spending around 50 bucks to 290.00. Big Difference. I also dont want to use the bricks then find out that they dont last long and have to rebuild. Let me know how your bricks turned out.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

As noted, the aggregate is to fine for the width of the joints on the backside of the oven. It is designed for 1/16 to 1/8" joints in normal flat laid firebrick. Where you have used it so far it is not a problem. You can actually use it with no worries to lay the dome, but you should come back and fill in the gaps on the backside with refractory containing a larger aggregate.

The wet mortars are also usually water soluble too, so you need to keep the oven covered while under construction.

Wet mortar can be "fattened-up" by adding sand to the mix.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

Good point, it certainly can, but I would not add more than 20% by volume, and would only use that on the backside for gap filling, not setting.

[rl2sing]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

I used the Pacific clay seconds on my 40" and they worked perfectly. I was told they were seconds because of color problems although, upon thinking about it, what difference does the color of a firebrick make? I had absolutely no rejects in the 220 I bought for $62.

Lee

[hb2474]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

I used the Pacific clay seconds on my 40" and they worked perfectly. I was told they were seconds because of color problems although, upon thinking about it, what difference does the color of a firebrick make? I had absolutely no rejects in the 220 I bought for $62.

Lee

So the floor came out alright, meaning bricks were square and flush with each other? I dont care about color as you also stated.

[SCChris]

Re: Wet refractory mortar

I used pre-mix wet, SairSet, and haven't had issues. If I remember correctly so did Splatgirl and she liked it. The plus that I found was it was easy to work with and clean up. It's not as cheap as home brew. If I were to do another dome again Hmmm? I used 3 buckets, but my joint lines are very tight and so I didn't use much mortar. In addition I built an enclosure for the oven to keep it dry.

Chris