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Hello!
Looking to see if anyone with a better knowledge of chemistry can help me out with a mortar question.
The national cement company here in Thailand has a refractory division. I purchased their recommendation for mortar for a pizza oven, and this is what I got.
5 gallon bucket of premixed "air set" mortar. Composition is SiO2 57%, Al2O3 35%, Fe2O3 1.8% plus 6%?
When mixed per instructions it looks like chocolate pudding.
Is this a mortar, or is it really "fire clay?"
I've rebuilt the bottom chain if my oven 3 times now, trying to get some strength out of it. It cracks severely when it drys and looses adhesion to the neighboring brick, so I don't see how the oven will stand. I expected somthing akin to masons mortar.
For the latest version I ended up hollowing out the back 3/4 of an inch of the joint an filling it with a mortar of Portland cement and crunched firebrick. That hardened right up, but I'm not sure if that is the right solution.
The manufacturer says that the mortar should be no more than 2mm thick, and when queried said I needed to taper all my bricks. I've had no luck finding a wet saw (out here in the boonies all they have is a 4" grinder) so that is not an option.
In addition it took one round trip to Bankok and 6 weeks to get what I've got. :-)
Thanks!
Looking to see if anyone with a better knowledge of chemistry can help me out with a mortar question.
The national cement company here in Thailand has a refractory division. I purchased their recommendation for mortar for a pizza oven, and this is what I got.
5 gallon bucket of premixed "air set" mortar. Composition is SiO2 57%, Al2O3 35%, Fe2O3 1.8% plus 6%?
When mixed per instructions it looks like chocolate pudding.
Is this a mortar, or is it really "fire clay?"
I've rebuilt the bottom chain if my oven 3 times now, trying to get some strength out of it. It cracks severely when it drys and looses adhesion to the neighboring brick, so I don't see how the oven will stand. I expected somthing akin to masons mortar.
For the latest version I ended up hollowing out the back 3/4 of an inch of the joint an filling it with a mortar of Portland cement and crunched firebrick. That hardened right up, but I'm not sure if that is the right solution.
The manufacturer says that the mortar should be no more than 2mm thick, and when queried said I needed to taper all my bricks. I've had no luck finding a wet saw (out here in the boonies all they have is a 4" grinder) so that is not an option.
In addition it took one round trip to Bankok and 6 weeks to get what I've got. :-)
Thanks!