Ozark Bricks

[Julison]

HI,

I plan on building a 36" Pompei and I am at the stage of building the actual oven.
I was able to buy some brick used for a $1/each.
They appear to be the std size, colour and weight (9X2.5X4.5, yellow, 8ish lbs).
I don't know the origin of the bricks for certain but the man I bought them from said they came from the Canadian Mint and were 100yrs old.

Once I cleaned the brick up I was able to read the names on the brick.

The names are "A.P. Green OZARK DP" or "P O P".
Curious as to whether they were low, med, or high duty I did some research.
I couldn't find any reference to what duty they were but I did see that the A.P. GREEN used asbestos in its refractory products.
I couldn't find any reference to the P O P bricks at all.

Does anyone have any more information on these bricks?
Approximately half the bricks are the OZARK bricks - I don't want to use them if they have asbestos.
Is there anyway to confirm?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Julison

[UtahBeehiver]

Asbestos may not be the only issue, these bricks coming from the Canadian Mint, may have been used to melt metals for coins, that in itself in not an issue but certain metals are not good for ya, if Maganese, NIckel, Chromium, etc. Don't want to rain you your parade but you need more floor insulation than what you have The p/vcrete only looks like about an inch thick, you should have at least 4-5 inches at a 5-1 ratio.

[Julison]

Asbestos may not be the only issue, these bricks coming from the Canadian Mint, may have been used to melt metals for coins, that in itself in not an issue but certain metals are not good for ya, if Maganese, NIckel, Chromium, etc. Don't want to rain you your parade but you need more floor insulation than what you have The p/vcrete only looks like about an inch thick, you should have at least 4-5 inches at a 5-1 ratio.

Thanks Russel,

The bricks, from what I understand were not actually the crucible that contained the molten metal - they container the fire that heated the crucibles - which would explain why they are so clean - if what I am being told is correct. The picture doesn't show the vcrete well - I have 4 inches of reinforced concrete with 5 inches of vcrete on top. I just need to understand the likelihood that these brick may or maynot contain asbestos. I would have imagined that if one company used asbestos in bricks then most would and then someone in the community might know definitively if they did or didn't have asbestos.
If I don't find out I will simply buy new from the local brickyard.

thanks again,

Julison

[Julison]

[UtahBeehiver]

From what I have read, AP Green asbestos issue was certain refractory products not their firebrick. See attached link.
https://www.mesothelioma.com/asbesto...industries.htm

I see you vcrete layer better with the new pics and you look golden.

[hughjamton]

Can't you send a small sample off for testing? It's a common thing to do in the UK when there's a suspicion of asbestos during renovation work.