Kastolite 22

[mandrion]

Hello FB Forum,

New to the forum.....love it!!!

Anyway,I live in San Jose california and I am in the process of building my Pompeii oven and was wondering where I could buy Kastolite 22 or something similar for my Hearth base and what should I pay for it. I have read where some folks have used this material.

In the FB plans it says to use 5 parts vermiculite to 1 part Portland cement....where can I buy Vermiculite? Also I read that some people use a second type of refractory concrete called "Mizzou castable plus".

I would love to use the FB Board, but unfortunately this is not a funded project in my household....so I have to build it as inexpensively as I can while not compromising quality.

Sorry for the rambling and run on sentences.

Your help would be greatly appreciated


Best regards,
Mike

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Kastolite 22

Mike,

Welcome to the best WFO community going! You will be fine with the vermiculite/portland cement for your insulation layer - just make it at least 4" thick. There are some builders here who have gone beyond the 5:1 ratio. I went 8:1 and some have even gone 11:1/12:1. Just remember the more portland you use the tighter and more dense your final insulation will be, but the more material between your vermiculite 'pockets' the more heat transfer you will have.

As Dmun and others have advised, Mizzou Castable is exactly that: a castable refractory cement designed to be poured into custom forms in order to eliminate the cost/time of hand-cutting every brick that goes into a Pompeii oven. Unfortunately, the cost of the castable is prohibitive, and the tolerances for your forms are not what you can produce from individual bricks. And lastly, from lack of a proper firing (like true refractory bricks get) you do not get the same quality build as if you'd used bricks. If you are on a tight budget, stick with bricks.

John

[dmun]

Re: Kastolite 22

In the US, there's no call to use the expensive refractory products. It's telling that the names you quote are Australian products: Firebricks are ruinously expensive down under, and they have a reason to use castable. Most of the experience with these products are from overseas builders.

If you're on a tight budget, take the time to scrounge for used materials, and look for bargains on vermiculite/perlite for your insulation.

[mandrion]

Re: Kastolite 22

DMUN and John,

Thanks for the great advice. I will use the vermiculite/portland cement mix that you both suggest.

On a side note I was able to pick up 220 used firebricks in excellent condition for $22 today.

Thanks again to you both,
Mike

[danali8910]

Re: Kastolite 22

Has anyone used a refractory concrete mix using 1 part sand 2 part expanded clay/shale 1 part Luminite Cement and of course water. You can also make a insulating cement with 2 parts expanded shale/clay, 4 parts vermiculite, 1part luminite cement and water. I am looking to mold my own dome and came across this recipe.