casting a vent to anchor plate transition

[waynebergman]

thinking of casting a vent to anchor plate transition out of the high heat morar I am using. It is called moldit x also called devils putty.

3 questions.

1. Is this morar suitable for casting this?
2. Should I drop in scrap pieces of brick into the mix?
3. Will the mortar heat up differently than brick so things dont heat up and
draw properly?......thanks wayne

[wlively]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

1. Is this morar suitable for casting this?
2. Should I drop in scrap pieces of brick into the mix?
3. Will the mortar heat up differently than brick so things dont heat up and
draw properly?......thanks wayne

1. Good question for the manufacturer. I would think castables and mortar are different animals.
2. Yes if you intend to do this you should put some type of binding material in it. Chunks of brick stainless needles,ect.
3. Don't know the specs of your mortar, but HeatStop and Refmix I believe are almost identicle to firebrick, they are designed that way, so that would not be an issue.

[waynebergman]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

Thanks Wade
I also have a gas welder, I could weld something up out of steel but not sure how that would heat up and act for chimney draw compared to brick. Any ideas?

[asudavew]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

Not to butt in guys...

But can the mix-it-yourself high-temp mortar be casted?

I'm not going to cast any, but I am curious, and I thought this might be a good place to ask.

by the way.. You two are doing great!

[wlively]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

Wayne

You could make a steel vent, but you would want to make sure it is well insulated.

Casting is really easy though. I used KS-4, took one 5 gallon bucket, and cost about $70. Add to that 1 lb of stainless needles at $5.00 plus shipping so it was fairly economical. I used left over peices of foam board to glue together and shape for a plug and to make the form. It is thick enough that I only formed up two of the sides.

Dave

I suspect you could use a pre-mixed mortar like Heatstop or Refmix (wouldn't use home mix bexcause of possible ratio errors) for the vent as long as you have a binder mixed in. You would not want to load this type of vent with anything of any real weight on top and you would want to make sure to keep a good 1" or more of wall thickness. As long as you did that I would think it might work. I emphasize might because you would using it in a way the manuf did not intend. I did consider that myself, but with my enclosure if something went wrong I might not know until some real damage was done. In the end the expense was reasonable, the casting went smoothly, and I don't have to spend a second thought about it.

[waynebergman]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

Thanks Wade
What are stainless needless and how would they be used in this applicaion. I will ask my supplier of the moldit x if it is any good for casting. ...wayne

[Ken524]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

Thanks Wade
What are stainless needless and how would they be used in this applicaion. I will ask my supplier of the moldit x if it is any good for casting. ...wayne

Here is an example of needles:
Refractory Reinforcing 1" Stainless Steel Needles 10# - (eBay item 130162649208 end time Oct-18-07 11:46:28 PDT)

[wlively]

Re: casting a vent to anchor plate transition

Here is an example of needles:
Refractory Reinforcing 1" Stainless Steel Needles 10# - (eBay item 130162649208 end time Oct-18-07 11:46:28 PDT)

Yep that is were I bought some of my stuff, needles included. They only picture the 10lb amount, but if you call they will sell 1 lb increments.