sparplast 30ar

[stonylake]

Sitting around the campfire last week we decided it was time to build the pizza oven. being in the building materials business, i have little faith in the product knowledge at the big box, so i went to the local brickyard..somewhat futile. however, the is an industrial firebrick distributor close by, and they have helped several customers build ovens.
asking about fire brick, they said "why not plastic". sparplast 30ar is air set plastic refractory...basically unfired brick, either 2 or 3 inches thick. they suggested i build a mold and hammer the sparplast around it with a mallet, build it 2" thick and cover it with 2" of refractory castable, and then insulate with ceramic blanket.
has anyone done this? it seems a lot simpler than cutting and fitting 4" pieces of firebrick..

[dmun]

Re: sparplast 30ar

I've never heard of "sarplast". Is it firebrick clay? Would you have to fire it to firebrick temperatures?

[eprante]

Re: sparplast 30ar

Stony,

WHY do you want to build your oven out of plastic??? It is a brick oven, call me a traditionalist, but...
E

[texassourdough]

Re: sparplast 30ar

I think the fact that you can't find sparplast refractory on the web is a serious concern. I have my BS in chemical engineering and my specialty was plastics. This almost has to be some garbage byproduct that is being used as an extender to the refractory. A plastic that has the ability to withstand 1100 degrees would be rather unusual (yes there are some, but...) It is almost certain to break down and release strange molecules into the oven for some time. That said, it may be that is what it does - polymerize to give the refractory form until the fire burns it out and somehow hardens the refractory, but...

It gives me major concerns!
Jay

[texassourdough]

Re: sparplast 30ar

I tried a different approach and got some possibly useful info. The plastic almost certainly refers to its malleability. I found a safety sheet on a material called Super Hybond Plus that is probably the same or similar to what they recommend. Hers is the link

http://msds.anhrefractories.com/ns/S...SION_(USA).pdf

It has some bad stuff in it. When heated to oven temps it may or may not be reasonably "food grade". Requires respirators and stuff for handling.

I can't locate what the temp rating is.

I would make them give me the safety sheet and temp ratings before I went the castable rout with that stuff!

Good Luck!
Jay

[MK1]

Re: sparplast 30ar

Plastic refers to the materials consistency, not it's makeup. Here is an English manufacturer that lists the ingredients. REFRACTORY PLASTIC MOULDABLE - Vitcas

Mark

[mfiore]

Re: sparplast 30ar

so i went to the local brickyard..somewhat futile.

Lincoln Brick used to be based in Grand Rapids. I know they carry firebrick. Might want to check them out.

[stonylake]

Re: sparplast 30ar

Thanks Mike, i am well aware of Lincoln Brick...hired one of their drivers and bought 8 pallets of old street brick there, when with the help of Jenny, they got "blown away". i got directed to Industrial Firebrick by one of the local brick yards. i was looking for bigger bricks for the floor of the oven, they stock 2"x12"x24" firebrick, and they told me about the Sparplas refractory.

[stonylake]

Re: sparplast 30ar

i think MK1 is on the same track...Sparplas30AS is a mouldable refractory. go to Welcome | Spar Inc, Specialty Products and Refractories. they have all of their products on the website, and you can pull up all of the MSDS sheets. it looks like the biggest health concern is silica when tearing down old ovens. i am going to check with them re: "food grade" before i go much further... as far as temps go, it does need to be heat set to 2200 degrees F for an operating temperature over 1000degrees F

[MK1]

Re: sparplast 30ar

All bricks, mortar and concrete have silica. Wear a dust mask. I know I should.
The Sparplas stuff looks pretty cool. I wonder about cost and I didn't see any with calcium aluminate under 45% which is high compared to low duty firebrick which most use. I don't know if I'm recalling this correctly, but I think that puts the Sparplas into the range of medium to heavy duty firebrick which I think absorb more heat and take more fuel. I guess you could tailor the dome thickness to compensate. I'm sure someone here has a better idea of the equivalents you're considering. Interesting.

Mark

[texassourdough]

Re: sparplast 30ar

Thanks, StonyLake! Good find!

The silica and other nonorgainic stuff should not be a problem much more than cement. You are supposed to wear respirator, safety glasses, gloves, etc. to avoid contact with the stuff and should take a shower after working with it.

The SPARPLAS 30AS sheet says it can have 0 to 5% amorphous polymer. That could be almost anything. The amorphous polymer we used to make at the polypropylene plant I worked in contained xylene, benzene, and toluene which are definitely to be avoided.

Couple of points. First the SPARPLAS may be clean - i.e not contain stuff like that. However, if it isn't those are pretty heavy molecules and won't just vaporize quickly to give you a clean oven. They have fairly high boiling points so they will probably release to the atmosphere over a prolonged period. (Note: they should cook out of the surface fairly quickly but it might take some time to get them "out of the interior of the refractory) And finally, I know I mentioned food grade for it is an interesting thing to consider, but I doubt regular fire bricks are technically "food grade".

Good luck!
Jay

[stonylake]

Re: sparplast 30ar

the sparplas will cost me about 11 cents a square inch (at 2" thick) compared to 4 cents for firebrick (plus mortar). if my math is correct, a 42" oven will be about 2750 square inches minus the doorway = 250sqin or 2500 total. $275 for sparplas, $100 plus mortar for firebrick...

[stonylake]

Re: sparplast 30ar

whoops, missed it...42" oven plan calls for 135 2x4x8 bricks @ $1.35 each = $182.25...not $100.00

[stonylake]

Re: sparplast 30ar

My wife gave me a hall pass to build an oven last weekend. i knowked down a chunk of my fieldstone retaining wall Monday nite, and we poured the slab yesterday. my goal is to have my stand and hearth done before winter, build the oven early spring...