PinguForPresident

Cast iron, possibly stainless steel (although I would do neither as of this moment with so little experience, and plan to work my way up to them eventually). A reasonable size, about a litre. Any more cast iron and I would make a cupola. Would creating custom, long, thin crucibles help? (From the leftover dense refractory). These would better occupy the elongated shape of the 20-gal barrel. If this is too little space, could anyone recommend any better containers to use, and where to get them? I've heard of beer kegs, 50-gals, vacuum cleaner basins, etc.

Planning to use ceramic fibre wool (biodegradable, withstands up to 1200C) and dense commercial castable (1600C) to hold temperatures up to 1500C. How thick should I make each layer? Would a 20-gal drum with 11-inch diameter be too small to hold these kinds of temperatures, assuming I want a decent crucible of at least 1 litre capacity? I was thinking I could engineer a design that allows the crucible to peak over the top when the lid opens, so less space is required around either side of the crucible when picking it up.

http://donkey32.proboards.com/thread/1503/diy-refractory-mixtures OK so I think I understand this better now, so I'll say for anyone else who has seen this and is confused... CaO is used to flux the refractory to cause it to bond together better (turns into a sort of glass). This is also the case with some ashes, which is how Roman Cement gets its strength. I think certain materials create a stronger bond after they've been fired, but require a flux to allow them to be partially-melted in the first place. I think it has something to do with a pouzzolanic effect? Sorry for any confusion.

Yes it's an oil burner. Insulation is quite important as I understand.

I'm confused. How can CaO (so I've heard) be both used as a refractory and as a flux?

That's exactly my question. What type of ash should I be using?

Stuck in the same situation. Im in the UK, and can't seem to find ITC-100 whatsoever. Nor plistex, but admittedly I haven't been searching for long.

I've heard some mention of ash as a cheap but supposedly effective refractory material, but never any actual facts. How well does it stick stuff together (better than clay?) I've heard it can make a mean concrete. Can it handle temperatures of 1200C, 1400C or even 1600C? Will it degrade easily (as in, how resistant to fluxes, water, etc. is it?) Does it compliment use with any other materials (such as clay, sand, flint, other ashes, grog, etc.)? Also, what type of ash should I be using for best results? Hardwood ash is supposed to consist of mostly KCO3, correct? And coal as has more silica, meaning...? In general: why haven't we all been using ash in our refractory mixes? Thanks for your time. - Ginny.