Art Student

10 hours ago, Phil K. said:

The problem I've had with K23 bricks is that I bought some older bricks that had sat around for a while. They had been in a damp area so I dried them and built a small furnace. When I got up to heat for a bronze pour, they just crumbled. Now I've gone to some good castable refractory with ceramic wool for insulation. I picked the wool up at an old foundry that had closed. I would much rather work with Kaowool. 

Thanks for the reply Phil.

Sadly these bricks I purchased look like they've been sitting in a shed for a decade, so I will likely have the same problem you're describing 

I guess I'll have to follow your lead eventually. Thanks for tempering my expectations. 

Hey Gentlemen, thanks for the replies.

Hans, you share a name with my father! Thanks for giving wisdom just like him 
Thanks for sharing those beautiful images of your rig, and the for the safety warnings -- good call.

Do you have any suggestion what configuration I might consider with about 50-60 k 23 bricks?
Would it be a good idea to try and emulate something like yours, or is there a different design you would try if you started from scratch?

I'd love to do massive pours (I'm an artist interested in sculpture), but I'll be working in my backyard, generally alone, so large crucibles will probably be a bit out of the question.

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Hey Thomas, 
Thanks for the reply -- much appreciated.

I'm so much of a rookie I wasn't even aware of the difference between melting and pouring temp.

Back to Google (and alloyavenue) for homework now.

Hey All,
I'm an artist looking to get into hobby scale bronze casting, and I have the option to get some K23 bricks at a good price (about 50 of them for $100).

Trying to do research tonight on whether or not they will work for me, Google kept pointing me to conversations on this forum.. One user, for example, mentioned how his k 23 bricks crumbled in a few months.

Am I crazy to try k23 bricks for bronze casting? It looks like the bricks are rated up to 2300°F.

Bronze melts at 1742°F whereas Iron at 2,800°F, so would I get by at that lower temp?

Thanks for any tips!