Clay liner

[j.w.s.]

On a whim this morning I wanted to make a valley in my sideblast to help contain the coal and perhaps insulate the bed a little. Went over to tractor supply and picked up a bag of Paws & Claws cat littler - ingredients: natural clay. I know others have played with stuff before, putting it in blenders, ruining their coffee grinders, etc. Let me just say, this stuff turns into clay the moment you add water. I didn't mix it with anything other than water and have a charcoal fire on it to dry it out. Yes, I know it's going to crack, I just want the contouring, I'll go over it with some Rutland cement after its completely dried out. At less than $5 a bag this stuff is easy to use. I'll try to post some pictures of the experiment as I get further along. 

J

[Charles R. Stevens]

Clay benifits from being cased. The reason folks mill it is to mic it with grog/sand as a dry mix.

if you place clay in a plastic bucket with a lid for a few days the moisture content will even out. If its to wet leave the lid off till it dries out to the consistancy you want then lid it a few days and the crusties will disapear. 

Typicaly a 1 to 2 ratio with sand or grog works well. For molding, and a 1 to 9 ratio works for tamping/pressing. 

[Charlotte]

The type of clay used in kitty litter is particularly selected to expand and hold moisture well. 

Clay benifits from being cased. The reason folks mill it is to mic it with grog/sand as a dry mix.

if you place clay in a plastic bucket with a lid for a few days the moisture content will even out. If its to wet leave the lid off till it dries out to the consistancy you want then lid it a few days and the crusties will disapear. 

Typicaly a 1 to 2 ratio with sand or grog works well. For molding, and a 1 to 9 ratio works for tamping/pressing. 

Those suggestions would be well followed.   If I were still living in Pennsylvania I would look for a road cut or stream bank that showed some gray clay and use that instead of kitty litter. 

I found that I did better with subsoil from my back yard in Louisiana than I did with Kitty Litter

Good luck with your experiment.

  

[JHCC]

My subsoil here in Ohio is heavy clay, a big chunk of which is currently drying in my forge as the new duck's nest (mixed with a decent amount of sand and wood ash).

[Frosty]

Clay kitty litter is bentonite clay and is about as forge fire proof as it gets. Bentonite is what's used to plug the tap in iron melters after a pour. They just put a big glob on the tool I can't remember the name of, basically a round board on the end of a pole like a tamper. Anyway, you just push the glob of bentonite into the tap hole and hold it there till the heat hardens it and it's good to go.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charlotte]

Clay kitty litter is bentonite clay and is about as forge fire proof as it gets. Bentonite is what's used to plug the tap in iron melters after a pour. They just put a big glob on the tool I can't remember the name of, basically a round board on the end of a pole like a tamper. Anyway, you just push the glob of bentonite into the tap hole and hold it there till the heat hardens it and it's good to go.

Frosty The Lucky.

Absolutely true,  however kitty litter bentonite, has the major defect in that it shrinks a lot on drying and when heated.    That is why I found that backyard clay  worked better for me. The oil absorbent that we used in gas stations was a Clay Kitty litter in a cheaper bag.

Still use it under my 20 year old 4 by.

  

Edited August 26, 2015 by Charlotte
word left out

[Frosty]

All clay shrinks as it dries bentonite will hold so much water it will shrink a BUNCH. Bentonite is super hydrophilic and another term I can never remember but any % moisture will distribute evenly throughout all of it. A tbsp in a 55gl drum of water will spread till every thing is perfectly balanced. And no I'm not using the term "Perfectly" loosely.

This characteristic is what makes bentonite so favored as drilling mud, the stuff not only carries cuttings up and out of the casing but any little leaks in the hole will get completely plugged by it. The head pressure force the drill mud into voids and the pressure forces some moisture out so it hardens. Then it starts absorbing water again and expands making a pretty permanent stop leak.

It's really neat clay for really messy stuff. Yeah, I was a driller back when and oh nevermind. YAY long winded ramble averted!!

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Thixotropic by any chance?  Used to be a Mudlogger.

[Frosty]

I had to look thixotropic up and bentonite sure is, in spades. It's probably related but not quite it. Here's hoping I'm not forbidden again on this thread.

The property I'm referring to is how bentonite and water seek a molecular equilibrium in time. Be it a dab of water in a truck load of clay or a tbsp of clay in a swimming pool, the bentonite molecules space themselves exactly equally. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Frosty

[JHCC]

All clay shrinks as it dries bentonite will hold so much water it will shrink a BUNCH. Bentonite is super hydrophilic and another term I can never remember but any % moisture will distribute evenly throughout all of it. A tbsp in a 55gl drum of water will spread till every thing is perfectly balanced. And no I'm not using the term "Perfectly" loosely.

This characteristic is what makes bentonite so favored as drilling mud, the stuff not only carries cuttings up and out of the casing but any little leaks in the hole will get completely plugged by it. The head pressure force the drill mud into voids and the pressure forces some moisture out so it hardens. Then it starts absorbing water again and expands making a pretty permanent stop leak.

It's really neat clay for really messy stuff. Yeah, I was a driller back when and oh nevermind. YAY long winded ramble averted!!

Frosty The Lucky.

Same reason bentonite is used in slurry wall construction.

[SmoothBore]

Those suggestions would be well followed.   If I were still living in Pennsylvania I would look for a road cut or stream bank that showed some gray clay and use that instead of kitty litter. 

I found that I did better with subsoil from my back yard in Louisiana than I did with Kitty Litter

  

So, ... a transplanted "Red Dirt Girl".

-----------------------------------------------------

Quote = EmmyLou

"Two red dirt girls in a red dirt town
Me and Lillian

Just across the line
And a little southeast of Meridian" .....

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There's a region here in Northern York County, PA, ... that's called "Red Land" for obvious reasons.

If you follow such things, ... currently, the local "Red Land" Little League Team, is in the finals of the Little League World Series.

.

[j.w.s.]

Well guys, so far so good. Some cracking has occurred as I anticipated and I'm going to give it until the end of the weekend to dry out a little further before I coat it. I'm liking the shape I formed and it gives me enough heat to do longer blades. 

J