Bricks from my latest wood firing.

Here they were before firing.

After firing.

Here are the results! 12 good light reds, 11 underfired soft salmons, 5 clinker ringers, 9 junk clinkers.

These were the best of the whole batch. They all had 'ring' to them when tapped. I still would like to see them fired a deeper red and a bit harder. But its hard to get it just right without going too far and making cracks in them.

Overfired 'clinkers. Taken from the back and the lower part of the kiln.

Firing up the brick clamp part 2

Saturday morning I went out to find the fire out but for some coals in the firebox. The bricks were still very hot though the glow was gone. I restoked up the fire and had it glowing again in about an hour. During that time I added a curtan wall of red brick around the firebrick to help hold in the heat that was excaping from all the cracks. It made a big improvement in the overall heat and glow inside.

Black sooty smoke is bellowing from the top just after I put more wood on the fire.

After about 10 hours I shut it all up and let the cooldown begin. Sunday I opened it up to see the results.

Out of 24 clay brick I had made and burned in the clamp, none broke! A few had cracks. They were in various states of firing. Over half were underfired to different degrees. A few had glazed overheated spots on them. And six or so had the nice orange almost red look from the iron oxide in the clay. About a third had a noticable ring to them when tapped instead of the thud when tapped of an underfired brick would.

Overall I rate this firing as a success. I made marked improvement over last years attempt. I got rid of the milky chalky haze last years bricks had too. None of the bricks from the last try were very tough or had a good ring when tapped. These had many that did. Just wait for my next try!!!

Before and after!

Fired Brick Clamp part1

This past Friday I put together an improvised brick firing clamp to burn some of the test bricks Ive been making. The bricks are 100% clay with no sand or cement added. They were dry pressed in my mechanical ram press. I started the fire slow to cook out the remaining water in the clay. I fired it from 6:00pm till midnight with scrap wood and then closed it up till morning to continue the burn.

New brickmaking frogs.

I have made new frog plates for my small brick press. HENDRIX and KENNEDY are mine and my wifes' family names.

I think it gives a more prefessional look to my pressed brickmaking.

I am now also trying out drypressing bricks of pure clay. No sand or cement. These would need to be kiln fired to make hard and weather proof. More details comming soon.

First firing of the wood furnace.

The furnace is complete enough to test fire and run several checks.

Draft thru the flue and chimney is very good. Doors seal off the air ok but could be better. The tank is old and there are a few drip leaks to fix. I filled the tank about 1/4 way with straight water. Its a 250 gal tank. The fire was built up slowly to dry up the brick and mortar joints. Well water is about 59F deg. It took about two hours to get the water really hot. Just below boiling. It shouldnt take as long next time now that the brickwork is dry. Over all it was a success! Now to build the shed to protect it from the weather and finish the tube to the house.

Bricks Galore! Used Brick

Ive been searching over the summer for used bricks to build with. I finally found what I was looking for on Craigslist last week. About 20 miles from my home is this old corn bin. The owner wants it tore down and removed from his lot. There must be 8,000 plus bricks here for me. With the bin ruins also comes a large pile of brick rubble. The bricks are in mostly good condition though some are broken in pieces.

Are the clay tile holes along the side for grain drying?

There are four firebrick arches along the bottom.

Can anyone give me ideas as to how this worked? It has my curiousity up.

Wood heat furnace update July 11, 09

Done with the fire brick installation now. Have also finished the chimney with the addition of a tall stovepipe to aid fire draft.

I will pour the firebrick secondburn tray over the next few days. Then is will be time to set the water boiler tank for gap sealing.

Pressing firebricks

Ive been working on a home addition at my house for over a year now. I dug out along the foundation to lay drainage pipe and heating tubes from the wood furnace. The soil is a very sticky clay here. Perfect for the firebricks we have been making for the lining of the furnace.

After sitting in the sun for several days with no rain, the clay hardens into stiff clumps that need broken down for mixing with sand.

50% clay, 40% sand, and 10% portland cement.

Here is a pile of free creek sand taken from my property.

The mix is damp but not soggy. It will clump in your fist.

And here is the result from the press!

Making clay firebricks.

My oldest son William has joined me making bricks. I have contracted out to him the job of making the firebricks for my wood heat boiler. He has done a pretty good job for a near 16 year old kid. Using only a shovel, wheelbarrow, mixer and hand mold, he has made me 60 of these so far.