Glenwood #6 Brick Molds & Pattern Casting

I can not say how they stand up. I used a #6 this winter with mostly wood and that will ruff up the brick. this is my 2nd. year and the bricks(just looked inside stove) some of the brick is broken and the lower set is built up from coal.all in all looks like may be half should be changed. plans are to sell the stove at the stove convention and put a complete new set in.

Wilson,
Thanks for the reply. With as hard as I've been running the #6, I thought I'd have cracked some bricks by now. I wonder if the Portland mix is not quite as flexible and "forgiving" under heat stress as the Rutland castable ????

I didn't know there was such a gathering. Where and when is this stove convention? Is there a website for it ?

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑

Tue. Apr. 03, 2018 9:51 am

I didn't know there was such a gathering. Where and when is this stove convention? Is there a website for it ?

Paul

The Antique Stove Association 2018 convention is in Mass. this year July 15 to July 18.

Here is a link: https://www.antiquestoveassociation.org/2018-annu ... onvention/

Paulie

Thanks Paulie. Sounds like a fun time.

I'm surprised I haven't heard it mentioned on here before this.

Paul

Started pouring bricks this week. It takes 1100 ml of tapped down dry refractory and 220 ml of water to make one upper and one lower brick.
Tried a few different methods of vibrating the mix, which is about the consistency of cake iceing, and got the best results by using hot glue to attach a wooden dowel stick to a velcro sanding pad on my multitool.
I pour one set in the morning and another in the evening. After removing them from the mold they are placed in plastic grocery bags and set on top of the stoker supply duct for 24 hours.
Then remove them from the bags and place them on top of the plenum which averages about 130*f.
So far so good.
Paulie

Picture perfect Paulie. Did you have to shave any to fit?

Lookin' good Paulie.

Paul

joeq wrote: ↑

Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 1:16 am

Picture perfect Paulie. Did you have to shave any to fit?

Joe, when the last top brick is in place they are not as tight as I would like so I sanded about 1/16" off both sides of the mold to make them an 1/8" longer.

The bottom bricks were just the opposite. The last brick would not fit in. I added a 3/16" spacer to the bottom mold for the next set. For the bottom layer on this set I'll shave a hair off each one with the tile saw.

The pattern bricks I used for the bottom were in really nice shape with the exception of the faces, so I'm thinking the few coats of paint I used to seal them up was a bit too thick.

The top brick patterns were a little more beat up.

I like Sunny Boys idea of not cementing them in and having a little bit of a gap so they can be removed easily to clean so .......... That's what I'm striving for.

Paulie

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑

Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 10:29 am

Lookin' good Paulie.

Paul

Thanks Paul ! How much of a gap between bricks did you and Skip figure would be sufficient? 1/8" is what I was shooting for.

Paulie

Figuring the "even gap: between each is tough.
What I ground them, I ended up with about 3/16 gap left on the end when all the bricks in a row are placed in snug to each other.

Then, when I installed them, I sorta placed them to divvy up that total gap so that is was evenly divided around the row. With all the shaking grates during use it seems to have evened out better.

Paul

I had to shave some off of the last 2 bricks on mine to get them in. I didn't make them a press fit either, and didn't cement them. But after 3 years of service, I don't think they'll come out very easily given all the ash and slag that has now collected between them. Once I get back to my molds, and try for another set, my next ones I'm thinking about covering with axle grease to help prevent build-up. What-da-ya think

joeq wrote: ↑

Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 10:35 pm

I had to shave some off of the last 2 bricks on mine to get them in. I didn't make them a press fit either, and didn't cement them. But after 3 years of service, I don't think they'll come out very easily given all the ash and slag that has now collected between them. Once I get back to my molds, and try for another set, my next ones I'm thinking about covering with axle grease to help prevent build-up. What-da-ya think

The neighbors will see that black cloud and think you blew another engine.

Paul

Now, after about ten weeks running, the brick gaps in the #6 have filled in nicely with ash. I notice that when I scrape the poker across the bricks to loosen ash, the bricks don't wiggle anymore - like they did the first few days.

And they are not being forced forward away from the firepot by ash getting behind them. That was one of Wilson's and my concerns if the bricks are set in loosely.

As long as the end gaps are not too great, and they start to fill in with ash early on, the bricks can't move forward.

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑

Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 6:37 pm

Figuring the "even gap: between each is tough.
What I ground them, I ended up with about 3/16 gap left on the end when all the bricks in a row are placed in snug to each other.

Then, when I installed them, I sorta placed them to divvy up that total gap so that is was evenly divided around the row. With all the shaking grates during use it seems to have evened out better.

Paul

Thanks, That makes more sense than attempting to measure the space in between.

Paulie

joeq wrote: ↑

Sun. Apr. 08, 2018 10:35 pm

Once I get back to my molds, and try for another set, my next ones I'm thinking about covering with axle grease to help prevent build-up. What-da-ya think

I'm with Sunny Boy on that idea. After the fire department gets done hosing the stove down, yer gonna have axe holes to patch in the roof and a lot of parts to have recast !

The axle grease should hold up well in the summer and also act as a no pest strip. ....... a good place for the flies and mosquitos to stick.

If you marinate the bricks in gear oil...... That should keep everything from sticking around.

I'm not sure if there is any type of coating other than something like Teflon that will eliminate the clinker buildup. Once Teflon is scratched up, that doesn't help anyway.

Like I mentioned before, I never had that type of buildup in over 50 years of burning coal with any of my stoves.

Paulie