Hi jkirk and others. I just got some pricing back from the supplier from alibaba. They quoted me US$112.00 CNF per segment to Melbourne , Australia and US$43.50 for the mold. The material is high alumina (85%al2o3). I'm pretty sure I can make them cheaper here, although I haven't priced material as yet.
Eric
I am intensely interested, Eric.
The supplier I talked with said his ceramic was good to 800C, which is okay, I guess.
I was hoping for 1000C.
Which got me thinking about using a barrel as the batch box, horizontally, and casting a ferrocement liner in it.
You could replace the batch box once a year if necessary and just plug it in to the riser.
Also, I hit on a reference to ITC 100, a ceramic paint that reflects heat in kilns, and my brain started buzzing.
Please let me know what you find out about casting a liner.
My initial image is; get a barrel stove kit and put the legs on the barrel.
Mount a cast iron flange at the end of the barrel for connection to the riser.
Block it off to keep cement out of it.
Get a large, thick piece of aluminum pipe and install at the “top” to be the P-Channel... it has to run the whole length of the barrel.
Pound chickenwire into a cylindrical mat, and put in some stainless bolts to hold it against the sides of the barrel.
Put in a cardboard form.
Then mix up the refractory cement, and pour it in.
After it sets, put the barrel stove down on it’s legs and let dry for a week at least.
Run a series of small fires to burn out the cardboard and the plug over the cast iron port.
Five small fires later, it should be dry enough to apply the ITC 100 paint.
That coating will reflect heat back away from the cement and extend it’s life.
If you’re really thorough, there’s another ITC product that protects metal parts in kilns, and you could paint the inside of the barrel lid and the door with it.
Install the barrel kit door and then figure out how to mount the top of the barrel.
Then the rest is asking Peter for the numbers on the riser and mating it to the cast iron port and the P-channel.
If the aluminum pipe is threaded, a blower motor could be put on the P-channel.
That would make it possible to both pressurize the exhaust and keep the pipe cooler.
Light a small fire at the back of the batch box, start the blower motor, and when the box is warmed up add fuel.
There was somebody who welded up a rack for holding standard firebrick so he could rebuild his riser every year, do you recall who did that?