Calcium Silicate Board?

[Vortex]

Anyone have any experience using calcium silicate board in a stove?

It's rated at 1000*C.  There's a U.K. pottery company selling sheets of it on ebay:

ebay.co.uk-Calcium-Silicate-Board

Product Name: SKAMOL SUPER ISOL

CALCIUM SILICATE INSULATION BOARD

EXCELLENT INSULATION LAYER UNDER FIREBRICKS

WHEN BUILDING YOUR OWN

WOOD FIRED PIZZA OVEN

Note: The product composition allows for an easy cutting on site, using ordinary woodworking tools.

Description: Calcium Silicate Block Insulation for Back-Up Insulation - up to 1000C (1832F).

Measurements: 500 MM x 1000 MM x 25MM

DELIVERY - FOR MORE THAN 1 BOARD PLEASE CONTACT FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTE

Application: SUPER ISOL is designed for the application as a back-up Insulation of all Refractory Constructions - Dense Firebrick, Insulating Firebrick, Castables, Plastic Refractories etc...

The combination of High Performance features makes this product the ideal choice for efficient Insulation of Kilns, Furnaces, Ovens, Stoves, Boilers etc...

Very Light Weight Insulation Slabs with Excellent Insulation Value and Good Heat Resistance.

SUPER ISOL Slabs are Light Grey in Colour and have Smooth, Rigid and Non-Dusting Surfaces.

Product Profile: Extremely Low Thermal Conductivity Figures - Highest Insulation Value.

Very Good Heat resistance - Can be used up to the Full Temperature Limit.

Very Light Weight - Favours easy handling and installation.

Adequate Mechanical Strength - Resists Damage in Installation and Operation.

Cleanliness - Smooth, Rigid Surfaces, Non Dusting.

Excellent Creep - Resistance.

Free From Sulphur.

Note: The product compisition allows for easy cutting.

[drooster]

It looks vaguely half the price of Duraboard ceramic, but which parts would it be useful for?
I mean : not cheap, and -maybe- not up to the temps of a riser.

[Vortex]

The reason I ask is CFB is very difficult to get where I am. No one sells it and no one want to ship it here as the couriers turn it into dust.

While I was searching for Ceramic Fiber Board I noticed this quote on one of the sites selling it:

The board is permanent when treated with Colloidal Silica Hardener, otherwise it will soften and deteriorate over time.

Has anyone got long term experience of using CFB in the flame-path of a rocket stove?

[matthewwalker]

Vortex, the ceramic fiber risers and board I've been using since 2013 have all held up great by my standards.

[briank]

Jan 7, 2017 6:26:57 GMT -8 matthewwalker said:

Vortex, the ceramic fiber risers and board I've been using since 2013 have all held up great by my standards.

I can get cases of the low density and high density fiber boards locally at www.temteksolutions.com

I bought mine directly from their warehouse in Pittsburgh, and it was packaged reasonably securely.  If you want I'll pick some up and ship it to you at my price. Just let me know. 

[Vortex]

Thanks for the offer, briank, but I'm not in the U.S. I'm on the south west coast of Ireland. There's nowhere in the country selling it, so I'd have to import it from the U.K. and they don't want to ship here because the couriers would make shit of it.

Nearest thing I can get in Ireland is vermiculite board. Anyone used it?
www.dineensales.com/Dinboard.aspx

[briank]

Jan 7, 2017 12:00:55 GMT -8 Vortex said:

Thanks for the offer, briank, but I'm not in the U.S. I'm on the south west coast of Ireland. There's nowhere in the country selling it, so I'd have to import it from the U.K. and they don't want to ship here because the couriers would make shit of it.

Nearest thing I can get in Ireland is vermiculite board. Anyone used it?
www.dineensales.com/Dinboard.aspx

My mistake, sorry. Good luck with finding reasonable alternatives!

[matthewwalker]

The vermiculite board I've used is pretty fragile. Depending on your application, it may work. It's common for the top baffle in wood stoves.

[morticcio]

I have a similar verdict as Matthew's with vermiculite board. I used it as an insulating base under a batch box so wasn't even in the flame path. It has gradually crumbled on the edges and I suspect the middle is the same.

[Vortex]

Thanks, guys. That's what I suspected.

I think I'll have a go at making my own Insulating Refractory Board. I have plenty of Perlite, fireclay, Ceramic blanket, and 25KG of furnace cement. I'm sure I can come up with something out of that lot.

[drooster]

How thin can IFB be sliced?
How about thin slices of IFB 'glued' onto stiffened ceramic blanket?

(I own neither IFB nor ceramic blanket by the way, just lurking...)

[Vortex]

I've never even seen a piece of Insulating Refractory Board, but then I live in the ass end of nowhere.

What I've been wondering is whether some of the ceramic blanket could be shredded up and mixed with the Perlite, fireclay, and furnace cement. The fibers should make it stronger and the furnace cement has loads of water-glass in it so it should give it a hard wearing surface...

[ronyon]

Save the blanket. I suspect it ain't as cheap as rockwool,which will resist the heat just as well.

[Vortex]

Ah! Good idea, Ronyon, I have a bag of old rockwool offcuts somewhere

[pinhead]

I've seen the results of a Rockwool riser. Wasn't pretty; the fire burned right through the stuff in short order. www.youtube.com/watch?v=54lOrITaXpc

On the other hand, I suspect Rockwool may work when protected from direct flame... I'm going to make my riser with ceramic fiber blanket and the body of the batch box with fire brick (dense brick from a fireplace/chimney) wrapped in Rockwool for insulation. While the dense bricks will take longer to heat up from cold, the insulation around them should keep them warm enough make it easier to start the next fire.