Vermiculite castable mix?

[satamax]

Hi everybody.

I keep asking the same question pretty much.

How do you mix castable and vermiculite for the burn tunel and for the heat riser?

Half and half by volume? Half and half by weight? Mix before or after wetting? Vibrate or not?

Would a jigsaw be enough to vibrate by contact?

Thanks a lot.

Max.

[satamax]

Well, my mix, one third castable, two thirds vermiculite. Bit wet. Jigsaw with two huge scsi hard drive magnets on the blade did the trick.

[Dan (Upstate NY, USA)]

Well it depends on your grade of vermiculite, you need a lot more binder for fine grade, less for course grade, I found that out the hard way.

[satamax]

Apr 26, 2012 12:40:29 GMT -8 Dan (Upstate NY, USA) said:

Well it depends on your grade of vermiculite, you need a lot more binder for fine grade, less for course grade, I found that out the hard way.

Well, what i have looks like half inch cubes of burned cork.

[woodburner]

That sounds coarse for an insulator. It would mean there are large gaps filled with castable, and so would allow more heat to escape.