G111 Molds

What Franco said.

And forget about adding the perlite - it's not needed and it's changing the mix ratios.

What your seeing is most likely that by adding the perlite, it thinned out the Portland cement too much and the cement lost it's ability to bond to itself properly. Just like using too much sand in concrete.

As far as mixing, just follow the directions on the back of the Rutland bucket and you'll be fine.

Paul

So blowing warm air on them is a no no, I guess. But if they weren't set in 2 days, I don't think they had a chance, do you?

The bricks can't set if the Portland cement is too thinned out because of adding other stuff to it. It will never bond if the mix ratio is off.

Just use the Rutland as is and follow the directions.

Paul

Will do Boss. I'll need a day or 2 B4 I can. I'll keep you posted.

joeq wrote:Will do Boss. I'll need a day or 2 B4 I can. I'll keep you posted.

I've "temporarily" burnt myself out on this project. I won't be posting anymore failed experiments. When I get motivated to go back, I'll be posting fwd progress, and not backwards. They tell me "Patience is a virtue." I need to reacquire some more. Hang in there.

joeq wrote:

joeq wrote:Will do Boss. I'll need a day or 2 B4 I can. I'll keep you posted.

I've "temporarily" burnt myself out on this project. I won't be posting anymore failed experiments. When I get motivated to go back, I'll be posting fwd progress, and not backwards. They tell me "Patience is a virtue." I need to reacquire some more. Hang in there.

Say it ain't so Joe. you have shown remarkable patience and marvelous craftsmanship so far. A little pause to regroup is fine. It will all be worth it when you get that stove humming.

joeq wrote:

joeq wrote:Will do Boss. I'll need a day or 2 B4 I can. I'll keep you posted.

I've "temporarily" burnt myself out on this project. I won't be posting anymore failed experiments. When I get motivated to go back, I'll be posting fwd progress, and not backwards. They tell me "Patience is a virtue." I need to reacquire some more. Hang in there.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Thomas A. Edison

Selfless people help themselves last, you've helped many joe... you're next my friend!

I'm definitely not giving up Mike, just "building up"

franco b wrote: Say it ain't so Joe. you have shown remarkable patience and marvelous craftsmanship so far. A little pause to regroup is fine. It will all be worth it when you get that stove humming.

Thanks FB, and I always appreciate your advice, and opinions.

And forward progress we have. Once I got the boxes cleaned out, and sealed up, (again), I repoured. Fri nite about 11PM, I mixed up some 601, to just the right consistency, paddled it in from the top, (lid open), did some shake rattle and roll, and topped it off. Couldn't close the lid, cause in the end bays I put in my masters, which are a tad too tall, and obstructs the inside wall of the lid. But that's ok, cause it's to give me some leeway for the width of the bricks. (May sound confusing, but I'll point it out later). So on that edge of the brick, all I could do was form it with a putty knife. Kinda like a mini screed.
Sat. morn (with the bricks curing still), I mixed up my polyester resin, and poured it in the end bays. The sides now sealed well, but had some minor leaks out the bottom of the box on one, and the toggle bolts. Fortunately the polyester resin sets up quicker, and didn't lose too much. So after a few hours, I mixed up a small batch, and refilled to top off. Because the previous pour cured, it sealed up the gaps, and held the mix.
At the end of the day, the resin had set-up, and I was able to get the frt doors open, but not W/O lots of protesting, as with the middle bays. The vents on the doors were also clogged with resin, and didn't help much. But I was able to get them open, while the masters stayed in the boxes.
This morning, after letting the resin cure overnite, I tried removing the masters from the boxes. The bays were vented this time, but the piston bores were also sealed with resin, so I don't think they helped much. I tried to seal them from the pour, but guess I didn't succeed. I do believe the release agent helped somewhat tho. When I tried to extract the masters from the boxes, the toggles were frozen, and weren't functional at this time, so I ended up driving a putty knife between the master and the mold, and after some work, they popped W/O too much damage. The worst of it was a small insignificant section at the very bottom edge, which refused to cure. But I knew I'ld be adding some Bondo, to clean things up anyway. I ended up letting them cure in the garage, because the Mrs. would've complained about the smell from the cellar workshop. And because the garage isn't heated at this time, I had to build a mini compartment with a heater to keep the temps reasonable for curing. Was this a factor that the very bottom of each box didn't set? Maybe. All in all, they came out a tad better than the 1st 2, and hopefully my last 2 will be better.
Now for my 601 bricks. Sat. evening, once my resin had set, and I pried open the doors, I also wanted to remove the Rutland bricks from the center bays. They had been setting up for maybe 16 hrs at this point, so here came the removal test.
I 1st removed the vent knob/screw on the frt cover to expose the face of the brick to the air. I pried on the door from each side and it popped W/O much effort, and rewarded me with the nicest brick yet! But all wasn't over yet. It was still in the box.
The 1/4" vent hole is drilled into the rear of the piston bore/cavity, with the toggle screw running through the middle, and pushes on the rear face of the piston/ brick. After a little rapping of a mallet on the top back wall of the boxes, I cautiously began applying pressure on the toggle, and with-in a few turns, it pushed the brick/bricks loose. Then I retracted the piston, wiggled the brick back and forth a couple times, all the while I'm blowing in forced air, then it lifted it right out. With the exception of some pin holes, and a very small section of one rear edge which chipped off, they came out good. (Man, this post looks like a book. Sorry. I'ld better end now. Pics to follow.)

After some sanding, the edges chipped off some more in a couple places, but I think when I mix up my next batch tonite, I can patch them up with the leftovers, along with the small holes. Here's some pics of the results from the last event. No they're not perfect, but getting there. I wasn't able to shake up the mix as much as I would've liked to, which must've resulted in the issues again. I'm hoping to remedy this soon. These boxes are taking a beating, but once all the bays are poured and functional, they'll be cleaned up. After the game is over, I'll be pouring some more 601. OFN

2nd pair of bricks out of the box. Once again, another easy extraction. These edges are a tad better, but still have some minor air bubbles. Just haven't got a good way of vibrating them out.
Bought a massage chair vibrating motor off Ebay, and took a chance on the details. Couldn't find any specs on it anywhere, but for 20 bucks with shipping, it looked too good to pass up. If the motor came small, I could bolt it to the boxes. (They come with a mounting pad). If it came bigger, I could make a vibrating table. The chairs are residential, and plug into your typical wall outlet. You'ld think these motors would be 110V. The pigtail had a 2 wire lead to it, but an odd connector. After researching the net for an hour, I couldn't find anything, so I went for broke. Stuck a conventional plug to it, held my breath, and plugged it into the wall. July 4th in January! Oh well, back to the drawing board.

oh snap, i'll bet the actual mains plug for the chair is standard 120v but it then goes thru an inverter / converter to knock it down to 12 v just like washing machines and such do.

keep at it, you're still making progress.

steve

KingCoal wrote:oh snap, i'll bet the actual mains plug for the chair is standard 120v but it then goes thru an inverter / converter to knock it down to 12 v just like washing machines and such do.

keep at it, you're still making progress.

steve

Yeah, I'm sure you're right Steve. I've never seen an electric motor W/O any identifying data, what-so-ever, other than the manufactures name. I think it was Farrel (?)

I just removed bricks #s 5+6 out of the molds, and am 1/2 way to completion. The last 4 came out (visually) a tad better than the 1st 2, but still have pores to deal with. Not bad, just not perfect. At least they're not breaking, and still evacuating easily. Must be a testimony to the strength of the Rutland refractory. These 1st 12 bricks will be my "proto-types", and I plan on sticking them in the stove for usage, while fine tuning, and finishing the boxes.
And Paul, I still have this question for you. If the G6 has a bigger firepot, and more bricks, then I'm not understanding why I can't make 12 bricks with 25 LBs, when you can make 14? These bricks are roughly 1" thick, (maybe an 1/8th bigger on the bottom of the upper bricks), and it appears again I'll need more mix to finish. (Guessing at this point, but I think my bucket of refractory is past the 1/2 way point, and I'm only 1/2 way done.)
And also I just ordered another 12 1/2 lb bucket of 601, and the price is almost $20 from my local Ace. When I ordered the 25 pounder off Amazon (Prime),it was $45 with shipping. Guess there's no bargain in this dept, when buying in bulk.

Joe,

The #6 firepot is 15-1/2 inch diameter at the top giving 13-1/2 inside the brick lining, but because of the taper, the bottom row of bricks is much smaller diameter - 14 inch with 12 inch the inside of the bricks at just above the grates. I think your firepot is more cylindrical isn't it ? If so, you may be using more refractory in the bottom row ?

And, there may be a difference in how much excess refractory gets cleaned up after each batch is mixed.

With my first set of bricks I mixed too much each time I made a batch, so a bucket didn't last for 14 bricks. The waste that got washed out of the mixing bucket each time, times 13 bricks, while not alot each time, it was collectively enough to have made a 14th brick. So that first set "fell one brick short of a full load" - the story of my life!

By the second set of bricks I streamlined the process to reduce leftover refractory. I used a Tupperware mixing bucket with the level marked on it for only enough refractory needed to fill the two molds. That savings with each batch was enough to make that last brick.

Paul