FireclayBricks

Folks in and around Central & Western Arkansas (USA) can find good quality firedbrick (9″x4″x2.5″- really 2 & 1/8″) at ACME BRICK Company at Malvern, AR. ($1.40/each as of FALL2009). also good source for fireclay mix (100# sack), “everset” mortar (high temp mortar mix for hearth construction w/ firebrick).
If looking for vermiculite for insulation. can buy large quantity at reasonable price from MIDSOUTH CONTROL & SUPPLY of Fort Smith, AR (really Van Buren, AR).
can follow along our oven construction at:

photos of stone oven built

Regards, P. Shepard

By P. Shepard — Permalink

Dear Friends:
We are an ISO certified manufacturer of fireclay bricks in China’s fireclay brick base Zibo City.
Our quality and price is way more competitive. If you are interested to buy from China directly, please email me at refractory_china@yahoo.com or MSN ID:jedgxsh@hotmail.com.

By James — Permalink

i do blacksmithing and im looking for fire brick to line my forge with can you sugest where i can get the fire brirk for that high of a heat

By joe — Permalink

I live at Sauble Beach on the Bruce Peninsula, 220kms NW of Toronto, Ontario. I can purchase refractory bricks from Shouldice Designer Stone for about $2.10 / 2-1/2 inch brick (in Metric equals to 64mm thick firebrick). They also supply the cement, thru my local building supply dealer, Miller Home Building Centre in Sauble. I should be starting building my oven approximately April 15, depending on delivery. Doug

By Purchasing refractory fire bricks in Canada. — Permalink

Anyone know where t buy cheap firebricks in sydney??

Please let me know,
giyongkim83@gmail.com

By G — Permalink

I just got the specs on the firebricks sold where I live in Canada and which are imported from the US.

Thermal Conductivity (K-Factor)
Btu/in
At a mean temperature of ft2hr°F W/m°C
400°F (205°C) 8.2 1.18
800°F (425°C) 8.5 1.23
1200°F (650°C) 9.0 1.30
1600°F (870°C) 9.2 1.33
2000°F (1095°C) 9.5 1.37
2400°F (1315°C) 9.8 1.41

TYPICAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS, Wt. % (calcined basis)
Silica (SiO2)…………….. 56.02
Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) ……. 37.50
Iron Oxide (Fe2O3) ……….. 2.09
Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) …… 1.99
Potassium Oxide (K20) …….. 1.47
Magnesium Oxide (MgO) …….. 0.36
Calcium Oxide (CaO) ………. 0.30
Sodium Oxide (Na2O) ………. 0.074
Zirconium Dioxide (ZrO2) ….. 0.068
Chromium(III) Oxide (Cr2O3) .. 0.039
Phosphorous Pentoxide (P2O5) . 0.036
Manganese Oxide (MnO) …….. 0.007
NiO …………………….. 0.012
Total …………………… 99.97
Loss on Ignition, 1000°C ….. 0.13
We certify that SMITHFIELD (Unbranded) Dry Press Firebrick
manufactured at our Alsey, Illinois plant conforms to ASTM
Specification C-27 – Class 4.1.4 and 4.1.5 for Medium Duty
and Low Duty respectively and C-1261-98 (which includes C-
24 and C-67), as well as, C-16, C-20, C-24, C-38, C-113, C-133.

They are called ‘Medium Duty Firebricks’ however it seems the aluminum content at 37.50 is at the high end and not ideal because not steam absorbent, when compared for instance with firebricks around 23% AL mark, and therefore does this make it very hot or dry ovens which can’t absorb steam (?).

But could anyone here with experience please give me an idea as to whether these are good or not, and if not ideal, does anyone have a good supplier in Canada. They are charging $4.00 a firebrick here inc. tax, which includes shipping from the States (with bulk freight accounts of course), but maybe it is worth my while to find a more ideal product and ship it in.

By Ashley — Permalink

Hi Ash,
Have you noticed the comment above regarding buying firebricks in Canada? Maybe it helps.

Could you ask in the place for the alumina content and also Technical / Physical Specifications of the Low Duty firebrick type that they stock or manufacture? Plus the price?! Can you please let us know those and also the contacts for this company? Low Duty type is what I use and also those they have on offer can be great for this purpose and the temperature range.

You can use the mentioned 37.5% alumina. Even though they withstand continuous use in a lot higher temperature ranges that could never be reached in wood fired ovens and they also cost a bit more, you can use them. They will perform just as well. Regarding the steam absorbing – the same applies to refractory clay tiles or oven floors made out of larger clay blocks (I am not talking about ovens whose have the hotface cast from a heat resistant concrete mixes because I don’t work with them myself in building ovens); basically because the fire bricks with high AL content are denser (glossier/heavier), they have lower porosity so the effect is they absorb moisture ( steam ) slower when compared with firebricks with higher porosity which is common for lower alumina firebrick grades. This effect is minimal. If you work with ovens that have been built from both clay types, low and high alumina content in the brick’s clay body, you will notice only a slight difference when cooking or baking. But this difference can be gotten used to with practice perfectly. With the higher AL grade clay, if you make pizzas in high temps atmosphere, when you place the fresh dough (pizza base) on the hot firebrick floor in the first few seconds the steam builts fast and literally uplifts the pizza.

And logically this effect is even more minimal with floors made out of firebricks because there are many little join lines between all the bricks therefore also the steam from under the pizza base runs out fast (with oven floor made from tiles or a large smooth blocks the steam under the dough holds just a bit longer. Plus, the fact is that firebricks work also as many nicely moving fragments in the heat expansion and shrinking – in contrary the reality is that larger blocks either in the floor or in walls, and square tiles, are often cracking across and the occurrence is caused by the heat expansion with cooling down shrinkage and these heat differences in flat material.)

By Rado — Permalink

To: Sydney, AUS builders.

I recently found a source of refractory “tiles”. The gentleman has heaps of them and is selling them for around ~1.50ish. I’ve decided to buy a few and try to use them for the inner firebrick arc and maybe break one up into bits to use as a replacement for the broken terracotta tiles filling.

I’ll speak to the seller and ask him if it’s ok to post up details on this site or if i can pass them on.

By G — Permalink

When i see pages like this one about refractory fire bricks i cannot help but be jealous …. i wish was a bit more tech savy to be able to offer great info like you do about pizza ovens fired by wood with all the info on heat absorbing / resistant material or heat insulations … keep up the good work. Thank you.

By Emile Loukanis — Permalink

Anyone know where to buy cheap firebricks in Vermont South Victoria Australia ?
Please let me know here or piro52@hotmail.com

By Piro52 — Permalink

We supply 2.0g/cm3 max. density firebricks for pizza oven.
The bricks are burned at high temperature in kilns, which can stand higher working temperature. The typical bulk density of our bricks is around 1.8g/cm3. The brick color is white. while the Al2O3 is around 40%, Fe2O3 is below 1.8%. Is there anybody having interest to cooperate with us on marketing of this kind of bricks, feel free to contact us for the further information. My MSN is zzfirebird@hotmail.com.

Oh. We are a company from China.

Thank you!

By Harry Lee — Permalink

Here is a link to the place I got fire bricks from http://www.clayburngroup.com/ ( Clayburn Industries Ltd. ) they manufacture fire-bricks there and also they have fireclay and refractory mortar available. The refractory supplier sells in location, China, India, Canada, USA. 3 inch bricks cost $ 4.00 each and 2.5″ sell for $1.80 US only per one firebrick.

By Brad M — Permalink

Hi Rado – great site and information on wood pizza ovens. This is a mesage for Doug in Sauble Beach who said he was building an oven – did you finish? Did you go to get the firebrick and were they right for the job? Anyone use the old clay bricks Rado suggested as alternative instead of firebricks and how did they work? Thanks! I am Tom in Balaclava Ontario – not far from Sauble Beach.

By Tom calling for Sauble Beach oven builder — Permalink

I am looking for a local supplier of firebrick for building a wood kiln for firing pottery. Ideally I would like to find them second-hand to keep the price low or free. I live outside of Denver, Colorado. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

By matthew — Permalink

Please note that IF you can find an off white/cream colored solid brick, just the fact that it is not red shows that it has very little iron compounds. It is the iron compounds, or , rather, the LACK of same that aids in the higher firing resistance of that color of brick. If you are not sure, then find a friend who would be willing to ‘re-fire’ one in their electric kiln, say at 1800F+, and see what happens. If it stays intack, and does not blow apart, then you may have a good product, the higher temp the better.

By mik — Permalink

What kind of sand to build new wood fire place as I will use the hard fire bricks as I have the fondu cement waiting to start and how much of sand to mix with fondu and water to mix?

Thanks enjoying your site.
Regards Doug

By Douglas — Permalink

Hi Rado
i am in the process of building another pizza oven as i bought the building plans from you a long time ago. I have bought some refractory brick but unsure what the grading would be. Stamped on the side it says AS1-1-76. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

added by Rado: Can you email me a clear photo of the refractory brick? Also, if you cut or brake one of these bricks in half, take one image of the body inside, I need to see it. You can email large photos to pizzapaddle at gmail com. Set camera to “macro” for taking sharper close-up images, like that it gives nice details of the clay body and of the grog inside, color and how coarse it is. I will reply with the answer.

By type of refractory fire bricks — Permalink

I have some free firebricks that have never been used for a cement kiln. They tell me though that they have 70 alumina. The firebricks are 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 2 1/2 in size. Any idea if these will work for the floor and the walls?

By Mel — Permalink

To all those building or wanting to build Wood Fired Pizza Ovens in Melbourne or around Victoria, help has arrived.

The Melbourne Fire Brick Company specialises in supplying refractory fire bricks, mortar, castable and insulation specifically for building Wood Fired Pizza Ovens. Our prices are the most competitive in Australia, and all our materials are of the highest quality. We stock 30% Alumina refractory fire bricks in a range of different shapes and sizes, including arch bricks which are perfect for building the dome of a Rado Wood Fired Pizza Oven.

Please don’t hesitate to visit us at The Melbourne Fire Brick Company to see what we have to offer. We take pride in our customer service, so feel free to ask any questions that you might have and we’ll do our best to help you in any way we can.

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