Alright, so the other day I got it into my head that I needed to figure out how to make some heat-proof bricks. I mean, who doesn’t need heat-proof bricks, right? I started by looking up what kind of bricks can even handle heat.
Turns out, your regular old bricks are okay with some heat, but if you want to get serious, you need something called fire bricks, or I guess some people call them refractory bricks. They’re made to withstand really high temperatures. So, I started searching where to get these fire bricks.
- Fireclay bricks: Good for up to like 2,800°F (1,540°C).
- Silicon carbide bricks: These bad boys can supposedly handle up to 4,000°F (2,200°C).
I found a few online stores that sell them, but man, they were not cheap. Then I thought, maybe I can just make my own? So I went down this whole rabbit hole of researching how to make bricks. Turns out, it’s not as simple as just mixing some dirt and water.
First of all, you need a special type of clay. I didn’t even know there were different types of clay! And then you have to bake them in a kiln, which I definitely don’t have. I was thinking maybe I could use my oven, but apparently, it doesn’t get hot enough. Like, not even close. Ovens are generally used below 500°F. The more you know.
So, I started looking into makeshift kilns. People build them out of all sorts of things, like old metal drums and stuff. That seemed a little bit more within my reach. I found some plans online, gathered some materials, and spent the whole weekend trying to build this thing.
It was a mess. I got covered in dirt, almost set my backyard on fire a couple of times, and I’m pretty sure my neighbors think I’ve lost it. But, after a lot of trial and error, I finally had something that resembled a kiln. I mixed up some clay, following a recipe I found online, and formed it into brick shapes.
Then came the moment of truth. I fired up the kiln, put my bricks inside, and waited. And waited. It took forever for that thing to heat up. But, finally, after a few hours, I pulled out my bricks. They looked… well, they looked like bricks! They were heavy, solid, and definitely not something you’d want to drop on your foot.
Now, I haven’t exactly tested them in a furnace or anything, but I did hold a blowtorch to them for a while, and they seemed to hold up pretty well. I’m calling it a win. I made heat-proof bricks! Or at least, I think I did. I might need to do some more testing, but for now, I’m pretty proud of myself.
So, that’s my story about making heat-proof bricks. It was a wild ride, but I learned a lot. And now I have a bunch of bricks that can supposedly withstand crazy high temperatures. Don’t know what I’m going to do with them yet, but it’s good to know I have them, right? Maybe I’ll build a pizza oven. Or a forge. The possibilities are endless!
