Where to find and get fire clay bricks in nature?

Is fire clay can be available from the nature? As per manufacturers of fire clay it can not be selling in market. No worries about that to worrying this kind of situation. Close your eyes and think about this, give it a go several times. Think of a place outside where you saw mud of a lighter color.

It means a place with water soil erosion work going on. When wet, mud is soft and sticky without any organic matter in it. Not like a top soil, Never confuse these two. Mud can be found usually deeper below top soil. It’s everywhere around us but can not be seen until it’s uncovered.

You have to find direct where it is not mixed with sand or rocks, and remember the light color. You need to uncover a mud which has similar structure to the play dough. Fire clay shrinks about 10 to 15% after water dries out so take home an extra bucket more.

You can make a test if you like;

Stretch and flatten piece of the clay into 13cm or 5 inches long strip

With a sharp object make 2 marks in it – exact 10cm or 4inches between the marks

Leave the clay to dry

Re measure when dry to see the shrinkage difference

Some Potters still keep their own clay source spots as the world’s best kept secrets. Own sourcing was very common years ago but for sure it’s many artists’ hobby and pride not buying commercially packed modern clay bodies. It’s different however with quantity producing potters.

Lot’s of enthusiasts dig for the clay. Mix fire clay with sieved fine sand to make the top refractory mortar! Mix it with coarse river and make clay adobe tiles out of the stuff. Mixing send into wet clay by walking in it, or mixing sand with clay both in dry form and then adding water in, second example requires less effort and is much faster.

As these adobes dry, they shrink a bit and should be covered with plastic so the drying speed is slower, that prevents banding and cracking. More grog is added into the clay, for adobe tiles, less shrinkage and cracking.

Never add straw saw into body of mud bricks for creating wood fired oven dome, because it burn off just as organic material does. It’s being added into heat insulation only to create honeycomb like airy lightweight effect House building bricks are different to refractory application. Clay adobe and bricks must be dense and less porous, solid and heavy.

Cement is used only to make the mortar to dry faster, to set as you work to progress fast. Also experts fire clay manufacturers tell you that, no need for refractory cements everywhere, these are expensive and used by industries for theirs hi temps kilns and furnaces or for castables.

Source :

• http://www.traditionaloven.com/articles/101/what-is-fire-clay-and-where-to-get-it