Construction Channel

you might be right, maybe it just has an iron content, not necessarily a high one

very interesting indeed, so in theory the clay round here must have a relatively high iron content. good to know. they also speak of much shorter heating and cooling times than i had read before so things may be looking up

i think the glazing is done as part of the firing, iv got a funny feeling that has something to do with the sand lining the mould that is IF I wanted a glazed brick, I may be wrong but i would say engineering bricks have more of a glazed look, and that is definitely not the look i am going for, if you look to the right of the plastic cup in the thumbnail for the video there is a small chunk of what looks like brick, That was just a lump of clay from underneath a fire we had after doing some hedging, its pretty bloody hard and looks exactly like i want my brick to which makes me want to mess about with the clay even less

SHHHH, so do i but i think they would be more likely to fall of, I could join it like i put the handle on my teapot but i just don't think it is a risk worth taking also they could potentially burn in the kiln being so thin. Im pressing them in afterwards on this attempt at least , If it doesnt work ill have a re-think but for now that is the plan

don't worry, I won't be forgetting that mistake for a while

Nope, Im not going to mess with it. mainly because i wouldn't know what sand to add but also because "I'm sure it will be fine" I have been working from many links but the original one i was getting temps from was this http://brickcollecting.com/history.htm which i read as keep the kiln "cool" for 2 days, slowly increase the heat for 7 days up to 1800f, seal it and then let cool for 7 days, (I haven't worked out how ill keep it going for 7 days yet without taking time off work, but if i have to i will) now because i have down scaled this process so much i can't see it taking that much time to heat or cool, this is probably not a good thing but we will just have to see, i recon 3 days up and 3 days down should be fine, If not i will just have to try again

Everything has to start somewhere So far iv got me some clay!

Welcome aboard. Glad to see we have another tradesman

I think this is a fair point, and should not be necessary, The problem is WHEN do you bring it up? the later it is noticed almost certainly the more expensive the remedy will be. Worst case scenario would be having to pay trades to wait about while the architect draws up ("Free?") amendments. I think it largely depends on the scenario, If it is for house bashers then the architect should possibly be left to get on with their Job. varying one offs like a lot of the people here are trying to create will take a lot more collaboration...IMO

Thats brilliant thanks, Hadn't found anywhere that has told me how to test the sand content yet (I didn't even know that was a thing) originally i was going to put the letters in the bottom but i can just see the "&" is going to give me trouble with all its little holes so i recon pressing it in the top is what I will try first, luckily for you the plan for today is to dig up and process the clay, the videos arnt exactly going to be coming thick and fast because of all the drying times but ill try to keep you updated as we go along...

You have got a point on OSB as it is pretty much the only sheet material that is commonly used that stayed imperial. and that makes it a massive PITA But doors are commonly a retrofit item so they need to accommodate for all the imperial holes they might need to fill.

In fairness it was Peter that linked the clear doors not Mr RA so it appears i have been going down the wrong path, Glad to hear you have stayed away from pinterest. Dangerous place that, Full of .......Fashion

if they are electrochromic glass then yes that is cool, but just having a sheet of glass that can be moved in or out of the way still seems a silly idea Mrs Ra has been on pinterest hasn't she???

30"or 762 is standard for internal doors, 27" for bathrooms if you need the space. going larger just limits choice and the use of standard lining packs, I assume 826mm has something to do with disabled access but don't quote me on that

call me cynical but what exactly is the point of internal glass doors? your not letting the light in and your not keeping the wind out so surely the only purpose is privacy???

880 should be plenty for the setup you are suggesting, you don't want to be messing around with huge piles of packers. only thing i would note is 18mm sounds very thin for a standard lining. without checking i think our "standard" lining material comes out at about 1'1/8 so 28mm or there about...

I could have probably squeezed in the Italic ones IF i didn't order some 50mm ones from eBay the night before last. thanks for looking though, I very rarely think to try looking in craft shops.o

for some reason i had you down as a northerner?? hmmm maybe ill look a little harder for the storage bricks and have a work out how many i would need, if we can get enough between us ill more than happily meet up for a drink stop it! ill get a chance at that when i start on the worktops. I am going to at least attempt to make a "Real soft red brick" and thats the end of it

if i was going to get heavy attacks of ear ache from Faye they would be happening already , she has and probably always will have bigger things to worry about (that i made or am making) than what state the top brick of our gable is in.

only time will tell on that one. It would be different if i was being paid to do it, whats the worst that can happen? i have to do it again in x amount of time......thats just a chance to improve well actually the worst would be the kiln exploding horrifically and killing everyone close to me while leaving me just alive enough to hate myself for a lot of years, but what sort of life would i live if i worried about things like that ........

im not the only one who keeps things like that then.... I have got a decent stack of them somewhere but i can't think where i put them. the postage would ruin the whole idea so i will have to decline but it was very kind of you to offer.

I'm going to put 4 layers of bricks in a mesh patten at the bottom to try to keep the flames away from my new bricks, also if it will fit I'm hoping to get 2 layers all the way round it inside the barrel. in those outside 2 layers I'm hoping to use them to hold some iron bars across the centre to hold my bricks apart..... thats the plan at least

surprisingly there are very few good videos of the whole process, I did consider cutting and sticking the bricks to start with. I have done it before when the customer didn't want to pay for the cant bricks to be made but iv done that before and it wasn't exactly thrilling, now making a kiln....... I haven't tried that before and it involves a big fire!! who doesn't like playing with fire???

Funny you should say that. I got sent this from my governor this afternoon from where he had been screening without knee pads