Furnace castable questions

[Pete VanderLaan]

Oooh~ Trick Swedish question..

[Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig]

No science based, you guys not used to that after the last four years

[Pete VanderLaan]

Oh well, so much for humor. The mirror will fog if it is placed in a spot where the exhaust moisture from the casting will make the mirror fog. It isn't going to fog if it just sits inside the furnace. I suspect that Travis realizes that. One however, never knows.

There was some evidence recently with a member saying he preferred trial and error for most of his information. So, if you melt the mirror, that probably won't help with any conclusions either beyond a notion that if the mirror was to melt, one might presume that the furnace at that point was likely hotter than 100C.

But who knows? We have a newspaper which has a header saying something about "Inquiring minds.."

There's not a lot of evidence of the use of science lately, I'll admit.

[Travis Frink]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

Oh well, so much for humor. The mirror will fog if it is placed in a spot where the exhaust moisture from the casting will make the mirror fog. It isn't going to fog if it just sits inside the furnace. I suspect that Travis realizes that. One however, never knows.

There was some evidence recently with a member saying he preferred trial and error for most of his information. So, if you melt the mirror, that probably won't help with any conclusions either beyond a notion that if the mirror was to melt, one might presume that the furnace at that point was likely hotter than 100C.

But who knows? We have a newspaper which has a header saying something about "Inquiring minds.."

There's not a lot of evidence of the use of science lately, I'll admit.

I might have figured that out eventually through trial and error but thanks for clarifying that.

I was going on the assumption that the mirror trick would be used before turning on the main burner to really bring the temperature up- I.e. while still under 100c.

On reflection, it probably is a good idea to state things like that outright, though. A lot of people seem to be unable or unwilling to recognize science, common sense, or the bright red writing on every wall these days.

[Rich Samuel]

The James Coburn technique.

https://youtu.be/pFhD7dnqEbg?t=95

[Charles Friedman]

The mirror trick goes way back to potters. The idea was to hold up a mirror just outside of a peep hole or ajar door. During the first firing of the pottery (bisque firing) at start up, if you saw fog, do NOT turn up, if you did not see fog, then it was safe to turn up a bit more. Same thing with the first firing of any appliance. Steam is bad thing at this point. Patience is where it is at.

As for the vent, used as a dampener. that also is a pottery kiln trick.
It is called a "negative damper". It is usually found in the flue-way from heat source to the chimney. Just by opening a gap a bit with a brick or kiln-shelf it will reduce some of the hot air going thru without blocking it, like a positive style "guillotine damper" would do. The purpose of all this is, two things.
One is, to control the amount of air-intake from the heat source, to control the amount of reduction. The other is, to be able to tap off heat for other prepossess.
Added bonus is, a great spot to keep or cook a chicken or stew.