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Was new to this kind of repair, but this cement worked as advertised. Great stuff

My project was a complete replacement of the bricks in the lid of a large electric kiln. Since the old bricks were brittle, I bought new ones from bargainmarge on ebay. What I had read about this repair cement made it sound like just what I was looking for, and the price is excellent, so I bought three pounds. Most of the work was sawing, filing and sanding the brick to fit the lid. I tried to arrange the bricks to minimize the length of straight seam that might break later. Underneath the bricks were sheets of particle board that resembled compressed vermiculite, and the bricks were cemented to these as well as each other for added strength, since they would be hanging from these boards. I mixed the repair cement according to the directions and it was easy to work with. Having the cement harden in the mixing tray was not a problem. However, rubbing the bricks together to penetrate the pores with the cement (according to the directions) was not an extensive process like I thought it would be - after only a couple seconds the bricks became too hard to move, either because the coated area on both surfaces became large or because the dry brick thickened the cement. In both the brick-shaping and cementing processes, I had to be very careful what order I added bricks to the lid to prevent painting myself into a corner! This is because the lid had a lip that the bricks slide under, so a corner brick can't be slid vertically in. Once all the bricks were in place I deviated from the directions in preparing a thinner cement that I poured into some gaps - mistakes from cutting the bricks - but this seemed to go well. I then used the kiln coat instructions to apply a layer of the cement to the new lid face. After the lid had sit for a few days I timidly hefted it onto the kiln, but it was completely stable. I let the kiln sit on low for an afternoon to get remaining moisture out of the lid, which I could feel rising from the view hole. Once that subsided I fired some ceramics to cone 6, and it went fine.

Instructions are well written. Drawing upon my limited masonary background, the repair to the floor of my kiln went well. All kiln wash must be removed or cement won't stick. I used wire brushes and 40 grit sand paper and vacumned thoroughly. The mixture consistency is greatly affected by the firebrick porosity. Fire bricks suck water rapidly causing the mixture to dry in a clump and make it difficult to spread. For deep holes I used the consistency of gravy, coating the entire hole, then replacing the broken brick section so the kiln floor was level. I skim coated the entire kiln floor by spreading a thin coat the consistency of coffee cream. Brushing and spreading had to be quick to get a smooth finish. After mixture sets you can smooth by using a flat wire brush then a sponge just as the masons do on stucco jobs.