Furnace Cement, Refractory/Retort Cement, 5 Gallons

LOUCAST 3000 Degree Dense Castable Refractory Mortar

Cast Your Own Hard Fire Brick

Loucast is a dry material offered here in 50-pound bags. By simply adding water, mixing, and pouring into your desired form, you can create dense, high-temperature firebrick rated at 3000°F. This makes it ideal for furnaces, and boilers, and is often used to create forges and floors for pizza and bread ovens. For wood kiln building, it's an excellent choice for casting any shape you need.

When and Why to Use Loucast

When casting larger monoliths, it is recommended to add stainless steel refractory needles or other stainless wire reinforcement. We also carry Litewate, a similar product that allows you to cast insulating firebrick forms.

This material finds diverse applications, including forges, furnaces, and ovens. Often, forges utilize a dense Loucast or hard-fire brick floor, with walls made of or insulated with Litewate, soft insulating fire brick (IFB), or Kaowool blanket.

Loucast Specifications

Our LOUCAST 3000 Degree Castable Refractory is a dense mortar rated for 3000°F. It has low iron content with high purity and is designed to withstand high sulphur fuel, reducing atmospheres, carbon deposition, erosion, and abrasion. This castable refractory cement can be used for gunning, casting, troweling, or extruding.

Yield: 131 pounds dry yields 1 cubic foot. A 50-pound bag yields approximately 0.38 cubic feet.
Mix Rate: 4.8 quarts per 100 pounds.

Installation Guidelines

The installation procedures for castables are relatively simple if the fundamentals are understood. With proper supervision, relatively unskilled labor can achieve excellent structural and thermal properties in the finished refractory lining.

Mixing Instructions

Castable refractories can be installed by pouring into forms, tamping into place, or pneumatic gunning. When mixed, the time should suffice to ensure thorough wetting but not exceed five minutes. Use only clean, drinkable water for mixing to avoid contaminants that could destroy the bonding agent's effectiveness. The mixer must be free of dirt and set-up concrete from previous mixes.

Placement and Working Time

The castable refractory mortar should be poured into place immediately upon completion of the mixing cycle. The use of a pencil vibrator is recommended to consolidate the material and remove entrapped air. Over-vibrating can cause water and cement to migrate to the surface, creating a weaker structure.

Initial and Final Set

Upon adding water, hydrates form, causing the mix to set initially, then harden during the curing process. Hydraulic setting castable refractory mortar requires 24 hours to develop full strength. During the curing process, plenty of water should be available to convert dry cement to hydrated cement fully.

Drying and Curing

Be sure to waterproof forms with a coating of oil or paint. Seal the surface of the castable with a waterproof coating called membrane curing. Keep the surface wet with water sprays or cover small installations with wet bags.

Heat-Up Process

After drying, castable refractory mortars should be gradually heated to remove chemically bound water. Raise the temperature by 50°F per hour up to 1000°F and hold at 600°F for one hour per inch of lining thickness. Once reaching 1000°F, the heating rate can increase up to 100°F per hour until the operating temperature is reached.

Moisture and heat levels should be managed carefully to avoid explosive spalling due to steam pressure buildup. A suspended roof with exposure top and bottom will heat more rapidly than an insulated wall backed by a steel casing.

Order your castable refractory material from Sheffield Pottery. Contact us for special pricing on large-scale projects!

Related Products

• High Temperature Caulk: Kaowool Moldable: 11 Oz Tube: Thermal Ceramics
• Thermal Ceramics K-Bond Wet Kiln Cement: 55 Pounds
• Derby 3000Ht (15Lbs) High temp fire-clay mortar
• Amaco Kiln Cement - Mortar: 1 Pound Wet
• 3000 Derby Mortar (50Lbs)
• Lou Patch / Loupatch Plastic Refractory Mortar 50 Pounds wet
• Us Litewate 23 (30 Lbs bag) Insulating Castable
• Kiln Brick Repair Kit

Prices vary, please visit our website for more details.