kiln board

[jerry keller]

I'm looking for a kiln board that I can fuse onto that hopefully does not need fibre paper, which I find uncomfortable to be around.

I've got a white 2" thick board that seems to have rigidizer on it, but a section of it got pulled away from a previous casting. I also have a vermiculite board about 2" thick, but it needs to be surfaced with something...It is 18" wide - ideally I'd like something about 24" wide by 36" long ( or could use a couple of pieces to butt together.)

Is a stainless steel sheet on top of one of these a decent answer for longevity,and not needing a fibre paper? Can I sand flat the white board with a belt sander, and re-rigidize the surface? I'd want to have the board remain flat.

Looking to make some grit casting sheets, but have to get a good surface to begin with....

[Bert Weiss]

I like to use HD fiber boards. Generally, I work with 1" board. I powder my boards with finely ground alumina hydrate. This can be used over and over without refreshing the powder. Kiln wash containing EPK would need to be replenished. The HD refers to high density, which refers to the rigidizing process. The most common boards are LD and are easier to dent and break. I do nothing to a board but support it on firebricks, and powder it. I have worked with both float and Bullseye, but not opals on the bottom, so I can't comment on them. When I need to work large, I cover abutted boards with 1/4" durablanket, which I also powder. With this strategy, I can make large countertops with an integrated bathroom sink, or 2.

When companies rigidize boards, there are 2 kinds of rigidizers available, colloidal alumina and colloidal silica. The Silica has a strong tendency to stick. This is the "pink stuff". It must be kilnwashed to prevent sticking. The colloidal alumina is what manufacturers of boards use. This is much less prone to sticking, but it can definitely stick. I don't find it takes much powder to keep that from happening though.