Fiberfrax QF 180

[Joseph Tracy]

I bought enough inch and a half fiber board for 2 large shelves for my Denver Kiln a few years ago, and also some colloidal silica and Fiberfrax QF 180 as recommended for the treatment of a kiln shelf by Bullseye glass. I ended up with enough material to do 1 shelf.

I now need to repair that shelf and do a second shelf. I found the silica but the company I found for the QF 180 ( zartech)wants $200 for a gallon. I remember paying $70 last time with shipping. Anyone know of a better supplier, lower price?

[Bert Weiss]

Joseph

QF 180 is a Unifrax product. Zartech is their New England distributor. All Unifrax distributors do not have the same pricing, or minimum purchase amounts, so I recommend you do some searching.'

Do you have a reason not to just use an HD board out of the box?

[Joseph Tracy]

Thanks Bert. Mostly I feel the surface is too easily dinged and the shelves not sturdy enough. Have you had good luck with that? Are you just using separator?

[Bert Weiss]

Thanks Bert. Mostly I feel the surface is too easily dinged and the shelves not sturdy enough. Have you had good luck with that? Are you just using separator?

I use HD (high density) boards. They are far more sturdy than LD (low density) boards. I generally dust the board with alumina hydrate and fire away. I have used some boards for a long time. They can get dinged up. Alumina powder can be used to fill the dents.

[Babette (Shawn)]

Hi Bert, where do you buy your HD board? Can I purchase it cut to fit my kiln? Do you have to treat the HD board before the first use? THANK YOU!

[Bert Weiss]

Hi Bert, where do you buy your HD board? Can I purchase it cut to fit my kiln? Do you have to treat the HD board before the first use? THANK YOU!

You do have to prefire boards. They will stink, turn black, then turn white. You should prefire any board or shelf to 50ºF hotter than you plan to use it. This way it will not see any surprises when you use it.

Unifrax boards are the world's best and costliest. They have distributors world wide. HD boards come in 24" x 36" or 24" x 48" x 1" thick. You can cut them with a good razor knife.

I don't know west coast sources for HD boards. On the east coast there are a few companies that bring in Chinese boards. http://www.ceramicfiberonline.com/ceram ... -grade-24/ These cost about half of Unifrax boards. The ones I bought were decent quality.

I have often abutted 24" x 36" boards, raised on fire bricks, and covered with Unifrax 1/4" blanket, from a 48" wide roll. This works fine.