WarmGlass.com

Hi,

I’m searching for an extremely smooth, low “shot” content fiber paper. Something along the lines of a KaoWool series 2000 product. This is supposed to be an equivalent: https://ceramicfiber.com/ceramic-fiber-paper/

I’ve sent for a sample to test fire, but was hoping someone had experience using it in kln work and could provide me with some feedback as to its quality.

Thanks!
Sharol

Sharol- I've been using the fiberfrax 970 equivalent in 1/32" for years. It's expensive- about $2/sq.ft. in 2'x160' rolls. I'm curious about the cost of "your" stuff.
The 970 has a very faint weave on the front, a little rougher on the back but is the smoothest paper (once you get past thinfire) I've found. There's Chinese stuff available much cheaper but it has too many lumps and bumps for my work. Since I'm firing mostly on vermiculite, I can't use thinfire or papyrus.
It's fairly durable with certain glasses to 1500F, meaning that you can reuse it sometimes, mostly with transparent Bullseye glasses; it tends to stick to the opals. There is an odor at burnout 600-800F and it's obnoxious but not fatal. Vent your kiln room.
If you'd like me to send you a piece of the fiberfrax so you can compare them (would be of interest to me to) send me an email, not a pm.
Marty

Check out this thread:

http://www.warmglass.com/phpBB3/viewtop ... =2&t=42519

Thanks, Marty.

I’m still waiting on my samples of the TaoFiber, but now have sample of the FiberFrax 970 (great looking stuff!), KaoWool 900 and Lydall Lytherm 970 (I think this is what Bullseye sells and uses in classes, but I’m not sure). Of the three, so far the Fiberfrax wins for its low shot content and overall smoothness. I am dubious about the TaoFiber, as it is a Chinese product that I have never seen or heard mention of before. However, it has been produced for export to the USA since 1996 or 98 and so I’m keeping an open mind.

Thank you too for your Fiberfrax sample offer. I’m happy to share a piece of the TaoFiber once i get it. Also, I’ll post my thoughts here after I’ve test-fired it.

Buttercup, Thank you for the link to the earlier post. Unfortunately, the eBay link was no longer good, so I couldn’t find out more about the product.

I received the TaoFiber samples and don’t care much for the stiffness of the backing. I understand that all of these papers use some type of a latex matrix for the backing, but the Tao is even stiffer than the Lytherm product, which is pretty stiff. It is quite smooth, though not as smooth as the Fiberfrax 970, but may work well for others. I need a more flexible product for my application. If anyone would like more details about my fiber paper quest, feel free to PM me.

Sharol

Thanks for the review.

Sharol, sorry the eBay link is no more. In this thread Kevin makes reference to making one's own paper:

http://www.warmglass.com/phpBB3/viewtop ... 12#p361812

I'm looking forward to seeing a link or reading more about this.

Thanks for your review, too.

I was wondering why Marty said he can't use Thinfire on his Vermiculite shelf. I have been using Thinfire exclusively on 2 different Vermiculite shelves for 15yrs+ with no problems of any kind. It gives a very smooth surface underside (onetime use only).

I find that the thinfire, once the binder burns out, is too powdery to keep the glass from flowing through it down to the vermiculite and sticking.