 Vermicrete - adding Sodium Silicate
Just a quick note on an 'experiment' I tried at the weekend.
I took a standard mix of 2L OPC, 3L Water and 10L of vermiculite and added about 250ml of 75% Sodium silicate solutoin. I used the advised way of mixing the OPC and water first, then added the sodium silicate and finally the vermiculite.
Within 3 hours the mix had firmed up dramatically, and within 24hrs it had become very firm. This is in contrast to the last lot I made which took 5 days to go off properly, and still didn't completly set up as I would like it.
Sodium Silicate is used in refractory mixes, and its certainly something I would recommend if anyone has an easy source - obviously, I'd be interested to see how anyone else gets on !
Cheers
Peter |