fire rock mortar

[MAVANO]

hello everyone, helping a friend on his build, he purchased mortar for his build,48'' rnd. oven, its called firerock polymer modified mortar, purchased at a fireplace supply house was told its good to 2000f, I'm unsure of the polymer content, is it safe for food cooking?.

thanks for your input

Phil

[C5dad]

Phil,

The best way to check the stuff out is to get a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and any product literature you can put your hands on. Give it a read and if you cannot figure out what is says (Caution: May have regulatory gobbly gook) send me a copy or link and I can translate - I approve chemicals at the site I work at.

My only concern from your post is that it has polymer at all! Typically, most polymers like to degrade in the area of 400 F plus or minus a hundred or so degrees - just the nature of the beast because of the carbon content. The polymer does allow for easier working (usually) or controlled flow properties (Tscarborough sells concrete and masonry products and has a better handle on this than I - I just spec the stuff now )

Does the stuff purchased have some sort or warranty against failure?

CW

[MAVANO]

hello c5dad, thanks for your response, the specs have no info on degrees tolorance, that is what worries me, don't want to finish the dome and have it collapse upon firing at high temp. but I'm thinking that it could be a plus for the ease of building of the dome, less time waiting for mortar to dry,to apply other bricks, not a lot of braces needed, of course the bricks must be fitted and cut very snug for the dome to support itself after the polymer breaks down at high heat, just worried about food contamination,he was told at the fire place supply house, they use it for building fire places and its good to 2000F, I'm just not sure that's true,it is not stated on the bags,sales people will say anything for a sale, even if they are not sure of it.

well thanks for the info on Tscarborough I will check them out


Phil

[Tscarborough]

I could not find an MSDS or any information on the Fire Rock Mortar, but going by the installation instructions, I would not use it for anything but a Fire Rock fireplace. It states that it is an adhesive, not a mortar, and that is enough for me to say that using it for anything other than gluing together Fire Rock fireplace sections is not advisable.

[MAVANO]

thank you for your response , my thoughts exactly, for fireplaces only,well I'll try to convince my friend of it,

thanks again