Fire Clay in Central Virginia.

[WoodchuckDad]

I have located some heatstop 50 locally but don't know where to get fireclay. nobody seems to have it. I'm half tempted to just dig some red clay out of the ground, let it dry then powder it up. any suggestions on where I find the stuff?

[eprante]

Fireclay can usually be found at Masonry suppliers or Pottery suppliers. It also is called Mortar clay- same stuff. I paid $8 for a 25 lb bag.
Eric

[egalecki]

You can see if there's a Harbison Walker supplier in your area- the one in Roanoke had fireclay available if I needed it. I used heatstop 50 to start with and finished up with the dried clay I dug out of my saw reservoir.

[WoodchuckDad]

I wanted to update this so anyone else looking knows where to find the fireclay. I thought I had put this up once before, but I got it at a Campbells Ceramic Supply store in Richmond, right next to the racetrack. Thanks to everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

[david s]

In Australia Fire clay from building suppliers is usually not a true refractory clay and is now often marketed by the more appropriate name "Bricklayers Clay" to avoid the confusion. I suspect that it will probably still be suitable, but if you want the real fire clay get it from a refractory supplier. Don't know what the situation is in other countries.

[chestnut]

Hey WoodchuckDad,
Where did you source your Heatstop 50 from? I'm west of you in Waynesboro and can't seem to find a source under $80/ bag

[WoodchuckDad]

Shade and Wise

1901 South Creek One
Powhatan, VA 23139
(804) 897-8588
they also have a location in the city of Richmond.

$61.95 per bag as of 10 minutes ago from the phone call I just made.

[chestnut]

Thanks! I'll give them a call. Trying to gather everything I need as I start to build by block stand. Just read through your build, congrats on building such a great oven!