Reddit reviews Rutland Products Fire Brick, 6 count, Pack of 1

If you want hard brick, its on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Products-604-Fire-Brick/dp/B000UEYZ4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500563383&sr=8-1&keywords=fire+brick

For Soft brick, maybe this one:
https://www.amazon.com/EuroTool-Fire-Brick-SOL-485-00/dp/B012C5ZIAC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500563409&sr=8-1&keywords=soft+fire+brick

They're much more like standard bricks. It's what you would line a brick oven with. They look like this

+1 for fire bricks. I use these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UEYZ4S

Well I screwed up a bit on the refractory. It was dried out and not pliable enough so I added a little water. I also didn't let it cure enough so there was some water still in it when I fired up the first time and it bubbled up and flaked about a 1/8th inch off.

Here is what I ordered.


Refractory:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OU2Y62/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Ceramic Fire blanket:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DE2FD26/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Fire bricks
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UEYZ4S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


0 to 30 PSI regulator
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VXEW4G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Products-604-Fire-Brick/dp/B000UEYZ4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502322350&sr=8-1&keywords=fire+brick or any fire bricks, this was just the first one after I searched "fire brick"

> It's a concrete block, not sure if that changes anything

As /u/boredNRT said. Some people talk about concrete exploding, other people say they have used concrete for parts of their forge (usually solid fuel forge floors) for years with no issue. There is a lot of variation in concrete...

I have no direct experience so I can't say for sure. My guess is that it will disintegrate after enough thermal cycles. If/when it does, just buy fire brick instead.

> I want to make an axe head soon but I have a lot to learn first.

Tell me about it. I'm in year 2 of what looks like a 4 year plan to make a hammer :)

If you are intending to make an axe with a drifted eye, I think you will really struggle without a much larger anvil.

I use those myself ( assuming you mean this kind ), and they work pretty well. One suggestion: make them fit tightly, but keep in mind you WILL have to replace them if you're forge-welding/using borax flux. The borax builds up to a really gummy consistency and sticks to the firebricks. I haven't found a way to get it off of the bricks besides just replacing them. After a while that borax will end up building up on whatever workpiece you lay on it, and you'll have to brush it off often. So fit them tight enough to keep borax from dripping below them, but not so tight that you have to tear up refractory to get them out. Mine are oriented like this to prevent a gap.

If you're not forge-welding you don't need them.

Where do you get the light weight fragile bricks online that should be in a forge? I bought these bricks below, and they suck. All they do is suck the heat out of the forge, and waste propane. The metal eventually gets hot and glows, but the bricks do not provide the "feedback" and do not get red hot like ones I have seen. http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-604-Products-Fire-Brick/dp/B000UEYZ4S?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00