Review on Premium Set of 6 Insulating Fire Bricks for Kilns, Ovens, Forges, and More: Ideal Fire Pit Accessories, Jewelry Soldering, Metal Clay Firing, and Beyond! by Carol Miller

I am building a DIY clay oven and chose these bricks to do the bulk of the construction. They're rated for up to a 9 taper, which is way higher than I need, so they should work just fine. These items are inherently fragile and fragile, but mine arrived tightly packaged and intact. Some edges may be jagged, but this does not affect the properties of the material. The dimensions are accurate and each stone weighs about three pounds. They're very dusty, I'm assuming it's silica and alumina dust. I blew mine out with compressed air to keep the dust out. Do this outdoors and wear a mask to keep dust out. Silica gel is harmful to the lungs. Its composition is soft enough to be cut and shaped with wood cutting tools. However, it also produces an incredible amount of dust here, so wear respiratory protection outside. The value of isolation is great. I set up a butane torch and turned it on for about five minutes, pointing it at a brick (see video). The front end was over 1000 F (where my heat probe works the most), but the back end (through 2.5 inches of material) was room temperature. The ties do not appear to "burn out" so they are ready to use straight away. I'm still building the kiln and will update this review if I run into any issues, but so far I'm really impressed with these refractory bricks. They appear to be a quality product. Much better than ceramic fiber insulation (at least for my application).