Rutland Castable Refractory Cement 25 Pound - High Temperature Fireplace & Woodstove Fire Cement - Cast Custom Fire Brick, Refractory Panels & Fire Pits, Pizza Ovens

Great product. Mixes easily, dries rock hard, impervious to high temps. I was tempted to remove a star for the adult-proof shipping container, but the final product works so well I had to give it five stars.Like others, I had problems removing the top from the 25 pound pail. Why such a great product would ship with a medieval torture device for a lid is beyond me. I suppose it prevents accidental opening during transport, but unfortunately it also prevents access to the contents without nuclear-powered jaws-of-life.I twisted off and completely removed the red “safety” tab with a pair of pliers. There is no way to hold the pail securely and simultaneously twist the lid to remove it, so I slid a large flat blade screwdriver under the lip of the lid and carefully lifted a section upward just high enough to pry it away from the pail. Once a section was freed, I inserted a large paint stick horizontally between the pail and the lid to prevent the lid from re-attaching as I worked on the next section. Eventually the lid came off, but not before the air turned several shades of blue from my vigorous commentary. Despite the abuse, the lid sealed the pail securely (I hope) after I was done, but time will tell whether I’ll need a band saw to open it next time.The manufacturer states 25 pounds makes 432 cubic inches (12 x 12 x 3) and requires 2 quarts of water. I needed only 150 cubic inches, so I did some calculating. In hopes it will help others, I used a kitchen scale to weigh the water. I had great success combining 11 cups of (well-stirred) powder and 668 grams of water. That level of precision may seem like overkill, but the mixture changes texture dramatically in response to tiny amounts of water, especially when mixing small batches. I still had to fine tune the final ratio achieve a thick but not crumbly mixture, but I ended up satisfyingly close to the amount needed with only minor adjustments.All in all, a great product if you need a high-temperature refractory for repairs or to create heat-resistant panels -- provided you can get the lid off.

If you want to get into a simple forge this stuff is unbeatable. I have created two separate forged with this product now and gotten great results. It’s simple to use but if you have never worked with concrete before, don’t just dive in and add water to the bucket (I feel that should be obvious but you can’t know what you don’t know). The recipe calls for one quart of water per 12.5 pounds of mix (half the bucket) so add one half quart water and mix in the refractory mix slowly until you get a cookie dough mix and pour that section then start mixing again. It’s easy to blame the mixing instructions if you don’t know how to trust your own eyes are telling you and take it slow. This stuff doesn’t set up right away so don’t be in a huge hurry. Set aside an hour for each bucket you want to use up and you will be happy with the results. If you don’t have anything to vibrate the mix with simply tap the sides of your cast for a few minutes with a rubber mallet and the air bubbles should not be any issue. This stuff does not have to be thick to perform diligently. An inch and a half of wall thickness is more than enough for anything you are going to do in your garage. DO YOUR MATH! The volume of what you are casting is something you need to know before you start. Have a plan before you order and be detailed in your setup. All the issues folks had with this stuff could have easily been remedied by putting a bit of brain muscle in before hand. I know how exciting it can be wanting to get into the mix as fast as possible but pace yourself so you don’t end up regretting your final product. I used this alongside some one inch thick kaowool to reduce my materials cost for this build and was able to cast a full size stainless steel keg using a Lowe’s 5 gallon bucket and a well insulated lid along with it with one roll of kaowool and three buckets of refractory.

Very good. Though it would go farther. Dried pretty fast which is handy.

The directions on the tub are very specific, but mixing 1 quart of water with 12.5lbs of product will not result in the dry consistency required. This mix also sets extremely quickly. They advertise 20-30 minutes working time. In reality, I has 15 minutes from the time water hit the mix until it started setting up. Recommend using a mechanical mixer and working as quickly as possible.

Dries very fast