What the hell are these people smoking?????  I sure hope these jackasses
aren't on the gov't payroll, but I wouldn't doubt it.

First of all, a shallow fireplace was for burning coal and woodburning
fireplaces were much deeper.

Second, just go buy some used firebrick, I think my brother just took some
out of his sugarin' arch that would do if you weren't going to use them in
a working fireplace.  Who the hell is going to get down and scrape the soot
off and test it to see what material it was before it was soot?  And who
gives a rat's ass if they do?  Ruth


At 6:39 AM -0500 12/15/09, Gabriel Orgrease wrote:
On 12/15/2009 12:58 AM, <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] wrote:


Go figure.   Christopher


I love it. Please cross-post this.

I am very mush interested in the recent discussions regarding burnt wood.
At a McKim Meade & White library interior we need to replicate a used
fireplace using new firebrick to build the firebox (unfortunately the old
firebrick was thrown away a few years ago when this project first started).
The developer intends to install a gas log. Currently there is an engineer
drawing up the design of the box though we are not sure how historically
accurate they will be in their considerations. Though we have ideas on how
to make the firebox look authentic, as if it had been previously used for
decades, we have a few small details that worry us. We are not sure if the
original in this setting would have been for burning of wood or coal. In
either case we presume that the soot patterns, the black charring, and the
chemical composition of the patina would be vastly different. We have
considered building mock-up fireboxes and testing them with both wood
burning and coal, but any comments of expertise in burn patterns on masonry
would save us and our end-client a whole lot of trouble. At present we are
thinking about using shellac mixed with lamp black and dispersed with
hand-held propane torches. This methodology also troubles us as the library
walls are all carved wood and we would be burning in an enclosed space
where we will need to accommodate appropriate ventilation. We have been
negotiating with the developer in hopes to convince them to let us also
fabricate a custom gas log, not one of those store bought ones, and in this
effort we have been burning oak and locust logs at our rural studio and
then recording their appearances at various stages of consumption. More
than likely despite that the original fireplace was probably coal fired we
think that the money on the project will go with an interpretation of burnt
wood.

][<


-- 
Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Dummerston, VT

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>