vermiculite expansee

Has any one seen this? If so do they mention the mixture for the poor?
Does this seem like a good idea?

YouTube - Rocket stove en vermex (vermiculite expansee)Construit d'après les plans trouvés surhttp://solarcooking.org/francais/atrocketpage-fr.htmCe réchaud à bois fonctionne au delà de mes espérances : il dégag ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=28FtcxsKkzQ - Similar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28FtcxsKkzQ

The two links are the same. 

A quick L-tube, cook style rocket stove.  Cool!

Does any one know the recipe of this concoction. The possibilities are numerous. Make a mould and poor.

That reminds me in constructing a brick type stove why not make a 1/4'' plywood form to stack the brick around. To make a 5X51/2'' hole just make the form,build around it and slide it out when done.

I found it below the youtub video(quote)

Thanks for interest
I poured a mixture of 1 part of cement + 5 parts of vermiculite + water.
After a week, it was ready for the first test.
The weight of the stove is of 15 kg

Vermiculite is a natural mineral that expands with the application of heat. The expansion process is called exfoliation and it is routinely accomplished in purpose-designed commercial furnaces. Vermiculite is formed by hydration of certain basaltic minerals. Large commercial vermiculite mines currently exist in South Africa, China, Brazil and several other countries.

Two types apparently -  get Mason's type, not Gardener's for use in building projects.

Lots of info on this material found here - http://www.vermiculite.net/ - Naturally Occurring, Safe, and Plentiful.

~Jami

Jami McBride wrote:
Vermiculite is a natural mineral that expands with the application of heat. The expansion process is called exfoliation and it is routinely accomplished in purpose-designed commercial furnaces. Vermiculite is formed by hydration of certain basaltic minerals. Large commercial vermiculite mines currently exist in South Africa, China, Brazil and several other countries.

Lots of info on this material found here - http://www.vermiculite.net/ - Naturally Occurring, Safe, and Plentiful.

~Jami

There is the occasional deposit that is not safe, such mines have all been shut down by lawsuits.

One of the interesting things is just how easy it is to take a biopsy from someone with lung problems and trace it back to a particular mine.  Traceability + fiscal responsibility = safety.

I'm glad to hear this. 

So you might recommend wearing a mask as precaution when using vermiculite?

(Naturally Occurring, Safe, and Plentiful) Does this mean it is in-expensive?
And could it be used in making brick for stoves?

Here's retail:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=vermiculite&x=17&y=6

Google wholesale vermiculite and you'll find lots of sources.

Seems important to remember that there are two types, garden and building.

Bricks?  Yes you can....
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=making+bricks+with+vermiculite+added&btnG=Google+Search

Jami McBride wrote:
I'm glad to hear this. 

So you might recommend wearing a mask as precaution when using vermiculite?

I don't usually, especially if it's moist.  The hazardous stuff isn't available anymore, and from one mine to another it really is like night and day as far as the hazards.

If you happen upon some many-decades-old stuff and can't look up where it came from, treat it like asbestos.  Wear a mask and coveralls and gloves, use it for masonry not gardening, spray water around...or pay to have it disposed of properly.

Joel Hollingsworth wrote:
I don't usually, especially if it's moist.  The hazardous stuff isn't available anymore, and from one mine to another it really is like night and day as far as the hazards.

If you happen upon some many-decades-old stuff and can't look up where it came from, treat it like asbestos.  Wear a mask and coveralls and gloves, use it for masonry not gardening, spray water around...or pay to have it disposed of properly.

The danger with vermiculite, perlite, pumice, etc. is not just rare minerals.  (I haven't heard about the specific mine problems, so I'm just guessing - was a toxic mineral part of the problematic deposits?)

The other problem is always present with masonry insulation: plain ol' ordinary mineral silica.  The same foamy texture that makes these rocks so insulative also tends to create sharp little shards of dust, which will damage lungs quickly.  It's like glass powder.

Some people complain that someone should have TOLD them that all rock powder can damage lungs, or that rock with sharp little faces (some crystals, or foaming processes, can produce hair-thin needles of silica) is even more damaging.

So now I've told you, and you know.  It's just a stronger degree of the same hazard.  And it's what makes the Public Panic Asbestos Removal Program so ironic, because some untrained people are deliberately ripping out asbestos in fear, when in fact it's much safer in place and they're creating dust by ripping it out.  Trained teams with dust-handling equipment can rip it out safely if you need it gone from a project; otherwise, just DON'T DISTURB IT and it's inert.

I try to wear a mask when handling dry masonry materials, whether it's clay, lime, or especially the insulative materials like puffed rock or fiberglass/mineral wool.  Anything with a small enough particle size to be poofing dust when I handle it, is not something I want in my lungs.  Potters, masons, miners, even jewelers can get silicosis from job exposure.

When a mask is not available, or in case there are unmasked people nearby, dampening the material like you said is a great option.  We sometimes spray water directly into the bag before dumping out the perlite or vermiculite.  Being outdoors where the dust has a chance to settle onto something other than lungs is a good thing, too.

-Erica Wisner
http://www.ErnieAndErica.info