Bentonite clay, any good for clay coating?

NDallyn

NDallyn

Joined
Jun 22, 2006
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814
Since I can't find Satanite up here, I'm looking for alternatives. I was told to try bentonite clay. Has anybody used it? Will it work? What properties am I looking for in a clay?

Nathan
 
my guess is you need refractory-type of clay and i don't think bentonite is one of them. bentonite is made of microscopic skeletons of calcic and sliliceous organisms (like diatoms.) i suppose you know that bentonite clay is used as a sealing medium when drilling deep boreholes and also for waterproofing the roofs of tunnels.
 
Bentonite is what is known as a reactive clay. It has nothing to do with microfossils like diatoms. It is volcanically derived smectitic clay. It is mineralogically immature and forms multiple directional and Van der Waals bonds at corners and edges of the clay platelets that cause it to adsorb (not absorb) great amounts of water~47 times the weight of the clay in slurry. Consequently it shrinks (forms mud cracks) severly as it dries out. Not a good choice for refractory cement.
 
Bentonite is known around here as "expansive clay". It changes size as it dries out. It is likely to crack and fall off your blade.
 
Steve Hayden said:
Bentonite is what is known as a reactive clay. It has nothing to do with microfossils like diatoms. It is volcanically derived smectitic clay. It is mineralogically immature and forms multiple directional and Van der Waals bonds at corners and edges of the clay platelets that cause it to adsorb (not absorb) great amounts of water~47 times the weight of the clay in slurry. Consequently it shrinks (forms mud cracks) severly as it dries out. Not a good choice for refractory cement.
Click to expand...

To quote Cam Mitchell in SG1, "Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!"

I enjoyed that, Steve. Even had to look up "smectites". :)
 
Smectites are what forms on your smecker if you allow it to drip for extremely long periods of time. Smegmites are what would form on the floor under your smectites. This is a common problem problem for aging spelunkers.
 
Fair enough, I've picked up some refractory mortar instead. Thanks for the help.

Have a good one,
Nathan
 
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