Making sodium silicate with cat litter

[Humph7ey]

I want to make SS from cat litter and liquid drain lye. All the recipes seem to use the dry type.
One recipe is thus:

320g lye
800ml water
480g cat litter

How should I compensate for the liquid lye?
It is for making cores when I do cast iron in greensand.

 

[abby]

You can buy sodium silicate on ebay very cheaply , why waste your time trying to make it ?

 

[Humph7ey]

The reason is that I am in France and the cost of shipping due to it being classed as liquid makes it uneconomical.

 

[P.J]

But surely it must be possible to source it locally?
Here in Sweden you can buy it in any home improvement store. It's used as a cement and concrete sealer.

 

[kiwi2]

You should be able to buy sodium silicate as a solid which can be dissolved in water. If all else fails try a chemical supply company.

 

[Humph7ey]

I will try the Brico then. Thanks.

 

[goldstar31]

Isn't this 'waterglass' which we Brits used to pickle eggs- during WW2?

 

[Humph7ey]

That's the stuff. It seals the egg shell.

 

[Tin Falcon]

sodium silicate is the active ingredient in radiator stop leak check your local auto parts store for clear radiator sealer.
Also used in wine making and ceramics so . should be available at some store in france.
Tin

 

[Humph7ey]

I just made about 3 litres of Sodium Silicate.
1 kg of sodium hydroxide (€12.91 plus €8.00 shipping) From Amazon
1.5 kg Silica gel (cat litter) (€5.00)
2.5 litres of water.

As soon as the sodium hydroxide was mixed with the water I added the silica gel in it's out of the bag state. When the dissolving slowed down, I heated the container till it all dissolved. Now it has all cooled down the solution has a nice thickness and forms a thin skin on top like chicken stock.
I will be trying it out tomorrow in some fine quartz sand I got from the builders merchants. I understand it is used for swimming pool filters and sandblasting.

 

[Herbiev]

Just wondering why you didnt go for the sodium silicate powder. One kilo of powder cost roughly half what you paid for in sodium hydroxide ?

 

[kadora]

Here in Slovakia liquid Sodium Silicate / waterglass / 1 Liter
cost 1.50 Euro .We use it mainly for fixing cracked fireplaces.

 

[Humph7ey]

Today I found that the cooled product is very thick - almost like honey or golden syrup. It seems too thick to use on sand.

 

[SmithDoor]

Try foundry supplies
Use for making cores

Dave

 

[oldgun50]

Hello Goldstar,
Not only the english used it for sealing eggs, we german too! I remember my grandma did it till the late 50´!

 

[goldstar31]

Hello Goldstar,
Not only the English used it for sealing eggs, we Germans too! I remember my grandma did it till the late 50´!

I'm in the grandpa category( b.1930) and whilst I recall things well enough, I have problems getting supplies of what could be called 'raw materials' like waterglas which has far more uses than eggs.

Give 'grandma' my best wishes!

Norman