Using stone in the presence of fire

["John VanCamp" <jvcstnwrks@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Hi Dawn

You really need to get together with a good mason.  As far as a
technical guide, see if they have a copy of Count Rumsfords work
in your local library.  If you can wade through all of his 18th
century philosophical meanderings, it contains the formulas for
the (in my opinion) best working, most efficient, open faced
fireplaces ever designed.  The Lintel (excuse my previous
dyslexia) stone is the stone that spans an opening fireplace,
door, window, whatever.  In the case of the fireplace, it is the
stone that will take the most heat, but in a properly laid fire,
it is a gradual heating, and not an instantaneous shock.  And it
should never get so hot that one cannot put their hand on it.
The hotest part of a fireplace is in the throat where the
combustion gasses are collected before moving into the smoke
chamber.  Again,  the carved surrounds you are selling are
incidental to, and not part of the fireplace workings.  The
fireplace will work, (or not) without your product.
JVC