48" brick oven from Melbourne

[Dario]

G'day everyone,
I finally decide to build WFO from scratch. Never done one before and i don't know which way will go, but i hope with your critics, help and advice i may manage to finish the project that i have started.
The Dome internal size i was planing to make is W1200mmxH600mm.
This is what i have manage to come up to, then i start reading about insulating floor and i don't know if my floor it's good enough. After reading 40"build from Tasman Peninsula.


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The Refractory Tile 300x300x50mm are laid on 1" compacted sand, this is where i got worried before i proceed to brick first row of dome?
Is this enough insulation under tile or should i make ticker to about 2"?

Thank you !

[Blunt Tool]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Hi Dario,

What you've done so far looks good! I notice there is no lintel over the opening in the base - is this a deliberate thing? Is there any reinforcing rod through those bricks above the opening? There will potentially be quite a bit of weight bearing down on top of this and the inherent strength of the concrete may not be enough?

With regards to insulation, I agree it can be quite confusing and the bottom line is that it depends on what you intend to use the oven for. If it is just pizza, then maximum insulation is best and less thermal mass. If you want to cook bread and other things then (some) more thermal mass can be good. My concern with your slab is that, even if you intend to cook bread etc in large quantities, your slab is not isolated from the base stand. This has also been core filled, so represents a very large amount of thermal mass that will be draining all your heat away from the oven. The slab on my oven which you refer to (on the Tasman Peninsula) is at least a "floating" slab, separated from the mass of the base stand, and also has a thick layer of insulation underneath it.

My suggestion would be to add significantly more insulation under your hearth bricks. How to do this I can't say as I didn't go that way myself, but I'm sure others can help here too.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

It would be wise for you to review as many builds as you can prior to proceeding with your oven, as you will save many steps and headaches by not trying to figure things out as you go along. Read through the builds by local mates Colin

(http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f51/...bee-18249.html)

and Sharkey

(http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...ace-14459.html)

With the skills you have exhibited so far, I'm sure you will end up with a nicely-performing oven.

Sand is not a viable form of insulation.

[ATK406]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Sand is not an insulator.

[Dario]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Thank you for the reply.
The WFO will be for pizzas mainly it will be for some slow cooking, some times bread to ...But it's all for family joy.
Today i have done some work to, i progress with build i'll post some pictures.
I'm taking family for a Easter brake and will be continuing next Tuesday once i return.
There is a lintel but from inside and it's not visible from outside.To late to change anything i've done a lot today.
May i Wish you all a Safe and Happy Easter..

Dario

[oasiscdm]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Hi Dario

I know you have progressed to dome build but I would really reconsider your choice to use sand as an insulator our hearth before going any further.

I'm not sure of the threads but have read on this forum about performance of ovens that don't use good insulation [or any] of the base. these ovens just don't perform all that well. The idea is to insulate insulate insulate if you are not sure add more, the hearth and dome is meant to hold heat and the mass gets saturate it is also cheaper to run wood wise.

Personally I get around 4 days of cooking when completely fired saturated and sealed.

your decision but I would consider the comments made here and above before going further.

Better to pull something down now than to regret not doing it when it is finished especially with the amount of work involved in building it in the first place.

[Greenman]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Hey Dario

I agree with Colin and believe that the best way to deal with an error is to backtrack that bit, put it right and proceed.

The alternative is to tolerate poor performance from your oven for as long as you use it.

You have a good start and some back tracking would not cost you as many blisters as you will get from the extra work on the axe splitting wood into the future.

Just my 2 bobs worth. Good luck with your build.

[Acrigg]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Hey Dario,

How are you going, I'm doing a similar build to you. My cooking area is 1m in diameter.

I started a few weeks/weekends ago and today I'm going to insulate my dome.

How do you plan on building the dome? Are you using sand or are you building a frame to follow?

Ive looked and many forums and have come to the conclusion there must be 100 ways to build a WFO. Sounds like your use will be similar to me, occasional, and not to concerned about having a maximum cooking time.


In saying that I did insulate my cooking floor with perlite concrete. I wanted to to a good cooking surface as I'm using standard house bricks for the dome. ( a big no no according to most fourms) but for the amount I plan on using I don't think it'll be a problem.


I'll be interested to see your final outcome.

[Dario]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Ok boys,
I've been thinking, any advice what i could use under oven floor ?
Hebel blocks from bunnings?
Thank you!

[oasiscdm]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Dario

I have a Hebel hearth base and used calsil board hearth. About 300 all up. Cheaper than a concrete hearth base. It is all about insulation. And keeping the heat in.

[Greenman]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Dario - if your are looking for what to put on top of a concrete base you can either use calsil board or vermicrete for under oven floor insulation.

I used vermicrete myself and it works fine and is probably a fair bit cheaper.

[Dario]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Thank you Colin and Steve,
Where i can get the vermicrete i live in Hillside Western Suburbs. Wouldn't Hebel block from bunnings be good enough on the top of my base?
I can always take my floor and sand out, install Hebel or vermicrete insulation and lay floor back to a same position!
Does that make sense?

[Dario]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

It may be the Calsil board way to go?

[Blunt Tool]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

It may be the Calsil board way to go?

Dario,

For what my opinion is worth, I think some CalSil board under your hearth bricks would be both the easiest and most effective option (especially compared to vermicrete).

Andrew

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 48" brick oven from Melbourne

Dario,

Inch by inch or I guess in your end of the world mm by mm, CaSi board is substantially more thermally efficient than Vcrete, ie 2" CaSi is roughly equivalent to 4" of vcrete but more expensive. Do what works for you but in any case I agree with the others that you will be fighting a losing battle if you do not insulate under your floor and this include the first dome course.