A portable wood fired oven

[julian]

Hi folks.

Forums like this work because people give as well as take. I've previously documented a successful low-budget wood fired oven build:
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f9/c...html#post50691
This time around I am at a rental but still want the taste of delicious pizza and breads that only fire can make. Thus I start the build of another oven.
I've leaned heavily on the design that can be found here as it is kind of what I need: http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f51/...ven-20424.html
I'll post photos as I go.

[julian]

Timber frame

So I started to make a sturdy frame. The design needs to hold up to 300kg so I used coach bolts and construction pine.
I mostly used timber salvaged or left over from other projects.
Castors are decent heavy duty units, so far so good...

[julian]

Insulation

Then I added 10cm or roughly 4 inches of vermicrete at a ratio of about 6:1 vermiculite to concrete.
Mix all dry ingredients first then add water, it means a lot less agitation and you don't crush the fragile vermiculite.

[julian]

Re: A portable wood fired oven

Make a sand former, and smooth it out.
I used some broken polystyrene at the core to minimise mass.

[julian]

Re: A portable wood fired oven

Then I started a dome.
I am using clay rather than bricks for a number of reasons. Firstly I have an unending supply of dry clay here, and it is locally sourced and free. I also had not made a clay or cob oven before.
I mixed a ratio of around 1 parts clay to 2 sand. The clay I have here has a lot of sand in it already so before anyone starts saying it is too high a ratio please consider that I am not starting with fine builders or ceramic clay.

[julian]

Re: A portable wood fired oven

I initially planned on a brick opening backing onto the clay dome. Thus rather than cutting it out later I simply left a hole.

[david s]

Re: A portable wood fired oven

That will work, but you need to remove the sand almost as soon as you've completed your dome otherwise the shrinkage from the drying clay will crack the dome. Integrating the clay rather than just placing units beside each other would give you better strength, because bits of plastic clay just pushed together will not bond. They fall apart when dried.