Hi all from Aussie

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

My thinking is the more mass i have, the better it has to be.

To a point, there are trade offs with mass, time, fuel.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

do i put the first row of dome bricks on the floor OR cut the floor round and build round it.

I would always go for the oven on top of the hearth, there are arguments for both on top and inside, I really doubt there is any difference apart from not having to cut the hearth as neat.

You always look for the easiest option when you lay bricks for a living, why make more work for yourself for no reward.

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

I probably cant help you much, as my oven wont be a full brick style.
I was going to give the total refractory management a call tomorrow, hows their pricing for the board & the blanket...do you have prices ?
I think i will build my dome, then will try and cure a little before i do the insulation on top, that seems to be the way to go, will help get rid of majority of the moisture anyway (i hope). Then i will insulate with as much blanket as i can get a hold of, then will lay down another refractory layer ( if i've got enough left over), cure that, then lay render down to finish off.
My thinking is the more mass i have, the better it has to be.

[robertjusher]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

HI
I have most of the materials sorted. Clay pave and Total efractory seem to have everything.
I still am unsure of tiles/ colours, etc. I plan on building the dome, cure , insulate and first coat of render before I do any pretty work, I am a slop !
I have spent the last hour trying to work out --- do i put the first row of dome bricks on the floor OR cut the floor round and build round it. From what I have read around is the norm, however just read about a crack in a very well made oven caused by something geting between the floor and walls. I am leaning towards on the floor, not around it. On the floor will also make the cutting so much easier,,,,
Any thoughts ? Dave, Al, David s ????
I am also going to buy arch bricks to make the entry/arch, I hope to make life easy for myself.
Rob

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Hey Rob, claypave is where i got my firebricks also, they seem ok for price.
have you got everything else for your oven sorted. I found a mob over in Acacia Ridge that do thermal ceramics, board & blankets, seems pretty cheap also (someone on here led me to them).
The rain eased nicely for me today, got a small amount of tiling done, will have to wait until next weekend to do anything further,(might have to drag missus out to help too )

unfortunately my build will be a long one, weekends for me is about it.
I keep telling the missus ...."i'm not in a hurry for progress, i'm taking time for quality".....aka, i dont get enough time off )

Its all good..atleast this way, things will dry & cure nicely for me (slowly)
i've been wanting an oven for so long....little bit longer wont hurt.

[robertjusher]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Thanks Dave,
I was just checking as the plans are not based on floor bricks going on hebel.
I pick up my fire bricks tomorrow from CLaypave. They seem the cheapest and are the closest for me.
Going the full fire brick build. I have already gone to my budget with what I have brought so far, no sense short cutting now.
I will use fire clay homebrew to fill in the gaps the wedges leave in the bricks but will use the airset mortar to "glue" the blocks together. I am going for a as few cuts as possable build so no work of art to look at but solid and good cooker I hope.
The rain let of just long enough today to lay out the hebel and work out sizes etc.
More tomorrow , got to love rdo's
Rob

[cobblerdave]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

I've seen your build Dave.
I will be happy if mine turns out as well.
Your build

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f51/cobblerdaves-build-14444.html

So far this build has taught me-

-Pouring a slab is hard work
-Block work is not easy as it looks
-Filling blocks does your back in
-Everything takes longer then you think
-Every thing will cost more then you think
-If you think you can get that last mix done before it rains, you can't
-It will rain on your day you planned to build.
-Rendering is a bitch !
-The more you read and the more advice you get the more you notice everyone has different idea's and theory's ( often a good thing)

If hebel works for you Dave then hebel it is for me too. Kinda becouse I have already got it. Enough for my oven was just under $50. No mixing, mess etc. Might be going against some advice but it has worked for enough people to convence me.
What did you use to fix your hebel in place.

Aussie Pete- What are you using for under floor insulation?
Rob

Rod
Use a slurrie of fireclay and water and a 10 mm tile notched trowel ( as per the forno instructions for setting the heath bricks) The inportant thing to remember there not tiles... so you want them to butt together without the slurrie getting inbetween. Use your brick trowl to clear 10 mm away from the edges and when you lay the next block use the trowel handle to tap them level.

Regards Dave

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Thick fluted cardboard and sticky tape.

Done!!..

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

I know what you mean about the rolled edge....not sure how to protect, other than be very careful around them .

Thick fluted cardboard and sticky tape.

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Nice, we can get sandstone here but it costs your first child to buy it.

Make sure you protect that nice rolled edge while you build the oven, there would be nothing worser that a chipped edge to keep staring you in the face everytime you used the oven.

The sandstone we got from a local stone/sandstone dealer, we were looking for something else entirely different, we were just in the right place at the right time, only cost about $120 for a pallet of them (i think about 67 pieces in total), they were in a corner & looked lonely. 400 x 400 x 30mm
well....i thought it was cheap anyway.
I just thought they looked awesome, and with some clean up & a sealer to enhance colors, it would be good for the oven top.

I know what you mean about the rolled edge....not sure how to protect, other than be very careful around them .
I suppose if one does break, i can just cut it out and replace, i have spares

I was going to lay a strip of LED lighting along the underside of the tiles of the front, but i dont think i've left enough room now...bummer.

I do like lighting to add character & ambience to a place...still thinking of ideas...input most welcome at this stage

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Nice, we can get sandstone here but it costs your first child to buy it.

Make sure you protect that nice rolled edge while you build the oven, there would be nothing worser that a chipped edge to keep staring you in the face everytime you used the oven.

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Ok, pics were promised (not sure i promised actually ), so here is some of the tiling i did today, please dont look too careful, because you professionals out there, will think....OMG, what is he doing ).
Hopefully once the missus fixes up the grouting for it, it will look sweeeeet.
hope the pics work. Wasnt my fault anyway, the bench was all out of wack.

Ofcourse...i'm always open to any suggestions or nice touches to any work thats done, i know theres a lot of artistic ladies & gents out there.

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

Aaarrgghhhhh....go away rain will ya...geez.

bugger it...i'm going out to tile, whether its raining or not

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

There is a special sealer for sandstone that stops dirt and grease from penetrating the surface and ruining it, you probably need to talk to a paving seller/expert as I dont know what its called.

[Aussie Pete]

Re: Hi all from Aussie

I know of a few ppl who have sandstone around their ovens and it works fine, just make sure you seal it.

When you say "seal it", do you mean, make sure its grouted, or tile glue to the bench.
1 thing i was going to do, is put some sika firerate around the tiles that butt up against the firebricks on the floor, it is fire proof & flexible, and will help with expansion & contraction within the floor, hopefully might stop sandstone from cracking. I have some Davco professional tile glue that i will use for intial glueing of the tiles to the bench, then i'll use grout on the top, then i will use a sealer to help protect and will bring out the sandstone colors really nicely.