Need help!! Building first oven!!!

[SableSprings]

As to your doors, if you do want to create the white, black, & gray oven, then building insulated doors for both top and bottom would be a really important choice. I would envision a lower door with adjustable (slider) air intake slots that hinged from the side. The upper door would also benefit from adjustable air intakes and could either hinge from the side(s) or lift/lever up or be a separate piece. The biggest issues for the upper door (in my mind) is retaining the ability to get it fairly quickly & easily out of the way for loading bread or working pizza and also being able to close it up to make the baking or smoking chamber as desired. Figuring out how to vent both the top and bottom sections so that they could be controlled independently is certainly why these type ovens are much more complicated to build. Look up both Gueulard and Munoz Ovens to see some of the design options for ideas on your Fornosaur.

This is really a cool project Dana...I'm really looking forward to how this works out.

[carrara]

Mike

Thank you for your insight and help. I definitely could not do this without you and the others in this forum. As David said i would have e made a really expensive dino radiant heating system, or a really good shoe and boot drier.

As far as the doors are concerned do you think the cast-able refractory (2-3 or so inches think) could be attached to the door with some stud anchors or some something like that? Then the area of the door that will shut against the steel outer frame could have some high temp rope gasket material. I am not sure i can cast the doors tapered so they fit snug, like i have seen on other ovens? I see what your saying about speeding up the opening and closing of the doors as to not upset the cooking dynamics. I wonder if i could do a foot lever door opener system?

The family and i were away this weekend so i haven't made any progress to the roller.

I hope everyone had a great mothers day!

Dana

[SableSprings]

Dana, normally doors are insulators--not added mass components of the oven. I don't think you want to make it out of refractory. Probably better to make an insulated "sandwich" of some sort...several of those examples in the forum. The foot door opener would be fabulous since often your hands are full, and it certainly would be easier to operate with a counter-weight or a reasonably light weight door. I think the biggest problem you will face by attaching a full plate door (either top/bottom dutch door style or swinging out) will be the large sweep radius of the door as it swings out. I think you will be much better off with a smaller, lighter door (or a heavier fire door and a lighter cooking door).

When you've got a pizza party going you don't need to have much, if any, door for the oven but for roasting and baking, obviously you need something to keep the stored heat fairly contained and consistent. Separate doors that have a place/rack to sit when not in use might be the simplest solution.

I'm going to be out of the country (and pretty much off the grid) for several weeks, so I'm probably not going to be much further help to you until I get back in June. Looking forward to what you come up with on this.