Another Aussie Builder

[MumsOven]

G'day Oven Builders,
I've been viewing this forum for quite some time and I have to say the enthusiasm of all contributors is amazing. I have started my oven at long last, a 42" Pompeii. I have attached a few pictures from the start to where I am now.

Picasa Web Albums - Pat - My Pizza Oven

[nissanneill]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Hi and welcome aboard.
By what name do we use, or just MumsOven?
Great to see another Aussie on board increasing our numbers to an all time high. There are quite a few other in Melbourne building at the moment so you are not alone! I have 6 in Melbourne and 2 in Ballarat on my listing.
Good to see that you have made your decisions and well under way with your build.
You will find that the oven will lead to an out door kitchen and a host of specialty baking exercises. All fun and great experience.
Keep the pics coming along with any queries that may arise.

Cheers.

Neill

[MumsOven]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Hi Neill

Thanks for the warm welcome

Now that I have started actually building the oven on the hearth I find myself continually monitoring this site for advice.

I have now laid my calsil boards 1 x 25mm layer + 1 x 40mm layer - hopefully 65mm will be O.K.

Had a spot of bother with the fireclay/sand mix drying too quick under the oven floor bricks, however I eventually worked out just use more water. Will be finalizing the floor next week and start on the soldier course.

Will probably leave a 2mm gap between the floor & soldier course for expansion as this seems to be the general consensus from other builders.

Attached a pic of floor & Preliminary dome setup

[nissanneill]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Lookin' good Mike!
Are you going to leave a return for a door to seal against the dome/oven opening? It might be a good idea to make the seal easy and good for baking.
Those tapered bricks sure do make it easy to build a quick dome.
I recon that I could build my dome in ONE DAY with those, whereas using the secondhand rectangular bricks took me 2days to build.

Cheers.

Neill

[BuddyHawk]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Good afternoon Mike & Neil

I'm Rob and after much deliberation have decided to go down the wood oven path. It's a warm day in Melbourne, but I have cleared the site and spent most of the day surfing the web for local suppliers of materials. I have down-loaded most of this site as well !

If either of you have any suggestions regarding local suppliersof fire bricks, casil boards etc, I would be truly appreciated.

FYI - we live eastern suburbs of Melbourne, near the beginning of Citlink

Regards to all

Rob

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Try me for prices. We are in mulgrave , Phone 95604477 and ask for Johnny the oven man. Have all the materials you require.

[nissanneill]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Hi Rob and I welcome yet another Aussie aboard.
talking about warm days in Melbourne, it was 43.2˚C here today and well in excess of 40˚C all week!
I have 9 other Melbournians on the forum and a couple in Ballarat so you're not far from assistance.
Shop around, there are often firebricks in Melbourne on ebay, you can spend a small fortune or build a budget oven that works great for a fraction of the price.

Cheers.

Neill

[MumsOven]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Hi Rob

I got my supplies from Johnny the oven man in Mulgrave - They are very helpful

[Cliff Rogers]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

G'day.

I'm watching closely.

[MumsOven]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Happy to finish the transition & arches

[exceloven]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Mike,
Excellent workmanship! Everything looks very symmetrical. I wish I had used a tool like yours to hold the bricks in place, it would have saved alot of frustration. Keep up the great work. Look forward to following as you finish up.

Mark

[Rodneyf]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Keep those pis coming! I am up to the stage where I am about to pour the vermiculite cement insulation layer. I am now thinking about casil board but I have not heard of it before, who is it made by?

[MumsOven]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Keep those pis coming! I am up to the stage where I am about to pour the vermiculite cement insulation layer. I am now thinking about casil board but I have not heard of it before, who is it made by?

Don't know who makes it. I got it from my refractory supplier - thought it was easier than pouring the vermiculite layer - refer my picasa album link

[MumsOven]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Ready to fire at last.

I was thinking about placing the fire in an old baking tray to slide it around the oven for even heat transfer.

Anybody with any thoughts ??

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Another Aussie Builder

Great job Mike. Why do you want to put the fire in a tray? Afraid of getting it dirty? I suppose the tray will work, but may hinder the dry out of the floor slightly. Dam good brickwork though.