oven newbie

[woodfried]

gday
Awesome site!
Just in the process of starting my first oven build. Im just after an Igloo look and ive just bricked up a base 1400mm wide 1600mm long .
Just after any opinions on wether to use refractory or solid clay bricks for the dome as i intend to use them on the floor. And before pouring slab is it better to leave the oven floor recessed into the slab or keep the whole lot level ? have seen both and cant decide whats better.
Any info or do's and donts would be appreciated
Ill post a few photos of progress

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

Just finished forming up and poured 140mm slab this arvo. Got hold of some free 20mm re bar so this thing is now a mini bomb shelter.
How long do you guys leave the slab before you start laying bricks ?

[kellytoronto]

Re: oven newbie

24hrs. But don't forget your perlcrete/vermicrete layer.

[nissanneill]

Re: oven newbie

Hi woodfried, and welcome aboard.
Where abouts in this wonderful country do you call home?
The price for firebricks is over the hill and many ovens are built with common solid reds or solid fired clay paving bricks.
See if you can get a book written by Russell Jeavons, titled "Your brick oven, building it and baking in it". ISBN 1 904943 25X.
He has built at least 5 ovens and has 2 in his pizza restaurant in Willunga using common red bricks and his hearths are made up of double layer of 2" clay paving bricks.

Cheers.

Neill

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

Hi Neil, Im in Geraldton midwest WA
Yeah fire bricks are $3.90 each!
Spoke to the 2 largest brick companies in perth and they said firebricks were an over kill and to use solid clays but both said to use the creams as they are fired at a higher temp apparently? sorta makes sense as all the firebricks ive seen are all cream. Pretty good info as it came from 2 different sources and they both said the same thing.
Solids work out at 80c each , which means $160 over $800.
I want to try and spend about 1200 all up.
This website is awesome dont know if i woulda taken it on without all the info i have got from here!

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

Im actually gonna use solids for the floor as well but im going to cut them inside the dome and leave them free standing so if they dont hold up I can pull out floor and replace with firebricks. It will be good info to see how they last for this site.

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

just poured vermiculite concrete layer. Still weighing up which bricks to buy...

[nissanneill]

Re: oven newbie

I totally agree with your brick choice, although I was not aware of creams being fired at higher temps.
Littlehampton Bricks over here in the Adelaide hills fire their clay pavers at 1200˚C which is over double that you will get your oven up to.
The next oven I build will be done with these.

Cheers.

Neill

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

Man still trying to organise bricks!
If buying new im only saving $380 by going solids over firebricks so may as well spend the extra and get the right bricks . Ive found a place in Perth that carries everything from bricks to blanket and board etc.
Be another 2 weeks before I get down there and pick it all up.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: oven newbie

Try SILA AUSTALIA in Perth.

[Tscarborough]

Re: oven newbie

As a general rule, in a given kiln run of brick, cream/buffs will be higher fired than pinks/salmons (remember, this is among the same group of brick). That said, I have firebrick available from almost white through the reds to black and they all meet the same specification.

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

Well after 7 months ive actually got organised picked up all my gear including proper fire bricks from Mathews Industrial Supplies in Osborne Park very helpfull and on monday started to lay out floor and build dome. Working inbetween jobs for and hour or three a day with my offsider, (Contractor ) weve got this far this week.







Done another course tonight, man this is time consuming and alot of cuts!

[mrchipster]

Re: oven newbie

Looks like you a kind of close to that back wall do you have space for insulation?

Chip

[woodfried]

Re: oven newbie

Well spotted , yeah ive got a full 4" of space to pack with ceramic blanket. Still deciding on igloo finish or square brick up for the enclosure

it seems like most guys have a large joint at the back of the bricks , The mortar im using which is like a premix putty would dissapear pretty quick so ive been cutting the bricks 3 angles. What a pain
The supplier has told me the oven will work alot better with a minimal mortar joint but its gonna get hard to cut the higher i go.

[mrchipster]

Re: oven newbie

You are doing a vey nice job cutting your bricks. I hope mine look as nice once I get started cutting. still working on the hearth here in Minnesota.

That looks to be a great location for your oven right next to the hot tub

Chip.