Help a Newbie Plan

[barkzer]

Hi All,

I'm from Tasmania, Australia, and I'm planning on building a WFO later in the year when things warm up a bit, however I want to lay the foundation slab now; both to get it out of the way whilst I'm doing some other concreting in the backyard and to have one less thing I have to do toward the end of the year when I start the build.

However before I start, I wanted to check if the fire bricks I have are satisfactory for the build.
I bought them from a brick company that no longer make bricks, so they were selling them cheap. They gave me the following specs for the contents of the blocks, and I'm wondering if they're OK for using in a WFO; both for the build and for a cooking surface:

73% Silica
23% Alumina
1.5% Ferric Oxide
1.1% 'Titania' (Not sure if I heard that correctly over the phone)
1.2% 'Something'
(I don't know what the other 0.2% is!)

Obviously I don't know what the 1.2% component is, however does the rest sound normal/doable?

I appreciate all your input; I have a long road ahead!

Regards,

Matthew

[jeeppiper]

Re: Help a Newbie Plan

Matthew:

That formula looks very similar to the insulating tiles on the space shuttle! The company you got them from wasn't by chance named "NASA", was it?

Just kidding. It looks to me like you got some good bricks. I did some poking around and dug up this article:

http://www.traditionaloven.com/artic...re-clay-bricks


The bottom of the article shows specs for a Dense Firebrick with similar composition. Most important is that you use dense firebrick and NOT a light-weight insulating firebrick. You want thermal mass in your oven to store the heat.

[barkzer]

Re: Help a Newbie Plan

Hey Jeeppiper,

Thanks so much for the reply.
Thanks for digging up that article; it relieves me that I have some OK firebricks, from NASA or not :P

I got two types of bricks from the place:

One is a large decking block used to line the bottom of kilns for the firing of bricks, so I thought I could use those to line the base of the WFO.

Second are the main bricks, however at one end they're 78mm high, and the other end it tapers to 70mm high.Would you just cut them in half and use as is, or try to get an electric brick saw and cut them square (70mm on each end)?
Some of the main bricks are seconds, therefore are a bit rough around the edges, so I hope they're OK.

I'll try to get some pictures tonight and upload them.

Thanks so much

[cobblerdave]

Re: Help a Newbie Plan

New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg
G'day
Check out this build, sorry I can't link with this phone but the search will get you there. Steve has produced a really good build with taped bricks like you have described. Post a question on his thread he is sure to answer as he is an active member of the forum
Regards dave

[Greenman]

Re: Help a Newbie Plan

Hey Mathew - Your bricks should make a perfectly good oven. My oven is completely built from tapered bricks and they sound about the same size as what you describe. I cut them back to 70mm for the floor bricks and for the dome I cut them in half. They will be the same size at the cut and you can either use them that way or if you want the makers ends facing into the dome then you can use the large ends at the bottom and the thinner ends towards the top of the dome.

I found it simpler to use the cut ends (cut with a wet saw).

It sounds like you will not have to cut your hearth bricks.

I have been using my oven for nearly a year now and am very happy with it.

Good luck with your build, there is plenty of advice available on the forum and once you have decided how big, and how you want it to look the build will proceed at the pace you dictate. I consider mine to be one of the best projects I have undertaken.