Buy or build cost comparisons?

[cobblerdave]

G'day
SCORE ..... Enough for two stands but that's better than 10 too short!
The rest, build some benches for prep areas and serving. Your going to need them
Regards dave

[UtahBeehiver]

Nice find, on the CMUs (our name for Besser blocks). Start checking around with refractory distributors for seconds or damaged ceramic fiber board for you floor insulation.

[eyspy]

Cobblerdave. That's why I got extras, hopefully some side bench's as well. Floor insulation, haven't got that far yet? Have to do some research n that. thanks for the heads up

[cobblerdave]

G'day
Hebel makes a good sub hearth insulation is cheap and easily available. The dome insulation you don't need to find for a while yet so it will give you a time to source some.
Winter is a good time to build in QLD as its cool and dry. I know you building in a shed but aren't SA winters cold and wet:
Regards dave

[eyspy]

Dave, our winters here in SA are not too wet or cold. Only ever get one or two frosts, and the lowest it ever gets is around 8. last year my rain tanks never looked like getting full.
Sub hearth? R u talking about under where the dome sits on? Mine will be fill of sand and rubble, then 100mm concrete on top of that, the the fire bricks

[cobblerdave]

G'day
Insulation should seperate the hearth from stand. When it meets the insulation from over the dome, the oven is then encapsulated and seperated from leaking heat.
The link below is bacterium talking about using full insulation in his secound oven after his experience of an un insulated oven. A fellow SA'ian like yourself.
The rest of the build makes a good read as well.
http://www.fornobravo.com/community/...381#post183381
I'd also encourage you to go to the Forno bravo store and put a set of plans in your basket. They cost a minimal donation.
They will give you not only a set of plans but a full explaintion of the whys and wherefores of oven building. It's a PDF doc which will be e mailed to you.
Regards dave

[UtahBeehiver]

The FB plans are a great baseline for building an oven. That said, many of the building techniques have been improved since the original publications, ie tapered inner arch, monolithic pour over base opening vs lintel, heat breaks, etc. So use the plans as a guideline and the forum for new ideas and improved oven building techniques.

[eyspy]

Looks like I still have lots of research to do? So many things I know very little about, but I am not too proud too admit it. 5 kids who are all being home schooled this year, and trying to fit my work into 2 days instead of 5 leaves little time for research. I know there is a wealth of information here, just have to find the time to do it...argh!!! In the meantime I will continue to scrounge what I 'Do know' that I will need, hopefully other stuff will just happen as well. Would love to keep this build under $500, and so far it looks like it will. (Till it comes time to making the outside look fancy then I might splurge a little on some ornate tiles)

[cobblerdave]

G'day
I just pulled my old plans out and rediscovered them.
There in ft and ins with my handwritten convertions. The newer ones have the convertions built in.
Printed out and stapled into sections. Stained and yellow but still usable.
I like the section by section, foundation, stand then hearth slab then insulation etc.
I'm sure you can build to a budget and keep the kids educated. It's also about gross motor skills in brain growth. And the trade off with some kids ( can I say boys) is that you have to have proper research to get the next section built.
Even with adults it's hard to stop the attitude of " where's the pizza" and a lot of the time it's not till they have built there oven they discover that they have built a wood fired oven rather than a fancy pizza cooker.
A lot of the ovens on the forum are to put it bluntly "a monument to there builders".
They are true works of art. Amazing the effort and thinking goes in to perfection.
You can build an oven without the saws and cutting tables.
But, regardless of the materials or lack off ...the one mantra is always.
Insulate insulate and insulate
Regards dave