My progress

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: My progress

looks cool john.... nice work...

[Lancer]

Re: My progress

Lancer, maybe you can find the real fire brick in Manila but I chose to go with what the locals call firebrick. Which is just terra cotta bricks that they would use for a similar purpose. You will be lucky if you can get some that have actually been fired, not just sun dried. Hope that helps.
John

Thanks John. Had some luck, found both perlite and kiln dried red clay fire bricks. They have to be ordered though and the bricks are P12ea (about 28cents) and the perlite is P230ish or over $5 a bag. Still, that makes it doable. May I ask how many bags you've used John?

Now I have to find out about lime (the island is made of limestone) and red clay for the refractory mortar.

In my dreams I'm making a pie next week, John yours looks to be on the last lap. Very nice!

Mark too, thanks for the help guys! I'll be needing buckets full of that too in future posts I'm sure. I'm very glad and grateful that I know where to get it too.

Have you guys ever considered making the base or foundation the dome sits on round and the same size as the dome so that the perlite cement that insulates it can come down over and envelope the foundation? That would carry the rain to a drip edge and off to the ground. I've read a few of the wet oven horror stories and have been trying to think of a way to make the dome function as the roof itself. I'm guessing here put might the rain falling on the flat foundation leach into the dome and make all damp?

[lwood]

Re: My progress

Here it is...."First Firing". Have been lighting small fires in it all week, no significant cracks so far.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: My progress

Very Cool John...........

[kebwi]

Re: My progress

Cool. I broke my entry arch while doing later building too (knocked it with my head while entering the oven to clean mortar from the interior grout lines). We're almost in sync, I did my first first just a week or two ago.

Congrats!

[lwood]

Re: My progress

Thanks John. Had some luck, found both perlite and kiln dried red clay fire bricks. They have to be ordered though and the bricks are P12ea (about 28cents) and the perlite is P230ish or over $5 a bag. Still, that makes it doable. May I ask how many bags you've used John?

Hi Lancer,
My bricks were 3.5"x7.5"x1" and about 5cents each but I had about 10% loss due to breakage. My perlite was cheap because it is basically where they mine it, I got 5 bags for that price. I used over 1000 bricks and 25 bags of perlite.

I am amazed at the insulating power of the unexpanded perlite. I have been firing the oven for the last week and progressively getting hotter. Yesterday I fired it all day long and the outside dome was just warm to the touch (~110degF) while the inside was blazing hot. I don't have a door yet so not white dome hot yet.

I have developed one small crack radiating out from the left rear corner of the chimney, maybe 4 to 6 inches long and less than 1mm wide. The exterior dome is the hottest right around the chimney ~ 120F. Wondering if that is normal. Maybe I could use more perlite in that area? Any suggestions/advice out there?