Oven curing question

[jmonag]

1. On the 5th day of curing I brought the heat up to 600 degrees and developed a 5" hairline crack in the mortar joint, starting at the base and running up 5".
Should I continue the curing process?? Or should I stop and patch the hairline
crack??

2. I have 4" of perlite/cement covering the dome, its cold to the touch when the fire is at its hottest, but warm to the touch 5 hours later, after the fire has
simmered down. Is this OK???

Thanks, Jim

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: Oven curing question

i was under the impression that you first had to cure the brick dome before it was covered up with something else that also needed curing??

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Oven curing question

Curing has been done by many both ways, with the insulation and without,, and it seems either way there has been some drawbacks, I cured mine about three weeks after the vermicrete was put on.. To date i have no cracks, and as I always say there's still time.....

1. On the 5th day of curing I brought the heat up to 600 degrees and developed a 5" hairline crack in the mortar joint,

you may or may not develop more cracks... think of it as adding charachter to the oven, as long as you cant see daylight thru them dont worry,,, be happy

Is this OK???

your probably feeling the steam coming out, absolutely fine... keep going with your curing fires,,, everything will be cool in the end,,,

[jmonag]

Re: Oven curing question

I had let the dome sit for a month before I had covered it with a fireclay/cement mix, let that sit for a week before covering that with a vermiculite/cement mix, followed by another two weeks before starting a small fire. But since I can't see the outside from inside the dome, I guess all things are good. Thanks, Jim