Building with common bricks (sydney)

[digger58]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Hi rodneyf,
great build, I have about 1000 brick from my old house,(1895) some are red and othes have a yellow tint, I am told they are fired not baked, any comments,
Thanks Tony

[nissanneill]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Hi Tony, and welcome aboard,
yet another Aussie dominating this forum.
Get yourself a good sizes hammer and give your sample brick a hard hit. If it crumbles and shatters, don't use them, but if it breaks in a couple of larger pieces then they will be fine for your oven build.
The high fired very hard bricks are ideal (we call them klinker bricks over here) which were closest to the wood burning in the brick kilns many many years ago. They are usually very dark colours almost going to the blacks ir purplish blush towards black, or a rather dark deep brownish red.
New fired clay pavers are normally fired at around 1200˚C which are also fine but if your bricks make the grade, then go for them!
Also, use the poor man's mortar, much cheaper and I feel much less hassles and better. No cracks in my buils now over 2 years and done loads of bakes.

Neill

[digger58]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Thanks for that, I was going to put one in my fire and see how it goes, what is poor mans mortar? Did you put in any provision for temperature sensors or the like?
Tony

[nissanneill]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Tony,
poor man's mortar is 1 pt portland cement, 1 pt hydrated lime, 1 pt fireclay and 3 pts brickie sand.
I do have 6 thermo couples sensors in the floor and dome coupled to a switch and display, but they are really a waste of time unless you are going to be a dedicated bread baker and you need to know the temps and the saturation of your bricks, to determine how many bakes you should get and their duration.
I use the infra red laser temp thermometer and that is more than adequate for the majority of the pizzas and baking that you will be doing.
After you have used your oven a half dozen or so times, you will have the skill and knowledge to control your cooking and baking. Very easy to learn through experience, (but you won't necessarily become an expert quite yet though. that takes a lot more time).
Check out my build, all the details, tips and tricks are in there.

Neill

[Rodneyf]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Neill has it about right with how to check your bricks Tony, I think it sounds like you will be OK with what you have there.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

The floor is made of 300 x 300 x 50 mm fire brick tiles from Feild Furnace at Wetherhill Park. They can supply all of the mortar, insulating bricks and ceramic insulation. If you talk to a guy called Leigh he has helped a number of poeple around Sydney build their ovens and he is only too willing to help. With the advise you get there and here on the forum you will be cooking in no time. Where abouts in Sydney are you from?

Good call, Leigh and Alan @ FFR can look after you really well.

[digger58]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Thanks guys,
Great forum lots of help etc, all we need here now is some dry weather, considering we havn't had a summer for 3 years!!!!!. will let you know how I get on and maybe a couple of photos.
Tony

[Rodneyf]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

You post the photos as you go Tony and you will get all the help you need from the forum. If you are unsure of what to do, ask the question first, get lots of answers and then go on with your build. There are many posts here that have made mistakes because they asked the question too late.

[Grunt44]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Hi
I also live in Sydney and have followed your build , I have come to a stage where you may be able to help me with. ( See Pic ) I have a free floating slab the same as yours. My question is the second slab that you have placed on the first , is it concrete or Insulating concrete?.
When you embedded the insulating brick into sencond slab does it make contact with the first slab and have you had any problems with heat transfer.?
The piece of marble is just sitting on the shelf , just to get an idea how it will look.
Grant

http://picasaweb.google.com/Grant240...eat=directlink

[Rodneyf]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Hi there Grunt, the first slab is 100mm reinforced concrete and all i did was sit the insulation bricks on it and form up the edges before pouring the concrete around them.
I don't get any heat transfer now but when the oven was new and the insulation bricks were damp it got up to 65 degrees C. If i were to do it again i would sit the bricks on their edge which would give me 10mm more thickness and a little more insulation effect.
I can cook pizzas in the night, close the thin plywood door with no insulation and still have enough residual heat to cook bread the next morning and a roast after that for dinner. Where are you getting your bricks and mortar from?
Good luck and if you need more info feel free to ask.

[Grunt44]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

Hi
Thanks for the prompt reply and info , I will be using a lighter color brick to yours but not fire brick to build the dome
Field Furnace at Wetherill Park for the Insulation Brick + Floor Tiles and the Mortar, unless you know of any other place in Sydney
Grant

[Rodneyf]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

No, they are the best! I would be interested in seeing what type of brick you are using and where they came from. you do not want to use commons as I know they WILL break up after a couple of pizza nights. Pay attention to the warnings on this forum about bricks that crumble when hit with a bolster or hammer, you need your bricks to crack or break into stable pieces. I have seen an oven built in Sydney from common bricks that is crumbling to the touch now after no more than 20 cycles.
Where about in Sydney are you?

[Grunt44]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

HI
I have a pallet approx of these bricks , they are what is used in our house . approx 20 plus years old , some have rounded frogs and some are rectangular .
the rounded ones are a lot lighter in colour , whereas the rectangular ones are darker and have like glaze marks ,
I think they are pressed bricks and are very hard .
the first pic shows a complete brick .
the second a brick i cut in half using bolster and brickies hammer ,
the third is half a brick that I had to hit about 10-15 times with brickies hammer to break.let me know what you think
I am in Ambarvale , near Campbelltown,
Thanks again for the info
Best Grant

[david s]

Re: Building with common bricks (sydney)

I can't see how hitting a brick with a hammer can predict its ability to withstand thermal shock. If you take an insulating firebrick, which has excellent refractory properties and good for 1500 C +, strike it with a hammer and it will crumble. Also, it is the materials the bricks are made from that give it the refractory properties not the temp they have been fired to. Anyone know where this hammer theory comes from, or is it one of those old wives tales?