Burned up my door!

[RTflorida]

Re: Burned up my door!

If they were tired of it they would find an excuse NOT to come. I find the opposite to be true - People telling me they want to stop by, then asking if I'm making pizza "anytime soon".

RT

[RTflorida]

Re: Burned up my door!

OK, I have not gone this route yet (I currently only have a 1/4" steel plate door with steel handles, yes, all get very hot - gloves needed) but here is my idea for my next door (I too like the idea of a wood door):
Inside would be sheet steel (preferably stainless) which would wrap insulating board (probably 2") and then attach to an outer slab of the hardwood of my choice (probably 1" thick). I'm sure over time I would get some charing around the edges where the stainless would attach to the wood plank, but the insulating board would deflect most of the heat from the majority of the wood......not sure if it will work long term, but I do plan to attemp it after I get a few dozen other projects out of the way.

RT

[asudavew]

Re: Burned up my door!

Does it seem to you that every time you have company you serve them pizza too? I wonder if they're getting tired of it and not telling me.

Karen

Yes I do,
and
I doubt they are tired of it.

I haven't had pizza in two weeks!
But this weekend, I'm firing my oven back up.
Whether it's ready or not!

[Karen]

Re: Burned up my door!

I have a burned door story too. I had the most beautiful thick wooden door my husband made me out of a floor board from our barn. To make a long story short, my husband looked out our window and said, "the door must not be on the oven tight because I can see flames on the side of it". When I went outside I found the door on fire and beyond usable. For my birthday this year he made me a new door out of concrete. I don't know how much it weighs but it's a real workout putting it on and off. Also, he put handles on it made from copper tubing that go through close to the inside of the door and are great conductors of heat. Hmmmmm, maybe not so well thought out but a nice birthday present all the same. We may have to make another wooden door and I'll try to be more careful.

Time to go make dough. Pizza night. Does it seem to you that every time you have company you serve them pizza too? I wonder if they're getting tired of it and not telling me.

Karen

[david s]

Re: Burned up my door!

Trouble with cement sheet is that it contains portland cement which doesn't stand up to heat well. I like a wooden door as it's traditional and wood is a good insulator, trouble is it tends to char. Italian oven doors were usually soaked in a bucket of water. This introduces some steam into the oven for bread baking as well as preventing some burning, but if the door has been on for some time it burns anyway. I'm sure some sort of insulating panel that's not too heavy and takes the sting out of the oven heat will preserve the wooden door. Metal doors are poor insulators and become dangerously hot to handle. Any one else got some solutions ?

[asudavew]

Re: Burned up my door!

James Hardie Siding Center | 1.866.3.HARDIE | Serving the Denver Metro Area

[asudavew]

Re: Burned up my door!

If you guys are after the look of a wood door, why not try some of the cement board for house siding and house trim.
And then some high temp paint. You could paint it brown, let it dry real well, and then paint over it with a thinned out black paint. Before the black paint has much time to dry wipe it off really well. It will stay in the cracks and crevices and make it look more realistic. The technique is called antiquing.

Just a thought.

[david s]

Re: Burned up my door!

I tried heatproof paint, sodium silicate and soaking the door in water. None of these methods work very well. Not placing the door in position unless the oven is below 300C is about the best method. I am hoping my latest insulating panel will work well and be sufficiently strong and durable- time will tell. The biggest hassle is firing it to 1000 C. You need access to a pottery kiln. I'll report back after I've used a fair bit.

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Burned up my door!

Let me know how number 3 goes. I may just rebuild my wooden door and not use it unattended. Mine was very successful for many many retained heat bakes...I think a spark must have just gotten into the wood.

Maybe I will just stack firebrick in the door if I am going to leave it overnight.

[david s]

Re: Burned up my door!

If the fibres are ceramic fibre then they are a class 2 (whatever that is) carcinogen. I wouldn't put that near my food. Have just made my third attempt at insulating wooden door.
1. dense castable refractory fired to 1000 C and screwed to wooden door. This proved to be a poor insulator and still cooks the door.
2. vermicrete door coated with a lime/cement/kaolin wash. This insulated ok but is too brittle and crumbly and I don't think it'll last.
3. dense castable refractory mixed with perlite and fired to 1000 C The face closest to the fire I used less perlite so it's stronger and denser than the face against the wood.
All these three insulating panels were about an inch thick. The firing resulted in negligible shrinkage. Hoping no. 3 will be most successful

[asudavew]

Re: Burned up my door!

tongue was somewhat planted in cheek but yes encapsulate it like you would is you got your hands on a batch of asbestos. I would tend to frome inside of steel angle iron and then "plaster" over it with FB mortar mix. Yep heat sink and then insulation.

Thanks
I thought that was sort of the consensus.

[jengineer]

Re: Burned up my door!

tongue was somewhat planted in cheek but yes encapsulate it like you would is you got your hands on a batch of asbestos. I would tend to frome inside of steel angle iron and then "plaster" over it with FB mortar mix. Yep heat sink and then insulation.

[asudavew]

Re: Burned up my door!

Is that the current thinking, make the door out of FB board?
Drake

I'm not sure, but I think there are some concerns about small fibers from the board. I know some WFO'ers are doing it that way. But I think it would be best to encapsulate the board somehow.

Or maybe I'm just full of it.

[asudavew]

Re: Burned up my door!

Hey Man!

I am not sure if you noticed.
But from your pictures.. it looks like your door burned up.

What a bummer.

But... you get to make another.. and sometimes that is good.
That way you can change the things that you may not have liked.... or that didn't work the way that you wanted.

I have to build a new one too.

Mine is just to tight and it hangs on the bricks.

I made it out of sheet metal, with the intention of filling it with vermiculite.
I have some pictures some where........

Post some pics when you finish your new one. It will be neat to compare the two.

Dave

[Wiley]

Re: Burned up my door!

Drake,
Do you know what the temperature inside your WFO was when you closed her up?

It seems to me that two doors are in order. One, very well insulated, that is designed to hold high heat for long periods. And a second for shorter periods of time at lower temps. The second would be for baking bread and the first for holding the heat overnight.

At the moment I'm planning on building two doors (and I'm planning on stacking block for the stand today so my oven is not completed). Since I have to wait while concrete cures I may build my doors while I'm waiting. I may be speeding things up too much right now.... I just poured the slab last Friday. A delay of a day is just 24 hours, while a crack lasts forever.

Wiley