Fire Brick in Southern California

[Boogie-D]

PTI Thermal Solutions (562) 789-0202 David or Rose
located in Santa Fe springs Los Angeles... these guys are awesome if your looking for fire brick on the west coast this is the guy to talk to (David)... They have everything you need for your wood fired pizza oven project.. they ship brick to distributors all over the west coast... I’ll be working with them to get fire brick to Honolulu... as well as other supplies... aloha

[UtahBeehiver]

before you buy the ceramic blanket and CaSi board, be sure to run by the blog, to we can confirm this is what you need. We see builders sometimes get sold products that do not work well in WFOs.especially since you are having to pay shipping to HI

[Boogie-D]

Will do russel... PTI has several options for both the blanket and the CaSi.... they have both the denser calcium board and the more insulating but not as dense ceramic fire board... the rep is sending me a bunch of spec stuff... but for now the focus is my bricks.. can you check my latest brick post and chime in... thanks.. feel the excitement level going back up now I have a lead on bricks... you can check there website too

[UtahBeehiver]

I know that the old FB plans say not to use super duty, but I did, they were new surplus from and old steel mill and pick them up for 50 cents each. They were also three inches thick. The only issue I had is they were really hard on diamond blades but since you are using for the floor, your cuts will be substantially less, no bevels or tapers. 12 x12 X 3 means less cutting if you efficiently use cut offs. 3" will give you more thermal mass for extended day(s) cooking.

[Boogie-D]

awesome... thanks Russel.. What’s the best way to cut a circle radius on these bricks... diamond blade on a angle grinder? Mahalo!!!!

[david s]

It is far easier to cut the floor bricks roughly (can be done with a brick bolster) and build the dome on top of the floor. This way accurate cuts are not required. The only drawback is that it's nigh on impossible to replace a floor brick that's sitting under the dome. This is less of a problem than it might appear because if a floor brick fails it will be in the centre of the floor not at the perimeter. To allow for expansion and possible replacement the floor bricks are best laid loose. If levelling is required a dry mix of 50/50 sand and powdered clay works well.

[Boogie-D]

david s ...mahalo... initially I was planning to use the yoga ball to form and cast the oven and then place the dome over and around the floor bricks... but yes a lot of accuracy there... I see that you guys recommend building on top of the floor bricks and with a sand form in situation.. so probably go that route as it’s not as difficult.... if I am going with a 37 inch diameter dome and a 2 1/ inch thick homebrew cast dome wall would I want to get my brick diameter out to 39 1/2 inches??? This way my insulation blanket comes over the dome and covers the outside edge of the bricks.. ?? I have an angle grids and diamond blades... thanks Appreciate it..

[david s]

Yes. Simply cut a stick to the length of your internal height (18.5” for hemisphere), then build the sand around the stick until the sand reaches the top of the stick.

[Boogie-D]

I like the idea of wood chip to start... you ever try that David s? We have lots of wood chip on our farm... ?? Maybe some foam blocks?? Does it make it any easier or just straight sand best??

[UtahBeehiver]

You can take of some of "initial" volume with 2 liter pop bottles and anything you have around, block, wood, buckets, etc. David S is our resident cast expert you wisely use his advice, he does cast ovens commercially in Aussie land.

[Boogie-D]

Well not much progress over the Christmas holiday... and it’s been raining every day too.. however I got very good news on Christmas day that my buddy with the Los Angeles warehouse, who container ships regularly to Hawaii, can and will ship my fire bricks from PTI thermal solutions to Honolulu for me... cost .45 cents a pound.. they have fire board and fire blanket too.. the good news is my buddy’s son who runs the LA warehouse is in Hawaii right now... so I get to take them both out to dinner for some smoozing and some planning.. that made my day on Christmas... hope to start my oven stand soon when the rain stops.. Happy new year and all the best in 2021