Oven door - steel or not

[Bacterium]

I am in the phase of designing a door for my oven (mainly for baking bread etc.) and would like input from the great resource of FB.

The idea is something fairly simple, lower budget, single door, slides into place (rather than hinged) and a couple front facing feet (or bracket) to wedge it into place. For the door itself it could be 2 pieces (front and back) of sheet metal which are spaced apart (about 1 inch) by side pieces of sheet metal (all the way around, no gaps)....basically creating a void between the two sides. Now instead of filling the void with sand I was thinking of using some thermal blanket, once that’s stuffed into the void (say from the bottom). I could then weld the last bit of metal on to seal it in.

To seal (against the oven arch) it I could use glass fibre rope embedded in some sort of flange/angled steel (welded to door)…..still working on this past but its do-able?

Pros -
- Easy to get materials for very little or no $$$ ….for me
- I have all the tools required
- I have the insulation
- No combustible materials

Con's (questions)
-will it be too conductive, loose heat?....seeing that the whole things is all steel
- Weight....well I think I can keep it reasonable - say 1.5mm thick steel (1/16th of an inch)
- Steel will rust, so therefore I guess I need to coat it. Can I "coat" it with cooking oil like you do with cast iron pots, pans, Dutch ovens??.......Something that would be food grade rather than paint, galvanised, anodised or other hazardous coatings.


Ok…would like your feedback….. Yes it’s an idea from Russell J’s book….

[nissanneill]

Re: Oven door - steel or not

Damon,
pretty easy to fold up a 16g stainless door blank. The rolled top could be either tack welded or riveted in place.
I am about to put a U shaped folded bracket on the back of my doors and screw them to the cast aluminium doors with the purchased stainless metal threads that I got a month ago. The left over superwool from the dome insulation, (1" thick), will then be put into this track/frame and an expanded metal backing put over the back to make it a little more durable and less prone to damage.
It will be quite easy to do as I can mark out the clearance on each door separately without having to take them off and then re-align them.
If you are needing to put in a frame, why not put in a couple of hinged doors as they don't take up any space as a single door would? Itthen becomes very easy to put in a small track to hold the fibreglass seal in making it almost if not airtight.

Neill

[Bacterium]

Re: Oven door - steel or not

Ok...I'm procrastinating somewhat....I can't wait untill daylight savings starts (meaning days are longer).....its just way to cold in the shed after work at the moment

[nissanneill]

Re: Oven door - steel or not

You know wha they say about procrastination don't you? It is the thief of time.
Daylight saving....?
No, the days are not longer, they still have 24 hours in them, you simply get up a little earlier and make the most of the extra daylight in your awake period.
My great uncle used to say: "Sunrise is the best part of the day.... but how I love to miss it!"
As far as being too cold out in the shed, well, I use the same excuse but you need to work a little harder to crack a sweat or simply put on another jumper. Nobody will do the work for you and it is fulfilling to get the jobs done (ticked off the list) and enjoyed.

Neill