About to start a project but cant decide the metarial.

[arkroid]

Hi dear higher ones;

I decided to build and oven to my father's yard and the cost of oven is vital for sure.

And i have a rough design also



After a deep research in youtube and forums i know that i could build my oven stand with wood but i have to use fire bricks for floor of the oven.

But the dome... As you know, fire bricks are quiet expensive.

And i have two options.

1- i could use Red Clay Bricks for the dome

2- Using gym ball, i could build the dome with perlite or permeculate cement mixture.

So my questions are; which would you use for your oven and why?

[david s]

Wood is not a suitable material for an oven stand as it deteriorates in the weather as well as expanding and contracting with moisture. Steel or masonry are preferred. An oven sitting on top of it will be heavier than you’d think. Diagonal bracing should be added to a timber stand if you are wedded to that material.

Perlcrete or vermicrete will not give you either the strength or the thermal mass required for an oven. Better to use brick, castable refractory, or homebrew IMO. The oven also needs to be well insulated both under and over. Read through some of the many builds on this site and download the free plans.

[UtahBeehiver]

Plus one on David's comments. We continue to see builders wanting to do wooden bases and warn them of the pit falls many heed the advice but some do not. Our goal is to advise builders of best practices that have been seen on the forum over hundreds of builds and not the one-offs one sees on YouTube. As David mention, there are several cast builds going on right now. Avoid, p/vcrete and gym ball route.

[arkroid]

Hi,

First of all, thank you for reply.

Well, when i check who use gym ball method on youtube, they could use their timber stand for almost 2 years with no collapse or anything. But thats because they use perlit or perleculet or whatever.

Actually, i am aware that i have to use moisture stand if i decided to build my oven with brick dome.

So David, any information for "homebrew IMO" ? Asspacially, what does IMO stands for?

[david s]

IMO in my opinion. Check the forum for different builds before you decide on a plan. Search forum for “ homebrew”, it can be used as a mortar or as a castable.
A well built oven, using the right materials will last generations, not years.

[Mullster]

arkroid as someone who started out a few months back with a plan that looked very similar to yours I really encourage you to take on the advice here if you can afford to - unless of course you literally want an oven for only a year or two. I upgraded my designs significantly. It’s costing me more and taking me longer but I’m already convinced it’s going to pay off and I’m going to have an oven that not only will last longer but will be more versatile (multi-day cooking).

Good luck whatever you decide.