Custom Made Firebrick to Size

[Oven_Man]

Hi All

I have a Stainless Steel oven that was custom built for me and it's been working exceptionally well. The only problem I am experiencing is the firebrick I'm using as the floor has a very uneven surface. There's a total of 18 bricks covering the floor so you can imagine the amount of gaps and uneven surface this creates. I tried looking for larger bricks but everyone keeps the same size.

My only option now is to make my own bricks to the required size. Any suggestions on a recipe and method to accomplish this?

Thanks

[david s]

Before you rush into replacing the floor bricks try to find the cause of why they are uneven. What is under them? There should be solid insulation board or cast vermicrete, not ceramic fibre blanket. If the firebricks themselves are of a slightly different thickness a dry mix of 50/50 fine sand and powdered clay works well as a leveller. Larger bricks and thinner bricks both have a greater propensity to crack.

[Oven_Man]

david s Beneath the firebrick is a stainless steel floor and beneath the floor is fiber blankets. The blanket is encased in the Stainless steel. When the oven is cold, there is a little unevenness but when the oven heats up, it worsens - I guess the stainless steel begins warping a little bit causing the firebrick to become uneven. My floor size is 700mm x 700mm. I'm thinking of using 4 X 350mm X 350mm bricks so each quadrant will have it's own brick. At the moment, by biggest issue is the pizza spade get caught in the bricks.

[david s]

There’s your answer. Stainless is notorious for warping and blanket tends to compress under weight. Removing both and replacing them with 50mm calcium silicate board should solve your problem. As I mentioned larger floor bricks are more likely to crack than smaller ones.

[fox]

I would be interested to see a picture of your oven?
I cant think of an easy fix because as David points out S/S will move around quite a lot when heated but there may be a way to release the tension from the metal by cutting expansion gaps or even removing it all together.

[Oven_Man]

My biggest problem is the stainless steel floor that sits below the firebrick is fitted in place - cannot be removed or opened to swap out the Fire Blanket for Boards.
My oven floor size is 700mm X 700mm so I was thinking if I have just 4 X 350mm bricks, there would be less gaps and less unevenness compared to having a total of 18 smaller firebricks.

[david s]

My biggest problem is the stainless steel floor that sits below the firebrick is fitted in place - cannot be removed or opened to swap out the Fire Blanket for Boards.
My oven floor size is 700mm X 700mm so I was thinking if I have just 4 X 350mm bricks, there would be less gaps and less unevenness compared to having a total of 18 smaller firebricks.

Perhaps, but you'll still have the warping problem and larger floor bricks are more likely to crack, apart from their expense. Could you get an angle grinder in there to cut out the stainless floor that's presumably;y welded in?

[fox]

You might not need to cut it out, just cut a cross leaving the the center few inches intact….. but cutting it out and replacing the insulation would be a sure fix.