Casting Homebrew Oven - Build Log

[R3CALL]

Thanks what size did you go for 32 or 64mm?

[aaronpizza]

Thanks what size did you go for 32 or 64mm?

neither - 76mm they turned up today and they look ideal, nice edges too.

[aaronpizza]

A mini Update...

My first 2 inches/50mm of Vcrete used 100L of Vermiculite, so I had to do it in two pours, seemed to work out well, also helped speed up the drying process I think.
It was kind of hard to get this super smooth and level.
It seemed the more you work to the Vermiculite seemed to get damaged? But it did leave a nice flat-ish surface.
(see photo, low angle)

My form was thrown together with scrap wood, but it made a pseudo circle, which will be neatened up once the floor is down.

On top, I put a very thin layer of sand and made sure this was very level and smooth.
A mist of water and let it dry overnight, left a semi-firm bed for the bricks.

Firebricks got lost in the post/ordering system, I won’t rant.
It arrived and I placed them down with no cuts, this was very satisfying and took about 5 minutes, the sand base made this effortless, I went with 76mm bricks (deep) for good thermal inertia.

No photos of the bricks yet as I haven’t cut them.

I plan to cut them freehand with a Dimond disc, 115mm disk, on both sides. Or I’ll drag out my sliding tile saw.

[Hattori-Hanzo]

Looking good so far Aaron.

How do you plan to finish your concrete block base? Are you going to render and paint it or something else?

[aaronpizza]

Looking good so far Aaron.

How do you plan to finish your concrete block base? Are you going to render and paint it or something else?

I will be rendering it unless I see anything else fancy in the meantime

I've just removed 20 tons of soil to make way for a porcelain patio, so it will tie in well

[Hattori-Hanzo]

Ah okay, I'm trying to get some ideas for how to finish my block work. Rendering is an option but I quite like the idea of cladding it with Corian, need to work out costs first.

Also forgot to mention, don't forget to submerge your fire bricks in water before cutting.
I forgot and ruined a 230mm blade.

I went for 76mm bricks also (probably same deal as you) and some of them where a lot harder to cut than others. Some where a light brown colour and others where dark brown, the dark brown where a lot tougher to cut and I'm unsure why?

If you are just halving bricks try doing it with a decent hammer and bolster, saves a lot of mess and wear good mask and goggles, silica dust is nasty!

[aaronpizza]

Cladding or rending will look nice, tbh I’ve not spent any time thinking about it yet – when the oven is functional, I will then think about it
Cladding will be nice too, maybe Pinterest is your friend here?
I forgot about submerging bricks! So, thank you!
I did notice the colour variation, hum, might be worth giving the supplier a call about this if it effects the hardness of them, more out of interest than issue

[Mullster]

aaronpizza looking good! Just a question about the sand layer - is that ok to use rather than fire clay? I seem to remember reading about people using a mix for underneath the bricks. I realise it may be too late - but just in case it’s not...

[UtahBeehiver]

50/50 sand clay mix is for just leveling the floor bricks of CaSi. It is just a thin layer, Installed with a 1/2" notched trowel used for setting thinset for tiles, it can be either dry or a peanut butter consistency slurry.

[aaronpizza]

Thanks for the message of concern Mullster - incase it was an issue I appreciate it!
So the sand is very thin about 1mm-3mm in places, this was purely to get everything perfectly level.
I don’t see what purpose the clay would be here so I didn’t add any (I could still change it but I see no issues..).
I laid a solid smooth bed i.e. not notched which worked out well.
I cut my first few bricks last night, which went well using a 115mm angle grinder and diamond disc, cut through it like butter…
The finished edge on said cut brick are okay, not perfect, so I may end up doing some research on here how to get perfect cuts J
I will upload some photos soon J

[aaronpizza]

Huge delays!

Apparently fitting my patio, installing underfloor heating and tiling my house was more important!

Fast forward, I cast my oven the other day! Very happy with the results so far.
Except I ran out of clay which is annoying as the P+P is more than 10KG!
I’ll put some photos up later with extra comments J

[Mullster]

Huge delays!

Apparently fitting my patio, installing underfloor heating and tiling my house was more important!

Fast forward, I cast my oven the other day! Very happy with the results so far.
Except I ran out of clay which is annoying as the P+P is more than 10KG!
I’ll put some photos up later with extra comments J

aaronpizza where are you? I have quite a lot of leftover fire clay - had to buy another bag despite only needing a little bit. Maybe I could get it to you?

[aaronpizza]

aaronpizza where are you? I have quite a lot of leftover fire clay - had to buy another bag despite only needing a little bit. Maybe I could get it to you?

Thanks dude, but I ordered/received another 5KG, appreciated!

Flue is on order too! Hopefully next week I will get my gallery piece cast.

Question, Did you put a thermal break between your main dome and the flue gallery? I was thinking of doing 1 inch of v.crete to stop some heat loss..

[Mullster]

So I cast all in one piece (regretted) so no break there but did have a small break in the floor between the first row on bricks (the landing) and the bricks inside the dome. So far it seems to have some effect - maybe 30-40 degrees - but not more than that. It’ll be interesting when I finally build a door to see how well the whole thing retains heat.

[aaronpizza]

So I cast all in one piece (regretted) so no break there but did have a small break in the floor between the first row on bricks (the landing) and the bricks inside the dome. So far it seems to have some effect - maybe 30-40 degrees - but not more than that. It’ll be interesting when I finally build a door to see how well the whole thing retains heat.

Ah yes I remember now, I copied your thermal break in the bricks (I am however going to leave it hollow...
I think I will add a 1 inch thermal break between my dome and flue housing, so when I put a door on it, hopefully, it will add a extra bit of resistance!

Ready to cast my flue in the next few days

I've got a mythical deadline of October for my first pizza, 15th to be precise, which is my birthday haha.

Currently I'm debating how to finish it all off, tile/simple render etc.

I've also been thinking about a shelter like yours, with glass and a flue cut out (as you also mentioned, have you progressed this?). so I can do winter entertaining but this means it would be rather big (10m x 10m ish).