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Planning my first oven

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  • Planning my first oven

    hi everyone. I am in the planning stage of my first pizza oven and I've got a few questions that I am hoping someone will be able to help me with. I'm not sure if I should be posting this here or in the newbie forum pages but i figured I'd put it here as im planning on doing a cast oven.

    Firstly, I was wondering what tools everyone finds most useful for building? At the moment I don't have anything more than the standard stuff that anyone who's done a bit of DIY has, but I have a bit of money in my budget for any tools I might need. In many of the threads that I've read people cut their firebricks using angle grinders. I don't have a grinder but I know that standard bricks can be cut with a brick bolster, which would be cheaper than an angle grinder. Does anyone know if firebricks can be cut using a brick bolster in the same way?

    Secondly, I think i'm going to use the 3:1:1:1 mix that seems to be most popular on this site to cast my dome. Is the cement portion of this mix standard portland cement or do you have to use a specialist cement (I've read on some other sites that you have to use calcium aluminate cement if you don't want stuff to fall apart at high temperatures)? I'm also thinking about using bricks for the front arches in the entrance of my oven. Is this likely to cause issues due to different amounts expansions as the oven heats up?

    Also when I've researched firebricks for my cooking surface i've found some bricks are marketed as being "smooth". Is the smoothness of the bricks much of a factor in how well they perform as a cooking surface or is this just a marketing thing to try and get a bit more of my money?

    Finally, what is the best way of attaching the chimney to the body of the oven? I may of been googling the wrong stuff but everything i've found online so far seems pretty pricey. Is there a cheap and easy way of doing this or am i just going to have to put a bit more of my budget into the chimney?

    I know these questions cover a lot of different stuff, and I apologize if any of the answers are in other threads that i haven't found, but i would really appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction on any of these issues.


  • #2
    About the chimney, if you're doing a brick front arch you can make it longer and use shorter pieces of brick for the center portion of the arch. That leaves a gap on top of which you install the chimney.

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    • #3
      You can cut firebricks with a bolster, but make sure you get the right bricks, There are many different firebricks. You need dense, not insulating fire bricks and preferably medium duty ones . High duty are super dense and really hard to cut. Better to build on the floor rather than the dome around it, then the floor cuts at the perimeter can be rough.

      Yes, standard cement for the home-brew mix.

      Solid red bricks for the front arch are ok.

      The method I use for installing the flue does not require an anchor plate. (see pic) It should be a slightly loose fit and can have a 5:1 vermicrete packed around it. The pipe should be supported around 200mm higher up by the outer cement rendered shell.


      Kindled with zeal and fired with passion.

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      • #4
        thanks guys that's really helpful

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        • #5
          hi everyone i've seen some stuff online about making clay oven domes from a clay sand mixture does anyone know if any threads on this forum that use this method, ive had a look but i can't find any.
          if anyone could point me in the right direction on this it would be much appreciated.

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          • #6
            Search the forum for “cob ovens”.
            Start here
            https://community.fornobravo.com/for...ions#post13564
            Kindled with zeal and fired with passion.

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            • #7
              hi guys ive just purchased some ceramic fibre board to go under my fire brick floor as this is often used on this site but when it arrived I found out that ceramic fibre board is carcinogenic. doesn't this make it a poor choice for going under the bricks? anyone got any experience with this material or a way to avoid this problem? thanks again for any help.

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              • #8
                the same thing applies to ceramic fibre blanket which also says it may cause cancer

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by ck1 View Post
                  the same thing applies to ceramic fibre blanket which also says it may cause cancer
                  I can’t speak for your fibre board product, but ceramic fibre blanket has been around since the 1960’s, used widely in industry as a low thermal mass refractory both for hot face and insulting applications and was categorised as a Class2 carcinogen, which means there are no recorded cases of human tumours, but some have been found in lab rats when given massive doses. For this reason I never used to use it in my product, preferring instead to use a lean vermicrete brew only. Around 2000 a new generation of fibre blanket was developed due to Germany’s ban on the older generat blanket, using a larger fibre which is also biosoluble, whatever that means. Consequently it is exonerated as a carcinogen. In fortunately it’s price was prohibitive until around 2010 when it largely replaced the older generation blanket and matched its price. Check the MSDS for you product to read the toxicity section.
                  Last edited by david s; 07-24-2020, 12:33 PM.
                  Kindled with zeal and fired with passion.

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                  • #10
                    thanks david that is very helpful

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