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This is a bit of a cautionary post so I did not want to bury it in my construction thread. I have started drying out my new 65cm homebrew cast oven and last night I was on day 3 and shooting for around 150C (300F). I was struggling to keep a small fire going because I think the wood I am using is a bit damp so I had stepped away from the oven to search my phone for kiln dried logs. There was then a loud bang from the oven and debris came flying out of the oven with explosive force. Moments earlier I had had my face at the gallery opening staring at the flames and generally admiring my handiwork - I could have easily been taking a trip to A&E last night. The photo shows the small area of the dome surface that had spalled despite my inclusion of PP burn out fibres in the mix. It is only a millimetre or two deep but it released a lot of energy when the trapped steam forced it off.
My takeaway - treat a newly cast oven (mine was roughly 10 days old) with caution during the curing phase and wear eye protection.
My takeaway - treat a newly cast oven (mine was roughly 10 days old) with caution during the curing phase and wear eye protection.