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  • interior surface of bricks

    I have some mortar that oozed out beyond the bricks and I took a grinder to it but touched the surface of the bricks making some shallow gouges/scrapes. I've read when building the oven to keep the non cut side of the bricks facing the inside of the oven. What's the significance of this practice?

    How is the performance or effectiveness of the oven affected if the interior surface is not factory finish?

    Thanks,
    Nate

  • #2
    Re: interior surface of bricks

    Originally posted by spinal tap View Post
    I have some mortar that oozed out beyond the bricks and I took a grinder to it but touched the surface of the bricks making some shallow gouges/scrapes. I've read when building the oven to keep the non cut side of the bricks facing the inside of the oven. What's the significance of this practice?

    How is the performance or effectiveness of the oven affected if the interior surface is not factory finish?

    Thanks,
    Nate
    Doesn't affect the performance. As far as I know that's purely aesthetic flaw.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: interior surface of bricks

      Originally posted by spinal tap View Post
      I have some mortar that oozed out beyond the bricks and I took a grinder to it but touched the surface of the bricks making some shallow gouges/scrapes.
      I hit a brick with a grinder as well and smoothed them with course wet and dry sand paper (wet with water) - worked well.

      Brett

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      • #4
        Re: interior surface of bricks

        while sorta on the topic

        I've always wondered, if you are using second hand bricks, for example out of an old fireplace (say 30+yrs old) and their outside edge is blackened - would it pose any risk for a pizza oven? I mean from toxins or whatever crap was burnt in the fire and subsequently went up the chimney and possibly deposited on the bricks themselves

        Worst case I guess is just put the cut side inwards

        just wondering.......thoughts?
        Last edited by Bacterium; 08-21-2012, 04:56 AM. Reason: reworded
        Cheers
        Damon

        Build #1

        Build #2 (Current)

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        • #5
          Re: interior surface of bricks

          i would guess the smoother surface is just cleaner. The smoother surface has fewer cavities to catch particulates that might fall in your food and gunk up the dome. fwiw.
          Tracy
          Texman Kitchen
          http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/t...ild-17324.html

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          • #6
            Re: interior surface of bricks

            Originally posted by Bacterium View Post
            while sorta on the topic

            I've always wondered, if you are using second hand bricks, for example out of an old fireplace (say 30+yrs old) and their outside edge is blackened - would it pose any risk for a pizza oven? I mean from toxins or whatever crap was burnt in the fire and subsequently went up the chimney and possibly deposited on the bricks themselves

            Worst case I guess is just put the cut side inwards

            just wondering.......thoughts?
            This was a concern when I was searching for used bricks. I was worried about bricks used in a commercial enviroment where various metals were in contact with the bricks. I guess buying bricks from a residence would not be as big of a risk. But decided to buy new bricks because they werent that expensive.

            Nate

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            • #7
              Re: interior surface of bricks

              Well that's it domestic would be relatively low risk...... I guess with a few decent fires pre cooking most of whatever might have been there was burnt off.
              Cheers
              Damon

              Build #1

              Build #2 (Current)

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              • #8
                Re: interior surface of bricks

                Originally posted by spinal tap View Post
                I have some mortar that oozed out beyond the bricks and I took a grinder to it but touched the surface of the bricks making some shallow gouges/scrapes. I've read when building the oven to keep the non cut side of the bricks facing the inside of the oven. What's the significance of this practice?

                How is the performance or effectiveness of the oven affected if the interior surface is not factory finish?

                Thanks,
                Nate
                The plans talk about laying the bricks with the cut side out, but purely for appearance. I managed in my fatigue on a couple to do just that, but after a few looks in the oven, it doesn't look bad at all - just "rustic" and I can't see how it would affect performance in the slightest. More worrying is the impact of grinding - how does that vibration throughout the oven affect the integrity of the mortar? If anything, I'd be leaving the grinder out of it. One advantage of using refractory mortar vs home brew is that it takes a very long time to go really hard so you can clean up for some days afterwards.
                (see, now that I've closed my dome but yet to complete the whole oven, I'm an expert. :-) )
                JT
                Willetton, Perth
                Western Australia
                My build: http://woodfiredovenperth.blogspot.com.au/

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                • #9
                  Re: interior surface of bricks

                  Yeah, yeah, JT. We're all experts after we complete our ovens! Funny!

                  I read here that bricks don't actually vitrify when they're fired, but do take on a hardness on the perimeter of the brick that is sometimes not obtained in the center of the brick. I think this is the reason behind placing the cut side out.

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                  • #10
                    Re: interior surface of bricks

                    Pretty much every brick in my dome has the cut exposed to the fire (it looked very clean going that route). Been using it for about 4 years now and no problems whatsoever. My biggest concern was spalling since I didn't use mortar - that hasn't happened either. (knock on brick)
                    Last edited by Les; 08-21-2012, 06:35 PM.
                    Check out my pictures here:
                    http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/les-build-4207.html

                    If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving isn't for you.

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                    • #11
                      Re: interior surface of bricks

                      For firebrick, no problem, but I would try and avoid it when using solid commons as there is a distinct difference in hardness between the outer 1/4-1/2" and the inner brick.

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