Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

[Polo]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Well I have 4.5 of brick and 3 of cast refractory for a total of 7.5 of thermal mass. Then I have 4" of ceramic insulation

I have 6 thermocouples so that I know inner mid and outer oven temps.

My new ovens will have 12" of thermal mass for multiple loads of bread. For bread you need big thermal mass. When I load 12 -1.5 lb loaves of bread in the oven the dough has more then a gallon of water in it and that is a big draw on the stored energy.

Faith, if you don't mind my asking, what baking chamber dimensions are you planning for on you next oven? Are you planning on 12" of mass for both hearth and arch?

Just being nosy, I am contemplating building a larger oven as well.

[Faith In Virginia]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Ball park # 54" wide and thinking 72" deep. 12" in floor and arch. Last year I got a great deal on brick so I now have about 7 pallets of firebrick. So I have enough brick for many ovens.

I need to get done with my current contract (Sucking the life out of my time) before I can start my new oven.

[Laurentius]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Hi Faith,

7 pallets? Is that a deal or a disaster? "Darn, I have all of these Damn Bricks, I got to build something"!

[Polo]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Ball park # 54" wide and thinking 72" deep. 12" in floor and arch. Last year I got a great deal on brick so I now have about 7 pallets of firebrick. So I have enough brick for many ovens.

I need to get done with my current contract (Sucking the life out of my time) before I can start my new oven.

Thanks for the response. I'm toying with the idea of building a new oven that would be twice the width and length of my current one. That would make the hearth 64" wide by 76" deep, but I was as of yet undecided about the mass.

Great that you got a good deal on firebrick. The best I think I coud do is about a buck apiece here. Still not too bad though.

My day job takes a big swath out of the middle of my day as well

[Gulf]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

I rigged my saw with a fresh water supply from the hose and let the mud drop into a bucket most of the water coming off the top of the bucket was quite clean and I never had to clean a filter or plugged lines again. I am sure it was a waste of some water but I had an in line ball valve that I could turn on and off as needed and it sure made the water supply more consistent, I was finding the lines would plug up quite often before I went to a clean water supply direct from the house via a garden hose. This may be a problem in other areas where water is in short supply but here on the mighty Mississippi and "Land of 10,000 lakes" -- but the official count of lakes more than ten acres (40,000 m?) in size is approximately 11,842. water is cheap and plentiful.

Chip

Chip,
That is excellent advice!
Actually, by the time that I was finished with most of my firebrick, I had switched to a bucket of clean water and a garden hose. I mentioned on this thread that If I had it to do over from the start that I would attach a fitting to the bottom of my bucket and insert a cheap comode float to conserve water. I have already forgotten some of my lessons learned) .
That is where age sometimes factors in to the equaition .

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Thanks for the info guys. I may get a few of these blades. What do you guys recommend,

This McGills Warehouse Online Department Store,<meta name="title" content="DB3799 $4.40 7-in. Diamond Blade Free Shipping."/>

Or this.

McGills Warehouse Online Department Store,<meta name="title" content="DB3799 $4.40 7-in. Diamond Blade Free Shipping."/>

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Guys, i dont know why but im still a bit concerned. Ive been reading on the site and have yet to see someone with a 80% Alumina content brick, the highest ive seen is Russell's (Utahbeehiver) at 65% Alumina, if i remember right?. This means i would have to feed that hungry oven . I dont know why but this is bugging me. I know i wont be using the oven for days, so the extra mass may be too much for me.

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

The way I would decide is this:
Are you building a barrel vault or a pompeii?
If it's a barrel vault the decision, to use them or not, is easier. Even if you decide to cut them down to 9 by 4, it's not too bad, because it's mostly only one cut per brick.

With a pompeii, you would cut them down to 9 x 4 if you want the more conventional dome thickness, but then you'd still want to cut them in half in the other direction as well so you can build a nice smooth curve into your dome. Lots of cutting.
First decision - barrel or dome?
Second decision, 6 inch or 4 inch shell?

6 inch barrel = easy to build due to not too many cuts, hardest to heat due to large mass.
4 inch barrel = not so easy to build due to more cuts, easier to heat due to less mass.
6 inch dome = no harder than 4 inch barrel to build, still need to cut each brick, probably about the same to heat - who wants to do the maths on which would have the most mass a 6 inch dome or a 4 inch barrel.
4 inch thick dome = hardest to build due to lots of cuts, easiest to heat - efficient, less mass, etc.

Decide which one you really want purely from the heart. Forget about the construction difficulties, build the one you want to own. Even forget about potential cost, unless you are truly strapped for cash.
The difficulty of construction will be long forgotten as you pull out a homecooked meal and you think to yourself, "gee, I'm glad I chose option X, even if it was harder to build, now I'm using it I know it was the right decision."
In any case the harder it is to build, the prouder you will be of your creation. So, if you feel that you won't be happy with 6 inches thick, cut 'em even if it takes you a month to do.

Hey, i am going to build a pompeii dome, not barrel, The brick wall thickness will be 6" if i leave the bricks as is. I will also cut the bricks in half to create the round dome. Im not worried about the construction side, and the time. Im worried about the oven needing lots of time and wood to heat it up. I want to avoid needing 3 hours to warm it up. Why im so concerned is because i see others stating it takes 2 + hours to comes up to temp using normal low duty of med duty bricks. If i were to use 80% alumina bricks which are super duty then how long would it really take??? im thinking very long comparing to others...

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

P.S. the high alumina content just means you are far less likely to crack a brick. Don't sweat it, mate.

Doesn't it also mean that it has a lot more mass and would take a lot longer to warm up??

Here is the date sheet for those bricks, they are called aladin 80 http://msds.domamer.anhamer.anhrefra..._%28USA%29.pdf

[Faith In Virginia]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

V-wiz....Call your local HW representative and address your concerns to them. They are the professionals and can tell you the specific differences between you brick and a low or medium duty brick. Then you should rest easy in your final decision.

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Well, if you are building a pompeii, you probably want to do pizzas, so not only do you want quick heat-up, you want high final temperature.
No option but to cut, I expect.
Can't see a density in that data sheet, but lets assume they are denser.
What about if you first cut these things in half lengthways, make 9 x 3s? Then you could build a three inch thick dome which would bring your mass back quite a bit. I know that would give two different thicknesses of, brick but you could just sort them do a course of the thicker ones, then a course of the skinnier ones, etc, and it would end up less cuts than cutting them all back to 9 by 4s.
I built a 2 inch thick dome, then chickened out and added a layer of mortar to increase it to three.
Mine is very quick to heat, one hour to white dome, but that might be as much about the 30 inch diameter as it is about the dome thickness - if you double the dome diameter you way more than double the mass.

Thanks for the advice. i was actually originally just going to cut them in half. So each brick would be 6" in lenght and 4 1/2" wide, since the brick is 9x6. Now i am considering to first make a slight cut at the surface at the length, so make a cut/line at 9" on both sides of the brick, then hit it with a hammer so they snap, this way i wont have to cut them entirely, also that will be the backside of the oven so if its rough it would be okay. Then when that is done i can make a clean cut at the center, so i have a 4 1/2" bricks and it will be 4" of wall instead of 6". What do you think?

Thanks for bearing with me, i know i can get a carried away but its bugging me

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

V-wiz....Call your local HW representative and address your concerns to them. They are the professionals and can tell you the specific differences between you brick and a low or medium duty brick. Then you should rest easy in your final decision.

Thanks Faith, i did call but they are gone for the day. Ill have to call Monday.

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Now that i think about it i can also do this. If i am successful at snapping the bricks in half then cutting them in another half it would be nice, so each brick would be 3x4 1/2. I would get 4 pieces out of one whole brick. If need be i can add an inch of mortar/more mass. I think this would be a good idea

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

I can attest to this, I went thru a ton on blades so minimize your cuts when possible.

[V-wiz]

Re: Super Duty Firebricks, good or bad?

Update: Im thinking of selling these bricks, and purchase the good ol standard sized bricks from the brick yard around the corner. The taper's will be really nice on the dome but its going to be useless at the arch, chimney and floor. All the bricks have different thickness. I guess ive made a mistake buying these, i hope i don't regret this later but it seems like i would have to burn through many many diamond blades and take 3+ hours and lots of wood to get this sucker to heat up.