Final dome keystone: castable?

[pdxsds]

Hi all,

So I'm at the stage of planning the final keystone for the dome, and have seen most folks cut theirs out of a brick. This seems to involve tracing and trimming (and even some use of flour to find the high spots by our friend in Bellingham!). But since I had success casting the whole inner arch from refractory concrete, I thought maybe the final keystone could be cast as well. Looks like waynespizzaworld did this a couple years ago (here, and in the 2nd and 3rd photos below). Any reason not to do this?

Steve

[david s]

Re: Final dome keystone: castable?

Hi all,

So I'm at the stage of planning the final keystone for the dome, and have seen most folks cut theirs out of a brick. This seems to involve tracing and trimming (and even some use of flour to find the high spots by our friend in Bellingham!). But since I had success casting the whole inner arch from refractory concrete, I thought maybe the final keystone could be cast as well. Looks like waynespizzaworld did this a couple years ago (here, and in the 2nd and 3rd photos below). Any reason not to do this?

Steve

No reason at all. in fact it is easier to cast the whole thing. just be careful to let it dry well before firing because that keystone gets hotter quicker than anything else, because of its position.