Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

[Rbhumbert]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

I have been watching your progress. Looks like you have it under control. We built a 42" oven in Temecula. Where are you located? Don't see a lot of builds in SoCal, maybe people just don't have the room. We are happily enjoying our
oven and so glad we have it. Keep up the good work. RbHumbert

[n8huntsman]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

I have been watching your progress. Looks like you have it under control. We built a 42" oven in Temecula. Where are you located? Don't see a lot of builds in SoCal, maybe people just don't have the room. We are happily enjoying our
oven and so glad we have it. Keep up the good work. RbHumbert

I took a look at you build... very nice! Where did you get your bricks? RCP? I'm off of Los Alamos and the 215. Looks like you're up in DeLuz? Get quite a bit of snow up there on new years eve?

[Rbhumbert]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

Yes we live in De Luz and we did get snow, but some areas up here suffered much worst then others. We got less that 1", but some got up to 5" and then some very cold nights. The avocado trees were heavy with fruit and the snow caused many limbs to break. The frost also damaged many groves and I feel for the growers which suffered damage and loss.

Our build was done under a tight budget, so we shopped around for all of our materials. The bricks are Pacific Clay bricks, but we actually purchased them through Lowes. The bulk of the rest of the material, fire brick, sand, cement, fireclay, etc., we got at a local masonry supply just off of Jefferson called Brandel Masonry. (42368 Rio Nedo Road, Temecula, CA 92590 (951) 296-3433). We found their prices a little more reasonable then RCP.

We are firing the oven for pizza this Saturday, and I will be baking bread on Sunday. Although avocado wood is not the best wood, it is free, which makes it excellent.

Your attention to detail will show in the final oven. Keep up the good work.
rbhumbert

[texman]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

nathan

for mortar just look up homebrew on the forum. It is the best and least expensive. usually those two qualities dont combine, but sometimes they do.

Texman

[n8huntsman]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

I got excited to see that the local block and brick place that I'm buying my firebrick from (RCP) was listed as a distributor of heatstop 50... then I called them and they acted like I was speaking another language and tried to sell me sairbond. They claimed it was the best stuff on earth, but from what I've read it's a no-go. Then I called every other distributor in so-cal and got the same reply. I'd like to stay away from mortar with Portland in it so my options appear to be a calcium aluminate cement home brew or get the refmix and pay the shipping...
I did however get my Thermo-12 Gold dropped off for free as promised. FYI, Bay Insulation in San Diego has great customer service for anyone in the area.

[n8huntsman]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

...The bulk of the rest of the material, fire brick, sand, cement, fireclay, etc., we got at a local masonry supply just off of Jefferson called Brandel Masonry. (42368 Rio Nedo Road, Temecula, CA 92590 (951) 296-3433). We found their prices a little more reasonable then RCP.

I'm familiar with Brandel... I actually work across the street from them. I've purchased a lot of stuff there throughout the years but I thought they were a bit more costly than RCP... at least on the stuff I've bought there; curved block, cultured stone, and firebrick. I do prefer Brandel's Boulder Creek cultured stone though so I'll continue to buy it there when I finish off the oven. Plus it will match the rest of my house where I've used it. IIRC RCP and Brandel both carry Pacific Clay, but RCP was cheaper. I have not checked Lowes yet but I do know that our Home Depot stopped carrying Pacific Clay firebricks. I'll price check them at Lowes... Thanks for the suggestion.

[deejayoh]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

nathan

for mortar just look up homebrew on the forum. It is the best and least expensive. usually those two qualities dont combine, but sometimes they do.

Texman

+1. I started with HS50. It's like pouring money down the drain. Homebrew is much cheaper, easier to work with, and you will never notice any difference in performance.

[n8huntsman]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

Calcium aluminate cement is proving to be as difficult to get ahold of as the HeatStop! For $219.60 I can have 3 bags of Refmix delivered. Is that a bad decision? I think I should stay away from Portland, no?

[deejayoh]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

9 out of 10 people on this site use homebrew. Even those that start with something else generally finish with homebrew. Portland + sand + Lime + fireclay

It feels like you are going to ask the question until you get the answer you want...

[n8huntsman]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

It feels like you are going to ask the question until you get the answer you want...

Nah, I was just a little confused about the term "home brew." It's a little ambiguous as there are two recipes in the mortar primer; one with Portland and one with Calcium aluminate instead. I kinda assumed the calcium aluminate variant was preferred but in your last post you specified Portland so it's a little more clear now. I guess I could have just asked for clarification.

[david s]

Re: Nathan's 36" SoCal WFO build

The calcium aluminate based mortar is more refractory (fire resistant) than the Portland Homebrew. For the temperatures we fire to <500C the homebrew is perfectly adequate. Where the portland may break down for those areas where it gets really hot, the lime in the brew takes over. But, the four big drawbacks with calcium aluminate are cost (it is far more expensive), accessibility, poor shelf life and working time. The stuff goes off very quickly, necessitating mixing small batches all the time. If you add lime to it as suggested in the Pompeii plans, it will accelerate the reaction giving you even less working time.I believe this is a failing in the plans, or the authors have not tried it before recommending it.

[deejayoh]

Re: Nathan's 36&quot; SoCal WFO build

Nah, I was just a little confused about the term "home brew." It's a little ambiguous as there are two recipes in the mortar primer; one with Portland and one with Calcium aluminate instead. I kinda assumed the calcium aluminate variant was preferred but in your last post you specified Portland so it's a little more clear now. I guess I could have just asked for clarification.

My apologies then. Homebrew commonly uses portland. Works fine. As David suggests - apparently the temps aren't hot enough to be a problem. Hundreds of successful ovens out there on this forum built using it. I wouldn't worry about it for a millisecond.

[n8huntsman]

Re: Nathan's 36&quot; SoCal WFO build

Well, I think I'm convinced to just go with the Portland homebrew. Thanks for the explanation regarding the Portland.
I've been keeping my hearth covered and wet. There's actually standing water on it right now. Tomorrow will be day 7 but I'm worried that if I dry it off and remove the tarp then try to place my calcium silicate board it might wick moisture and ruin the insulation. Is this a concern? If so, I can put it off for a few days I suppose.

[n8huntsman]

Got the insulation down

I put down my 3″ of Thermo-12 Gold Calcium Silicate board the other day.

[n8huntsman]

Started and finished the floor of the oven tonight

They aren't the flattest but it's mostly just the edges that stick up a bit. I think I could easily go over it with a diamond grinding wheel and get it perfectly flat to prevent the peel from hanging up.