FB Board

[Erikh]

I just received my FB board today from Forno Bravo. It seems really soft and crumbly. Did I get the right stuff? This seems more like compressed fiber than a board?

[Gulf]

Hi Erikh,

Welcome to the forum. I'm pretty sure that you have the right product. That is the nature of insulation. If it were a dense material it would transfer too much heat. Ceramic fiber board has very little tensil strength, but plenty of compressive strength. It may seem soft but, it will hold up under the weight of an oven. Still, take care to protect the edges of the insulation during the build and by all means keep it from getting flooded with water.

[Erikh]

Joe, Thanks for your response. So with little tensil strength, how do I cut the material? Just use a Utility Knife?

[RandyJ]

You might be able to do that. But i just used a hack saw blade and slowly sawed it. It went very easy, but make sure to wear a respirator you dont want to breath the dust in.

Randy Janssen

[UtahBeehiver]

I used a power jig saw, just make sure the board is supported properly and plus 1 on Randy's comment on at least a Niosh 95 mask. But this may not be necessary if you are enclosing the oven with a structure, if so just leave proud because it will not be seen after the enclosure is up.

[bentedesco]

Another question re FB board:

I'm planning on using Concrete Pavers to raise the Fb board off the hearth. Should I use use any sort of adhesive (refractory mortar / fire clay) to keep the Fb Boards in place or should I just dry stack them on the concrete pavers?

[david s]

Just dry stack them. I'd be leaving gaps between the pavers to allow moisture to escape. A few holes in the concrete supporting slab will also help moisture escape.

[RandyJ]

I also used pavers to raise my oven a little. I just dry stacked them on my base then put the insulation on top of that. It works great.

Randy

[bentedesco]

Just dry stack them. I'd be leaving gaps between the pavers to allow moisture to escape. A few holes in the concrete supporting slab will also help moisture escape.

Perfect, thanks guys!