40" oven build with questions I couldn't find answers to.

[Ible]

ready to through rod and mortar.

[Ible]

Here is the Jack Arch I want to incorporate into the opening, has anyone done one of these? I can also can run all thread rods to joint the brick from separating, this is done to existing structures to meet seismic codes .

[Ible]

Ok listened..and changed a few things will use half bricks, the sheer length made the bricks too thin if I din not want a 2" mortar fill joint on the back side. but now the oven is 48" same footprint, the dome will be laid upon the pizza oven floor bricks.

Can I use the k26 insulation brick for the entrance< I will be covering it with plate stainless anyway to avoid were and tear,

[UtahBeehiver]

Here is a build by an old timer called Tscarborough where he used wedges or voussoirs to fill wide gaps in an arch.

[mk e]

some bricks are easier than others, these diablos are very hard. that said I will do what it takes to make a close to perfect job, do i insulate the deck from the dome?

Normally the dome sits directly on the deck, it doesn't have to but it sure makes things easy. They are both hot so no need to insult between them.....you want to enclose the heat, not divide it.

[mk e]

I went through a baker dozen of diamond wet saw blades in my build.

Oh man.....I dont think I spent an hour sawing, 90 minutes at most.

[UtahBeehiver]

Not to get off the subject too much, but not all bricks are easy to cut/saw. True, low and medium grade bricks are relatively easy to saw but super duty (which I used in my case, they were surplus from a steel mill) are not. I went through a baker dozen of diamond wet saw blades in my build.

Back to wedges, some builders have made wedges to fill in the back side gaps. Can't comment on commercial refractory mortar since I used homebrew. But I do recall the David S says Alumina Calcified mortar flashes really fast.

[Ible]

some bricks are easier than others, these diablos are very hard. that said I will do what it takes to make a close to perfect job, do i insulate the deck from the dome?

[mk e]

I think bricks are easy to saw....mine are wedges. Each row is the same number of pieces so there is a running bond all the way up and it looks pretty nice like that....I wish I could take credit but all I did saw saw what I was told to saw, it's my brother's work.

[Ible]

I understand on a half brick its of no consequence as the gap isn't really that big, but Because I am using full bricks each row needs 1.5" of mortar, it seems excessive for the joint, and depending on what you read it may be too big of a joint, can I use high temp refractory clay, or is is better to just cut wedges from hole bricks? how dose it differ in the work ability, and is there a work ability difference from med grade to high grade I know High grade will have more aluminum, take higher temps and be harder once finished, but have never worked with the stuff, does it glue the bricks together well.. ie sticky, or does it just slide off and or create a low adhesion? is it gray, yellow or red? do I have a choice of color?

[Ible]

Im following the build of a Beech oven, Although they are a cast oven, they have a much higher thermal mass than FB or other ovens, on average they are triple the mass weighing a ton for the dome alone without facade. then again they are about 100k USD and up. fully assembled.

[Ible]

Thank you, I will place a few pvc threaded caps on the top of the dome for filling,

[UtahBeehiver]

A lot of builders who have enclosures on their ovens have just poured dry perlite or vermculite over the ovens. If possible you should have some type of access to add more in case of settling. Either product has almost zero K values and relatively cheap. You might want to do a test on the K26 to see how well tiles/glass adhere to the brick.

Just saying, full brick walls will take a lot longer to heat and use substantially more fuel but once hot will stay hot for a long time. So if you are going to be in production mode then high amount of thermal mass is good but if not, one can easily get several days of cooking with half brick dome walls with the proposed insulation.

[Ible]

are you saying just uses loose perlite? inbetween the dome and the k-26 brickwork. it would be easier and faster and should work....

[Ible]

I could use both, but then not much room for wood storage, as many people ask how much does it burn, and that is a question that is answered only once it is built, so I need to make sure there is room for wood.

The building will be an open to mother nature for a few years while I get the permit to enclose the building as it is a historical landmark and they don't like changes. The building is set on multiple levels 7 in all, Most of it houses the art gallery with one floor for the toy tigers.(No they are not roaming around.) the top floor is going to be a restaurant and the oven is on of the expansive outdoor decks one half floor below the restaurant. The building doesn't lend itself to storage very well as the room are huge but no areas to hide anything, Next to the Oven will be a huge charcoal grill and then a plancha ( a stainless flat grill) in front of the area will be 2 eight foot refrigerated pizza tables and 2 sinks.

once the entire oven is built it will have a water proof layer of glass on the outside and top of the oven, should I concave the top and add a drain? I will cross that question once Im on site and ready to pour the top

The soft bricks k-26 will be used to hold back the p/v create, easy to cut on a template as it will be all the same cuts, and I already own them (for better or worst) I wont have any issues with expansion k-26 to the p/v creat, but I think I will have issues from the fire bricks to the p/v crete causing cracking, am I right to think that and do I need a blanket between the layers to allow for expansion of the fire bricks?

Most of the equipment is already on site, the oven is being fabricated in a spare bedroom here in the states (the floors are PVC not wood) as labor is cheap in mexico but tools and other items are either expensive or unattainable, like a simple cup grinder. once the entire unit is fabricated I will number each piece and put them on huge dish carts, We normally have 20 workers to unload the trucks when I go, they will not be happy to see all the bricks.

I am half done with the oven floor bricks, about 4 more hours....