Curing fire

[LeeBird]

I have finished the dome, fire brick and refractory mortar. Waiting to insulate until after curing fires. Question: how many days do I wait between setting last brick and starting fire?

[UtahBeehiver]

Lee, current thought is to have the dome insulated before cure to min. Temp differential from inside to outside dome. Then final render after cure

[LeeBird]

Thanks Russell, that makes perfect sense. Do I need to wait and give the mortar time before lighting the fire?

[UtahBeehiver]

You could start with a halogen shop light, gets you around 125 - 150 f(now) then charcoal 200 ish (cook something, dutch oven or so), then fires. Back tomorrow will text you abt insul.