Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

[david s]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Maybe the council guy who told me 1.5 m was really old. It was five years ago that i was given that info from council. I'll try and remember to ring them tomorrow to confirm. Measurements are pretty strange. I taught at a school once where they had a 6" rule that applied to the distance boys and girls were allowed to sit together.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Gudday
Rang the Brisbane council when putting in a rain water tank about 3 year ago. Thier advice was to keep it 1.5 mtr off the boundry line, if it was under that I would have to apply to council for planning aprovial ( with the associated fees and waiting time).
......So by this rule my chook coup is illegal....

Regards Dave

[Robd]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest

Hi,

i've uploaded a few pics of my first oven. overall it turned out nice but you'll see i made a few mistakes in the construction and design process, it works really well from a practical point of view, but it ended up cracking quite bad. these pics were taken after a recent fire up, so once its up to temperature it tends to expand a bit and the cracks become more pronounced. its i bit unsightly but doesnt really impede the performance.

this oven was made of clay pavers for the cooking floor, and pressed reds for the dome. its got at least 100mm - 150mm insulation made from vermiculite and cement. theres plenty of insulation, once fully fired up its still only cool to touch.

mistakes that i made in the process were, i never used any chicken wire in the insulation, only used vermiculite/cement insulation. although a good insulator i thing as the dome expands, because theres no flexibility in the insulation its forced to crack.

i never cured the oven properly, got too eager and fired it right up.

lastley, the chimney flue is inside the dome, at the time of making this i didnt understand the behaviour of smoke and the necessity of the flue infront of the dome to draw the smoke up and out. so although it cooks well, on initial fire up it gets really smokey, and most of it comes right out the mouth.

[Laurentius]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Hi Rob,

You should repair your oven as soon as possible, do not allow it to sit uncovered in the rain, otherwise instead of a repair, you will need a redo on your stucco.

[ozziewaa]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Rob

It looks like you did a great job, it looks really nice.

From my experience getting the flue right is the most difficult part of a wood oven design and construction. After I finished my dome I spent days working with different designs to keep the smoke out of my face.

In the end I got it about half right. This is one think I will change when I do my next one!

Just as well our ovens are inside.

Hope you are enjoying it

Regards

Alan

PS don't worry about the location, I am in SA and had it all checked out by my local council before I built it and they didnt have any concerns.

[Big P]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Hey guys Whats the ratio of the mortar mix for the dome. Been up to little hampton Bricks and got a bag fire clay $110 for 20 kg the rep said 1 flay clay 4 foundry sand 1 lime.
reading the forum everyone seems to put cement in as well

[ozziewaa]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Hi Big P
Making the dome is the most exciting part of making your oven. I did not add in any cement in my mortar mix. Not that I know much but you would want to be sure about how the cement would cope with high temperatures.

Have fun

Al

[cobblerdave]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

G'day
You're right the Portland cement it doesn't cope with with the temps. But it gives you the original glue to hold the structure together . As the Portland breaks down over 300C the lime hardens and provides the high temp glue.
Regards dave

[Greenman]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Fire clay must be like rare earth in SA. A bag in Queensland is less than $40 even in the wrong places to buy it.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

I don't know how you Aussies do it, $40 fireclay, $4-5 dollar fire brick.............must like your pizzas.

[oasiscdm]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

I don't know how you Aussies do it, $40 fireclay, $4-5 dollar fire brick.............must like your pizzas.

Hey Russell

Yes quite spendy as I recall you once posted.

I picked up my Firebricks for $3 each for my oven. However I recently acquired 200 odd fire bricks from the guy that supplied the Firebricks for my front vent arches on my current build. These will be used for my next build and I picked these up for around $1.50. So sometimes we can just stumble onto good buys.

Next quest is to find 75mm Firebrick tiles again for hearth. ohhhh after I finish existing oven.

[nissanneill]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

Big P

Been up to little hampton Bricks and got a bag fire clay $110 for 20 kg

Gee, I got mine from Thermal Ceramics, Beverly, for $25/20kg a few years ago and still have a bag and half.
Littlehampton can't/won't give the firebrick content away, so quite reluctant to use that product.

[david s]

Re: Adelaide Build Quest, refractory advice

For the temps we fire to bricklayers clay is sufficient and way cheaper.
You are building an oven, not a kiln.