I've been talking about building an outdoor pizza/bake oven for years. This year I vow to build it.
I realize the best material would be firebrick, but I'm trying to do this by using all the odd ball masonry staked up around my yard.
I'm thinking firebrick for the floor and solid pavers for the vault. How do you think they would hold up? The brick work will be tight and neat.
I'm guessing they will be alright.
Some more thinking out loud. When you burn the fire to preheat the oven, do you burn it right in the center? And then push it to the back or side. Or just start the fire where you're going to use it to cook with?
Looking good! Start building fires on the floor ASAP and keep it tarped when not burning. The perlcrete is always very wet and it is easier to dry it before it gets covered up by the oven.
Yeah, I can tell it's going to be a while before that stuff dries out. Covered it last night because of the temps and this morning it was still soaked.Left it uncovered all day as I laid the floor then covered it right back up because of rain.
So burn some fires on it now? I'm a pyro from way back. Don't need much reason to spark one up. :thumbup:
Although, If I have good weather tomorrow I want to start the sides.
This may be a stupid question, but when you framed up to pour the perilite base for your oven floor, how did you support it from underneath, and what material did you use?
It is sad that we have a fire brick manufacturer in Austin (Elgin, actually), but they are so bad that we rail in our firebrick from the mid-west (Whitacre-Greer). They are not perfect, but they are pretty damn close.
I've started using the Whitacre-Greer firebricks out here in CA too. They're kind of expensive, but good quality and they look nice with the mortar I use.
Oh I seeee... I must have missed those. I wasnt wondering about the slab, I was wondering how you framed up over your block. Any special reason for using the corrugated metal?
Looks very nice, but if you put that arch on top of those walls it is going to fail. You can get away with 2-1/4" thick walls heat-wise, but you will need to buttress the walls somehow.
I have a very stout 6" rubble veneer going on there. Do you think filling the void with vermiculite concrete will strengthen it enough? Guess I could drop the vermiculite to portland ratio. Lose some R-value but gain strength.
Anyway, that was my thought on engineering.
Even a 12-1 ratio will work if you use vermicrete. I found the tables a few years ago, but you only need something with a compressive strength of a few PSI to hold it in that configuration.
dbrons, are you asking if I can lay the dome with the firebrick flat? My layout may look confusing because I just used some left over pieces for figuring the spacing. I plan on sawing firebrick lengthwise and building the dome with the strips.
I think you can get away with that arch and vermiculite insulation between the fire "box" and the outside wall. That stuff is really lite weight and fluffy, but once it sets, the fire brick walls are not going anywhere.
I'm not sure the vermiculite and cement mix ever gets as hard as concrete, but since your not building a garage on top of the fire box, the forces pushing out should be limited to the weight of the fire brick.
I question why you didn't put an ash dump in the oven? Seems to me it would be the easiest way to clean out the oven without dragging all the ash out the front door? Just courious.
I was just thinking as tscar suggested that a 2 1/4" width dome might have too much weight on top for the sides to support. Like I said I may not be visualizing it right. I do sometimes build fireboxes 2 1/4" wide and they work fine.
I agree with dakzaag that there really isn't much weight on top. I'd consider how you'll support the chimney though. I always fill mine with loose insulation.
Dave
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