Building with common bricks (sydney) Newbie Forum Discuss Building with common bricks (sydney) in the Good Background Information forums; 4- render the dome with 1 to 2 mm of the fireclay and grey cement mix to protect bricks from ...

[dmun]

4- render the dome with 1 to 2 mm of the fireclay and grey cement mix to protect bricks from direct flame

I would appreciate so much your advice:
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A- what do you think of rendering the dome?

I think this is a really bad idea, it's asking the thin layer to flake off.

Common brick, for all it's faults, is a much more heat resistant substance than portland based mortars. And yes, your home brew mortar needs sand, as fine a silica sand as you can find.

[maximo]

Originally Posted by Rodneyf

maximo, I have built my oven in Sydney out of 92 yr old bricks from the front fence of a federation house at Bexley. So far the oven has done exactly what it was supposed to do and cooks great pizzas and superb roasts the same way as the Italian community in Australia has been doing for the last 60 yrs. Check out the link below to see my build.

Picasa Web Albums - rodneyaf - Pizza oven

Hi Rodney,

Thanks so much for posting the photos. Step by Step, excellent!!

May I ask what is the material (yellow square tiles/bricks) you used for your oven floor and where you bought it?

Thanks,
Maximo

[Rodneyf]

The floor is made of 300 x 300 x 50 mm fire brick tiles from Feild Furnace at Wetherhill Park. They can supply all of the mortar, insulating bricks and ceramic insulation. If you talk to a guy called Leigh he has helped a number of poeple around Sydney build their ovens and he is only too willing to help. With the advise you get there and here on the forum you will be cooking in no time. Where abouts in Sydney are you from?

[maximo]

Originally Posted by Rodneyf

The floor is made of 300 x 300 x 50 mm fire brick tiles from Feild Furnace at Wetherhill Park. They can supply all of the mortar, insulating bricks and ceramic insulation. If you talk to a guy called Leigh he has helped a number of poeple around Sydney build their ovens and he is only too willing to help. With the advise you get there and here on the forum you will be cooking in no time. Where abouts in Sydney are you from?

Hi Rodney,

Thanks so much for your response.
There's a few of my friends & myself looking at building ovens. We are in Burwood council area and Chatswood area.

Which plans did you follow? Are they availabe for download?

Cheers,
Maximo.

[Rodneyf]

Maximo, I am in Padstow, so not far from you if you need help. The plans are free from this site and I have included the link below, just add to cart and they will be yours for free. PM me if you want my contact number and I will be glad to help.

Pompeii Oven Instruction eBook V2.0 (pdf) :: eBooks & CD ROMs :: Forno Bravo Store

[digger58]

Hi rodneyf,
great build, I have about 1000 brick from my old house,(1895) some are red and othes have a yellow tint, I am told they are fired not baked, any comments,
Thanks Tony

[nissanneill]

Hi Tony, and welcome aboard,
yet another Aussie dominating this forum.
Get yourself a good sizes hammer and give your sample brick a hard hit. If it crumbles and shatters, don't use them, but if it breaks in a couple of larger pieces then they will be fine for your oven build.
The high fired very hard bricks are ideal (we call them klinker bricks over here) which were closest to the wood burning in the brick kilns many many years ago. They are usually very dark colours almost going to the blacks ir purplish blush towards black, or a rather dark deep brownish red.
New fired clay pavers are normally fired at around 1200˚C which are also fine but if your bricks make the grade, then go for them!
Also, use the poor man's mortar, much cheaper and I feel much less hassles and better. No cracks in my buils now over 2 years and done loads of bakes.

Neill

[digger58]

Thanks for that, I was going to put one in my fire and see how it goes, what is poor mans mortar? Did you put in any provision for temperature sensors or the like?
Tony

[nissanneill]

Tony,
poor man's mortar is 1 pt portland cement, 1 pt hydrated lime, 1 pt fireclay and 3 pts brickie sand.
I do have 6 thermo couples sensors in the floor and dome coupled to a switch and display, but they are really a waste of time unless you are going to be a dedicated bread baker and you need to know the temps and the saturation of your bricks, to determine how many bakes you should get and their duration.
I use the infra red laser temp thermometer and that is more than adequate for the majority of the pizzas and baking that you will be doing.
After you have used your oven a half dozen or so times, you will have the skill and knowledge to control your cooking and baking. Very easy to learn through experience, (but you won't necessarily become an expert quite yet though. that takes a lot more time).
Check out my build, all the details, tips and tricks are in there.

Neill

[Rodneyf]

Neill has it about right with how to check your bricks Tony, I think it sounds like you will be OK with what you have there.