another hearth question

[PizzaJNKY]

Xjim, even though I'm not there yet, all this talk about heat retention, and whether or not it would be a good idea to add a 2nd layer of brick has got me thinking. I wonder if instead of laying the hearth layer fire bricks on their wide faces, it would be better to lay them on their 2-1/2" edges, making the floor approx 4-1/2" thick. Which would then change the height needed for the top of the dome, I think? I guess I won't really know till I get there, I'm more of a visual person.

[asudavew]

I added a 3/4 inch coat of "poor mans" fire mortar over the top of my insulating layer. I wanted a nice smooth surface to lay my hearth bricks.
The oven seems to take longer to heat up than most others here, but it does hold heat well.

Pizza temps Saturday night, and brisket temps on Monday.

The hearth seems to hold temps well for pizza bottoms too.

Not sure if 4 1/2 inches would be good or not....

But try if ya wanna! It might be a positive change.

Then again... maybe someone has already done it.... If not ..

You are now the guinea pig!

I can't wait to see how it works!

[gjbingham]

I like the idea. It would make all the bricks 4.5 inches thick throughout the dome.

[thebadger]

My only concern that I read about is it would take a lot longer to heat up the floor... especially for pizza temps. I'm planning my floor now and am going with the flat side 2.5 inches.

Dick

[gjbingham]

Dang, darn! I'd love to see someone do it a bit differently!

[PizzaJNKY]

Help needed with perlite/portland mix. For giggles, I mixed 6 shovels of perlite with 1 shovel of portland and water to see what it looks like, to make sure I get it right before the real pour.

I thought it would look like oatmeal, similar to the vermiculite/portland mix, but instead it ended up looking like wet course sand, similar to the kind I build sand castles with at the beach with my kids.

Is this what it is supposed to look like, or did I not make it right.

[PizzaJNKY]

I reviewed asudavew's photo album, and noticed that his insulation layer looked just like my 6-1 ratio, so I stuck with it. I have a feeling I'll be copying his work for a long time. (I Hope you dont mind asudavew.) I just now finished my perlite/portland insulation layer, and now I get to hurry up and wait before I can continue with the rest of my build.

I just ordered the superisol board, refmix, and FB blanket, which should be here by next weekend. Looks like I will have a week to catch my breath.

So far, I have really enjoyed my build, and I have no experience with any of this type of work. Thanks to all my new FB forum friends for all you help and advise along the way.

[Frances]

Hey PizzaJNKY, where are the pics? Think of us poor people who have finished our build and aren't likely to get the chance of building a second oven...

[PizzaJNKY]

I'm trying to upload some photos of my progress. I hope it works.

Oops, its not working. I have to figure out a way to shrink the photos.