I would like to make a small oven to start

[woodburner]

i would like to try building a small oven to stART off. Does hd or lowes offer enough type product to build I do not have a good local sorce for foundry type product. I was thinking a fire brick floor covered with tile and a red clay brick upper section
any size ideas or any ideas at all thanks in advance.

[stonejohn]

No firebricks a the big box stores, check for mason supplies. I would thiink all of NYs counties would have at least one. They will be very likely to carry regular reractory brick
If your on the long island, send me a message and I'll send you some names

[jmhepworth]

I really appreciate the desire to start small. One thing you might want to consider is that building the oven is a whole lot of work. I urge you to build the whole oven out of firebrick unless cost constraints mean you won't build it at all unless you can use clay. Many members of the forum built ovens on a very low budget and are happy with what they have.

[Fairview WFO]

I agree, the amount of labor involved here, you don't want to do it twice and you surely dont want to skimp on materials. You only need about 225 firebrick (or less) for a 36" oven, which is all I think most folks need. So spend the $400 and get real firebricks. I'm sure you can find them all over if you look.

[woodburner]

thanks guys fo the reply I will go with fire bick as you say can i put tile over the fire brick for a nice smooth floor and if yes i assume you use portland fire clay mix as a grout is this correct.

[jmhepworth]

If you haven't downloaded the plans yet, you should. Use firebrick for the floor. Even though it has all of those seams, it doesn't catch the peel. If it does, you can grind down the corners. The floor is laid on top of the insulation layer. If you use ceramic board, you may not need to use any fireclay/sand at all. Over a vermicucrete, you need a layer of clay or sand to level the floor. You need to see the plans.

[MarkG]

I would sugest the possibility of making a larger base than your small oven will need, so you can re-use it for a larger one. Then make a cob oven, as it is cheap, and you can play with it and see what size shape etc works best for you. Cob is relativly easy to make and remove, and you can then build a more permenent oven on the existing base. There are books etc available on cob construction. Cob is also darn near free in many areas (dig a hole get clay and sand).

Mark