Possible tip for uneven ceramic board surfaces

[Eric Pfeifer]

Hello, I snooped around my local steel yard, and found a piece of stainless steel sheet from the end of a coil, which was sold as scrap. For $30 I got a piece big enough to lay on the ceramic board as part of the permanent oven cooking floor, and it immediately made it easier to level the bricks. It's 20 gauge, so I hope there's no problem, as this sheet has not been stress relieved. I'll let you know if it pops my oven apart with the first high temp firing!

[Fish Wheels]

With no experience yet with ovens, I'm curious and have to ask, will that plate of steel not wick the heat from your oven floor?

Rod

[Eric Pfeifer]

Originally Posted by Fish Wheels

With no experience yet with ovens, I'm curious and have to ask, will that plate of steel not wick the heat from your oven floor?

Rod

Yeah, I think the SS sheet will conduct heat much faster than the fire brick, but the sheet is directly on the FB board insulation, and will be surrounded by the ceramic blanket. So, theoretically at equilibrium, the heat loss should be no worse than brick alone; that is, at no point is the sheet exposed to air.

[karl]

Eric.

The plate will expand much more than the fire bricks when hot. It may offset some of your bricks, but hopefully there is not enough friction between the plate and the bricks. Remember not to restrict the plate expansion along its perimeter!

karl