My Cast Refractory Oven Build Other Oven Types Discuss My Cast Refractory Oven Build in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Having read many posts and seen really cool oven builds here I decided to build my first oven I decided ...

[JoeyVelderrain]

Having read many posts and seen really cool oven builds here I decided to build my first oven I decided to use a castable refractory call Tex Kast from Wesco Refractories in Mansfiel Texas.
here is the skinny on tex kast:
Tex Kast

anyhow here are some pictures detailing my build thus far.

I started out with a routered osb sheet...
and then the inner and outer liners...


and then a sub floor to save on sand...


and now the sand dome (it took 350 lbs of sand)...



and finally the stack...


I am going 18" high and 37" diameter inside measurement on the dome and my door opening is 9.5" high and 18" wide, does anyone see a problem with this hole opening or anything else before I mix up concrete??

[david s]

Your door opening should be 63% of the internal height of the dome. This would mean that your opening is a little too low as presently designed. Interestingly 63% is very close to the Golden Ratio of 1:1.618 which I think is the ideal, however it wouldn't matter if you departed from this a little either higher or lower.

[david s]

It would be a good idea to create a rebate for your door to sit against at the entry.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Hey Joey, Love the Idea looks cool,,
are you going to pour it in place ?
That thing is gonna be heavy ?
also will you be using stainless needles ?
Will your forms seperate or are you banding them inside ?
Your forms do look good though
Mark

[JoeyVelderrain]

David,
I plan on making a relief of 1/2" on each side for a door.

Mark,
I am pouring the concrete right where it sits, I am using a jitterbug sander to vibrate the mold to settle the concrete down. it is definetely going to be heavy but I plan on pouring the walls first and letting dry overnight and then pouring the dome and top of the vent part later, this way I will have two sections weighing about the same and easier to move it to the back yard, at least that is the idea...
thanks for the input,
cross your fingers for me

[JoeyVelderrain]

oh, and no stainless needles, i explained to the guy at wesco what i was building and he said this stuff would be fine by itself...

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

I do wish you luck as well as maybe a forklift or a few good strong friends,,,,

Enjoy

Mark

[JoeyVelderrain]

ok, finished pouring the concrete, twelve 50lb bags, 600lbs of refractory concrete! here is what it looks like...

first half...



and 24hrs later the dome section...


here is the opening for the stack..kinda hard to see but it has a lip where the stack sits on.


now i let it sit a day and then remove the outer liner.
then let it sit another day and then the inner liner comes out...

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

very nice.... looks good

[JoeyVelderrain]

so far so good, i removed the outer liner and i am satisfied with the results thus far...




this evening i will see if i can start to remove the inner liner.
right now the top of the dome is still warm. i misted it down so it doesn't crack if it dries out too fast.