Basalt the material made in hell.

[brickie in oz]

Basalt the material made in hell.

I am about to embark on a pull down (I must be mad..) and redo of an oven so I have started to look for materials for the new oven.

In Melbourne we have copious amounts of Bluestone (basalt) so I thought Id give it a test to see if it could withstand the immense heat generated by a wood fired oven, with the hope of using it instead of fire bricks..

So far the results are encouraging.
Lit the fire in the current oven and put in a lump of basalt at start up to replicate typical oven firings.

The basalt reached a glowing point of 760 degrees c and seemed to handle the heat ok without spalling.

The cool down will be the real test, cracking isnt the real issue, its spalling and spitting lumps of basalt into your pizza that is.

[david s]

We've recently returned from France, Italy UK etc. and have seen many really old ovens in castles that had their domes made from rocks mortared together. The type of rock and the type of mortar I couldn't tell but it looked like they must have done a lot of cooking and they've held together.

[Wiley]

Basalt is also known as "traprock". Do a Google search (traprock basalt wood fired ovens) and one of the entries will be my thread "Steel Dome Oven". Basalt is what I used as the heat reservoir/heat sink in my WFO. It's been used for a long long time in WFOs. Probably as good as firebrick for our applications.

I used 1/4 minus crushed basalt with calcium aluminate cement. I made up some test pieces from left over material. I suspect one could use it as a "castable" mix, but that is only a suspicion as I never bothered to do serious testing. Around here the stuff is quite inexpensive $13/yd loaded in one's trailer.

Hope this helps,
Wiley

[dmun]

In Melbourne we have copious amounts of Bluestone (basalt)

In the nations divided by a common tongue department, in the states bluestone is a sedimentary rock like slate that would be entirely unsuited to use with direct flame.



I imagine basalt would work fine, being cooled lava. I can't imagine it's easy to cut.

[brickie in oz]

Basalt is easier than brick to cut with a diamond saw.
Ive cut 1" deep around basalt rocks and one tap with a chisel and they slit in two.

[Lburou]

Originally Posted by brickie in oz

Basalt the material made in hell.

I am about to embark on a pull down (I must be mad..) and redo of an oven so I have started to look for materials for the new oven.

In Melbourne we have copious amounts of Bluestone (basalt) so I thought Id give it a test to see if it could withstand the immense heat generated by a wood fired oven, with the hope of using it instead of fire bricks..

So far the results are encouraging.
Lit the fire in the current oven and put in a lump of basalt at start up to replicate typical oven firings.

The basalt reached a glowing point of 760 degrees c and seemed to handle the heat ok without spalling.

The cool down will be the real test, cracking isnt the real issue, its spalling and spitting lumps of basalt into your pizza that is.

OK, how many heat/cool cycles will you need to feel good about using it in an oven?

[brickie in oz]

Originally Posted by Lburou

OK, how many heat/cool cycles will you need to feel good about using it in an oven?

Im undecided as to risk the stone in direct contact with the heat and flames as I found some small shards of stone in the oven this morning.

They might stop after a few firings, who knows?

[Nic The Landscaper]

An even easier way to cut basalt is with a stone and block guillotine. In the States small hand operated ones can be cheaply rented from stone yards.

[brickie in oz]

I tried my guillotine it wouldnt cut it?