Wanting to build a wood fire oven the best way we can Getting Started Discuss Wanting to build a wood fire oven the best way we can in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hi all. I have been researching wood ovens for months now. I found this site a few days ago and ...

[Wheels1974]

Hi all. I have been researching wood ovens for months now. I found this site a few days ago and have found it absolutely AMAZING, so thank you so much for providing inderviduals with such a site that is full of ideas and information.

My father is going to build a pizza oven for me but originally he was going to do it so it had a flat back with a arch on top simply because it would be allot easier to build, as opposed to a complete circle or oval. (Pompeii Oven)
After going through this site I now understand that wood ovens work there best when completely round or oval due to even heat distribution at all times which also increases the longevity of the heat within the wood oven which is PRICELESS I believe. I guess that's why 90% of all the ovens that I have seen while doing my research are of dome shape. Hence why we have decided to go with the dome shape wood oven now.

Dad if building a FULLY enclosed BBQ room which will have its own BBQ and rangehood and so forth and behind this BBQ room we are going to build the wood oven, so only the opening of the wood oven will be visible when inside the BBQ room.
I live in Melbourne Australia and I just found out that I have a shop called the ''firebrick and refractory company'' literally only a 10 minute drive away from where I live. When I called I wanted to know if they had a few products and they have everything that is required for people to build there own wood oven apart from the flu and the likes.

Dad was and still is thinking about building our wood oven out of fire bricks but when I called the shop today they also mentioned that they sell a cement type mix. From what I understood all it would take is to make a mould out of sand or polyurethane, then mix this special cement and pour it over the sand or polyurethane mould and once it has cured I will be left with a solid cast which I can make as thick as needed. I figure its just a matter of pouring more or less of the mix over the mould of choice then smooth it all out to create the right thickness.

My query is if I were to make a cast out of this material, I'm worried if it will crack. I also thought it might be worth making 2 casts and using a mortar to connect the two casts together just as a reassurance then anything else and then cover it with a high temperature insulation, similar to the way you would go about building a fire brick wood oven.
At this stage I have no idea how much this stuff costs but I know a 9'' x 4.5'' x 3'' fire brick costs $3.
I know if dad were to build the wood oven using fire bricks then this wouldn't be a issue, regarding cracking. Although after downloading the PDF file of the Pompeii oven instructions, I found it very complicated to understand each step by step instruction and so did my father.

Does anyone have any idea's about making a full cast or any other idea's that may help, any advice is appreciated?

Regards
Wheels

[Dolf]

In my experience (48 years of it) the longest way to solve a problem is the shortcut...
I recommend you stick to the FB plans which are tried and tested

[dmun]

There are a host of problems with building an oven out of castable refractory concrete. It's a very tricky material to work with. It also comes in lots of different grades for different applications, and the material varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some are air cured, but some need to be cured at a specific temperature. You wouldn't want to spend a ton of money for a material that turns out to be unsuitable for your dome.

I'd go with the firebrick if you can in any way afford it. If you can't, I'd build the dome out of what you call "pressed reds" down under, a high fired conventional brick, which many builders use in Australia because of the high cost of the firebricks.

Building a round dome out of rectangular bricks isn't particularly difficult. And, unlike if you were re-inventing the wheel, you will get specific support at every step of the way, right here.

Good luck with your project. Keep us posted.

[michelevit]

i've had really good success at building pizza oven similar to what you are describing.

here is a breakdown of our steps.
1. 3 inch rebar reinforced concrete slab
2. on top of that 6 inches of perlite/cement insulation base
3. on top previous firebrick layed in herringbone pattern for cooking floor
4. wet sand shaped like dome and entryway.
5. fabricate a mad max style rebar cage mig welded around dome perimeter
6. high temp DIY mortor slathered on top of sand.
7. wait several days.
8. scoop out sand
9. insulate with perlite, cement.
10 stucco

pics of the build here...
Gallery | bricklessoven

fornobravo thread here...
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f43/...oven-9380.html (brickless dome on a shoestring oven)

the oven has been cycled many times and cooks perfect pizza.
Bricks were only used on the floor. The rebar reinforced high temp mortor works fine.
I encourage taking the road less traveled and coloring outside the lines. It all about the journey for me.

[fxpose]

Originally Posted by michelevit

6. high temp DIY mortor slathered on top of sand.

The rebar reinforced high temp mortor works fine.

What homebrew ratio did you use to cast the dome? Did you use ordinary portland cement in your homebrew?

George

[michelevit]

from memory...

sand
sand
sand
lime
cement
fireclay

mix dry with a hand shovel or rake.
add just enough water to make it wet.

[fxpose]

Originally Posted by michelevit

from memory...

sand
sand
sand
lime
cement
fireclay

mix dry with a hand shovel or rake.
add just enough water to make it wet.

Thank you. That's the standard mix FB recommends and in which I am using as mortar on my build now.

[Dolf]

Glad it works for you. Either way is a lot of cost & effort and one does not want to see it flop.

I cant see well on your pic. What is the internal surface like? Did you work it in any way or did you only burn the residue newspaper away?

[michelevit]

the internal surface looks like finished concrete. no seams, fissures, or cracks.
the rebar cage is embedded in the concrete shell, so it is unnoticeable.
the newspaper was soaked in flour soup to provide some temporary support for the sand structure. the biggest advantage to this oven was no brick cutting or brick cutting tools were needed.

[Dolf]

Tnx! Enjoy :-)