How Many Insulating Blankets?

[schallert]

I have a 36" Oven. I plan to build an enclosure. How many FB blankets do I need to insulate properly?

Also, when I start my curing fires this spring. Should I wrap with blankets before I start the cure or after?

Dan

[nissanneill]

Dan,
it shouldn't make any difference whether you blanket it or not when curing. However, if you plan on keeping the dome shape rather than than enclosure then I would render your blankets and then commence your curing.

Neill

[david s]

Neill,
I don't really agree with you about rendering and then curing. I have seen an oven outer shell cracked and I'm pretty sure it was because the curing was done last. Too much steam pressure will crack the outer shell. If you eliminate the moisture first then do the stucco/render there wont be this steam pressure build up. The trouble is you also want the outer layer kept damp for a week to make it strong, but this is easily achieved if you wrap it in cling wrap. This method might take a little longer , but bettter to be safe than sorry. We ended up fixing the oven shell by giving it another chicken wire and stucco/render layer over the top and it was fine.