I've almost finished my 1st clay oven! (Worcester)

[mattfarmer]

Hi everyone, I've only made a couple of posts on this forum before now but I always check it out and it has helped a lot with my clay oven build which I have almost finished.



The build has gone together better than I thought considering I have never attempted anything like this before (the fact the dome hasn't collapsed still amazes me every time I look at it!). I just have to complete the insulation layer and the final finish layer and then construct some sort of shelter for it.
We've already used it to bake some bread, cook a chicken and make some pizzas which all turned out great.

I have detailed descriptions on my build at -www.makeapizzaoven.com
(I've been teaching myself how to make websites, so I used the oven build as a topic so there maybe a few mistakes in there but you'll get the idea)

Matt

[cannyfradock]

Hi Matt

...you're nearly there. All the best with final stages.

Just checked out your website... www.makeapizzaoven.com/ ....what a brilliant website. For someone who is teaching himself how to create a website, I think you have done a fine job. I like the way you have set out the stage pictures of your clay oven build. Even more impressed with hyperlinks so as when you click on a picture you are given a full explanation how you got to that stage.

Great job and a fine looking oven.

Terry

[mattfarmer]

I've recently fitted the flue and built a door. Here are the pics:

[rivergirl]

Lovely oven , did you name it?? Or is that just a girlie thing? Will checkout your website later

[Woody]

Matt,

Good looking oven and a fantastic website.
I really like the way the website flows between the different stages, it makes it very easy to navigate.

The summary sections are also good, it allows the viewer to quickly get a feel for what each stage entails.

Good job!

rivergirl - Do you have a name for your oven?

Cheers,
Woody

[mattfarmer]

No we havn't named the oven yet. My daughters will have the job of that. When I put the final layer of clay onto the oven the girls want to put their hand prints and write their names into the clay, so that will probably be a good time to also name the oven.
Thank you for your comments on the website. It's really good to get some feedback on both the oven and the website!
I intend to complete the insulation layer this weekend so i'll post some pics when it's done.

[mattfarmer]

Here are the pics of the insulation layer which I built last weekend.
It went on pretty easy although it was a really hot day when I did it, so I was exhausted after all of the puddling!

[nixie]

Did you use a lot of wood chip in your insulation? It looks very clay like (dense I mean) to me (not saying I know what I'm talking about).

I like the plinth you've built for the oven, hoping my looks a bit like that once rendered and painted.

[mattfarmer]

I added 10 large handfuls of wood shavings to each batch of clay/sand mix. The photo does not show the wood shavings very well as they are the same colour as the clay, but now the clay has dried it is easier to see the wood shavings in the clay.
I was unsure of how much wood shavings to add, but any more than 10 handfuls per batch would not have mixed into the sand/clay very well.

[nixie]

Ah ok, I went the other extreme of turning the clay into a thin slip then mixing in large amounts of the wood chip. So much so that when your shaping it you can't build to high in one go (say 25-30cm) as much more than that is likely to collapse till it dries a little and starts binding together. Got through 2 large backs of wood chip so far!

Think the advantage of yours is that you'll only need a very thin outer layer, I'm going to need a fairly thick one to give it strength.

[mattfarmer]

I read a blog and they used a clay slip with wood shavings, but I thought this would not be thick enough, so I went with the method from Kiko Denzer's book 'Build Your Own Earth Oven' where he says "The insulation layer is simply a four inch thick shell of sawdust-clay mix over the top of your dense oven mud'.
Your correct with the fact that all I need now is a thin outer layer to finish off the oven.

[nixie]

Have to admit I haven't read that book, have heard good things about it though.

[bhbnnc]

Oven looks really good, I thought it was different also using sand in the 2nd layer, the course I went on (river cottage) and the book (also river cottage) didn't mention that... But it's looks really good.
I went for clay slips and loads of woodshavings...

[swatson]

I too used Kiko's book as a rough guide. For the insulation layer I used the normal mud/sand combo but added more water than usual till it was souplike, then added the woodchips.

[Woody]

Hi Matt,

Regarding your door.
Is there an advantage of using separate blocks screwed together?
[Instead of one solid piece of wood]

Cheers,
James