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Post by leetheldc on Aug 3, 2014 7:45:33 GMT
How about that for service only 5 hours! I knew dave would have an insight on this he must of heard the calling!
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Post by pizzaking on Aug 3, 2014 11:25:44 GMT
Looks like this will be a good project. You learn a lot along the way. How do you plan to finish the outside of the oven? When do you think you'll finish it?
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 3, 2014 16:35:44 GMT
Thanks guys!!,
Cobblerdave, I'll have a think about what option is best, I still have a while to go before I decide.
Pizzaking, thank you, I hope it will be. It really is a fascinating project. Other than an Ikea cupboard and some lego as a kid, I have no experience building at all, having said that I have been to some orthopedic theaters during my time at med school and this is not too far off!!
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Post by cobblerdave on Aug 3, 2014 21:10:36 GMT
G'day
We have all made forts and cubby houses .... And played with mud and made a big mess in the yard .
Same thing.... But with permission of SHMBO.
You do have permission? Don't you?
Regards dave
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 4, 2014 2:23:34 GMT
Its my summer break, so I thought I might treat my mother to a WFO, I guess she is the ultimate SHMBO!
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Post by cherrycolavodka on Aug 4, 2014 14:02:15 GMT
Hi Mozo I might be too late to add my two cents, but I also had a small base and wanted maximum oven... now if I was clever I would remember the dimensions... I think I ended up with 120 cm x 150 cm was my final base slab. slightly overhanging the sides and front. its tight fitting it all in. at the back [where no one is allowed to look] I built up the wall with some thermolites to hold the vermicrete and render. this helped considerably. looks ugly but no one will see it! maybe something might like that will help you out? in hindsight I wished i'd dug a bigger hole. at the time I was knackered, was hitting rubble of all sizes and apple tree roots... also had moved a hydrangea. lessons learnt.
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Post by bigdavenorcott on Aug 4, 2014 14:28:24 GMT
Hi Mozo I might be too late to add my two cents, but I also had a small base and wanted maximum oven... now if I was clever I would remember the dimensions... I think I ended up with 120 cm x 150 cm was my final base slab. slightly overhanging the sides and front. its tight fitting it all in. at the back [where no one is allowed to look] I built up the wall with some thermolites to hold the vermicrete and render. this helped considerably. looks ugly but no one will see it! maybe something might like that will help you out? in hindsight I wished i'd dug a bigger hole. at the time I was knackered, was hitting rubble of all sizes and apple tree roots... also had moved a hydrangea. lessons learnt. Me too - my base is 120x120 but I've fitted a 75cm oven on there just fine. |
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 4, 2014 17:11:49 GMT
So I have decided to restart working on the oven, I even managed to draw some diagrams..   I cut the Calcium silicate baord yesterday, today I decided to put it on my slab. Ideally I would have wrapped it and just placed it down but I needed to mortar underneath to make up for the slightly uneven base  It was incredible to see how quickly the CaliSi board soaked up the moisture from the mortar making it set in seconds! I was hoping to let it dry in the open air but there are some dodgy looking clouds about and I don't want to risk getting it any wetter than it already is. I think these pictures show how far up the damp has gone up.  |
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 4, 2014 17:15:26 GMT
   I realise now that I should have probably not used wet mortar to set the CalSi Board in place and instead leveled it out with sand. All I went on was the FB plans which said to lay on damp concrete, so I assumed it would be ok. oh well, you live and learn. Lets hope it dries. Do you guys think this will be ok? or have I ruined the board? |
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Post by cobblerdave on Aug 6, 2014 11:43:16 GMT
G'day Hearth to go down next, you definitely don't want to mortar those down as they have to expand and contract. You can use a mix of 1 part clay and 1 part sand and water to give you a paste. Use one of those cheap plastic tile trowels to comb the mix. Make sure to have the hearth bricks to touch before dropping them in position otherwise the paste will build up between the bricks if you just drop them and push them together. A tap with a rubber hammer or block of wood to level. To stop the cal sil board sucking the moisture from the paste, a simple temporary water proof layer can be had by smearing some margarine over the cal sil. Hope this might help, youll be laying brick in no time
Regards dave |
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 6, 2014 20:16:21 GMT
Hi Dave thanks for the advice. I was worried about rain the other day as the clouds looked ominous so I decided to staple a few layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. This turned out to be a great idea as it was torrential last night and my cal-sil is as dry as a bone. Today I have been busy cutting my hearth, to be honest it looks a lot better than I thought it would. I used an angle grinder with a diamond blade. I also started working on the first perimeter blocks, didn't have a hinge handy but managed to improvise slightly.   I hoped to first mortar the perimeter blocks first then lay the hearth on a bed of 1:1 sand, fireclay mix. I ordered some fireclay which arrived today, I thought it was just powdered refractory bricks I think I may be wrong as this is what I got -  finally, I wanted to ask if I need to remove the entire hearth before placing the paste?, would it not be easier to remove a few bricks at a time, add the paste and then replace them so they do not lose their position? regards mozo |
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Post by cobblerdave on Aug 6, 2014 21:03:41 GMT
G'day
That's looking pretty flat anyway, ask youself first if it really needs to have a leveler?
I don't see any reason why you can't do the hearth in sections if you need to level. I could see doing a larger area say a quarter at one time.
I'd loss that aluminium, it will just corrode over time. I found a dry stack oven on the Webb which I can't find now. It was covered with foil and pearlcrete and when pulled apart was a corroded mess
Regards dave
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 7, 2014 19:28:54 GMT
Question on diamond blade -
I have been using some ordinary diamond blades for use with an angle grinder that I picked up from selco.
the first blade cost £15 it cut about 10 bricks well before it stopped cutting.
I then picked up a £5 to see if there was a difference as I didnt think it could be as bad as the previous one. however, it didnt even manage to cut one brick. At this rate I will probably need to go through 10 blades for the oven
Please help, is there a particular kind of diamond blade that is good for fire bricks?? does anyone have a link for a useful one that is 115mm diameter.
Thanks!
bw
mozo
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Post by leetheldc on Aug 7, 2014 19:49:04 GMT
Hi mozo looks like you have been busy . As regards to the diamond blade I can't see why your only getting so little cuts out of them even a cheap blade should cut more than that what type are you using are they segmented. ?
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mozo
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Post by mozo on Aug 8, 2014 1:04:24 GMT
yea they were, I even wet each brick as I heard that makes the saw last longer. I cant really proceed without finding a good way of cutting the brick. I thought if someone let me know if there was a tried and tested brand of saw then I might try that to see if it fixes the issue.
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