Steel Drum, Night Store Heater Brick Oven

[rich361]

It does compress a bit, try not to work it too much, and keep it loose and don't pack it in, the air is what insulates.
Also I found it easiest to mix in the cement dry and then add water, if you mix after the water you might over work it.
Think of it like baking a cake and keep it light and airy.
Cheers
Marcus

[rich361]

Got my drum and cut it down today. Needs to have a good scrub and water blast before I use it. I'll get Dad to weld the top on to the drum, with my welding skills, I'd blow holes in it!



400mm high... Door height will be 248mm (62%)



Sounds low??

Might put the drum on a extra row of bricks to make the top of the oven higher and then I'll be able to have a higher door.

Thanks for the advice Marcus, I'll be thinkng Scones and Cupcakes when I'm mixing my Vermicrete!!

[rich361]

Rich

On top of my concrete slab I laid the insulating blocks that have been mentioned. I'm surprised that they're not readily available in NZ. Here the 2 major brands are Thermolite and Celcon.

Vermiculite, although spongy should hardly compress when mixed with water and cement (try to wet the vermiculite overnight before mixing in the cement...it makes it much more manageable.

1.2m x 1.3m =1.56m2.....=.156m3.......=156ltrs.....I think....

Terry

[rich361]

Rich I used an extra row of bricks under the barrel, gives it a lovely height, not sure about the proportions bu tit works perfectly well
Cheers
Marcus

[rich361]

Rich, vermiculite is quite fragile so whilst it was 100l when it was packed, the subsequent handling will have reduced that a little, similarly, the action of mixing will break it down a bit but not much.

[rich361]

Vermiculite concrete done... Going to pour a concrete perimeter of the slab to keep it all together.



Did some reaserch in the crumbly clay panels that came out of the heaters.

Turns out they are called "Microtherm Panels" I looked them up on their website and they are high temp insulation panels.

I place two layers of them under the Vermiculite concrete for extra insulation.

[rich361]

8) This is such an interesting build ! they say neccessity is the mother of invention and I reckon that we have proved that an untold number of times on this forum !!!
I am loving the pictures and instructions as you go along , its just a shame that we cannot get there for the first lighting :lol:

[rich361]

Thanks Rivergirl... Always try to be a little bit different!

Yeah, It is a long way to come for a pizza! :lol:

I think I'm still on target for my New Years deadline... Finish work mid next week (xmas break) so have a good few days to work on it!!

I'm doing an alternative cheaper option as I want to be sure our family will use the oven, I didn't what to spend heaps and then find it sits unused.

With all the recycled bits and pieces I have used and found makes the oven relatively cheap, Even with the huge cost of Fireclay and Vermiculite here in NZ...

One niggling issue that has been in the back of my mind though... I hope that timber frame is strong enough to take the weight of the oven!! The bricks that come out of the Night Store Heaters are very heavy!

I was going to lay double layers for fire bricks on the hearth, but with the weight issue, I may leave it at one layer.

I'm going to build additional support under the concrete slab to ease my mind before I lay any Firebricks.

[rich361]

Rich

Looking back at your earlier pics of the frame....it looks quite sturdy. The only thing I would have suggested for piece of mind is to build a center wall/support......but you've already beat me to it.

Best of luck with your deadline date.

Terry

[rich361]

Ring beam poured around outside of Vermiculite Concrete



Base almost finished. Needs to be strengthened a wee bit before I build Oven.

[rich361]

That looks awesome rich, a good stable base to build your oven on, good luck with your build over the festive period.
Cheers
Marcus

[rich361]

Rich, I think a single layer brick floor is best for a domestic oven, I doubt we need the extra thermal mass in any case and it does have its drawbacks for occasional users.

[rich361]

Thanks Marcus and Tony.

Marcus... I was having doubts about my timber base being strong enough so I got hold of another few fence posts and added extra support to all the beams. There is heaps of support for the slab now



Tony... I was going to use double layer of hearth bricks because the bricks I am using are only 40mm thick. These night storge heater bricks seem to be twice as dense as normal bricks. So hopefully they should be OK.



I currently trying to clean out my drum ready for the oven build. Last day of work for the year today so hopefully will have a couple of full days working on the oven!!

Merry Xmas Everyone!

[rich361]

Looks great, the extra supports should be enough.
As regards the hearth bricks, I used a layer of red clay brick with a layer of the heavy storage heater bricks as you've done.
Have you decided if you're going to use some bricks to rest the barrel on?
Here's what I did.
countrywoodsmoke.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/1000079y.jpg?w=1000&h=
Happy Xmas
Cheers
Marcus

[rich361]

Hey Marcus,

Yes I will probably do what you have done... Just to get a bit of extra height for the door. Just have to double check my ratio still works??

Just had another look through your photos and noticed you had 4 bricks wide on you hearth, I way have to change that as it's a bit tight with drum and upper bricks.

Next problem is how to split these bricks, When the oven is finished, you won't be able to see the bricks so may have a go with a Bolster chisel? As long as they are roughly in half?? :roll: