Is firecement any good?

[fireherup]

Hi to you all ,

I am Gary , I live in Jersey. I am embarking on the building of my new God , which will hold fire and pizza amongst other lovelies...hopefully! My ex God was homebrewing which I started in 2009 and thankfully we have a great respect and likeness of each other. I have done a fair bit of research and reading with regards these ovens and i am a bit of a perfectionist so want to get it right if i can. I am having a problem finding fireclay and was wondering if i could build the dome with ready mix fire cement? Expensive probably but things are hard to source here. Thanks in advance guys n gals , looking forward to getting to know you all , i have lots of questions,and i'm very very excited at my new project!

[fireherup]

A nice welcome guys , guess i'll go it alone , or find a friendlier site!

[downunderdave]

Mar 5, 2017 21:28:09 GMT fireherup said:

A nice welcome guys , guess i'll go it alone , or find a friendlier site!

Hi Gary,

Just because you didn't get a response the next day is no reason to conclude that forum members are unfriendly. Most members here have jobs and other priorities. No one is being paid for the advice we offer which is done freely in a spirit of sharing because we all love playing with fire and the amazing cooking it produces.
With that out of the way your first question was regarding fireclay. Because of the temperatures we fire to I'm of the view that any clay is suitable, although I'd steer away from bentonite because of its high shrinkage rate. It is easiest to add in a powdered form, although you don't say how you plan to use it. I find the cheapest form apart from digging your own, is bricklayers clay. Ball clay from a potters supplier is also pretty cheap and quite suitable.

If you want to build your dome from ready mix fire cement (I'm assuming you mean casting) then what you require is dense castable refractory which is obtainable from refractory suppliers. If you are planning to build in brick then you require refractory mortar also available from refractory suppliers. Alternatively you can make your own mortar using calcium aluminate cement and sand or the homebrew mix of 3:1:1:1 sand, hydrated lime, Portland cement, clay.

If you can outline what you plan on building, the method and proposed materials it makes it easier for folks to give advice.

Cheers,
Dave