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Homebrew
Mar 26, 2019 13:37:45 GMT
via mobile
Post by steve999 on Mar 26, 2019 13:37:45 GMT
Hi all. Thank you for taking the time to read my message. Oblertone has suggested I cast my dome from homebrew or something similar, as I really don’t have the budget for fire bricks. Has anyone cast their dome from a homebrew before? Was you happy with? Did it crack/spall? Also, what mix and meterials did you use? Thanks again, any help will be gratefully appreciated.
Regards, Steve.
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Post by chas on Mar 26, 2019 18:03:20 GMT
I hesitate to interfere with an acceptable bit of advice, particularly from Oblertone, but casting a dome is a pain. Who told you you need firebricks? You can build a dome from a motley selection of soft reds for nothing, or next to nothing dependant on contacts/cadging skills. Building a dome from bricks is very satisfying. Maybe more satisfying than actually using an oven, which can be a bit of a 5 minute wonder. Have a look at my build. Then try Gumtree for bricks surplus to requirements and Potters with clay unsuitable for potting. Offer to clear up that heap of sand littering a neighbour’s driveway and there y’go... a dome for nothing.
Cheers, Chas.
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Homebrew
Mar 26, 2019 23:25:09 GMT
via mobile
Post by steve999 on Mar 26, 2019 23:25:09 GMT
I’d love to build a dome from bricks, but what worries me, is spalling. With the heat produced in the WFO will it not spall your standard house brick? Happy days if it’ll withstand it. Most firebricks are a couple of quid each (that I’ve found on eBay and the like). That’s why I thought casting a dome would be better for me. Are soft reds something I could get from Selco/Travis?
Regards, Steve.
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Post by oblertone on Mar 27, 2019 9:42:58 GMT
I built my dome from 200 yr old bricks salvaged from a neighbours skip (see build thread below),no spalling evident so far. I'd try a salvage yard before buying new bricks, remember that older bricks have little or no frog (indent) and that as you'll be cutting them in half anyway then half-bricks are often discarded at salvage yards.
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Post by chas on Mar 27, 2019 17:38:16 GMT
Steve - who said ‘standard house brick’? You don’t want to be using those, unless you’re in a part of the country where standard houses are built from soft red bricks. Get soft reds. Old, new, whole, halves, whatever - but not the sort of bricks commonly used for house building today, so possibly not from Builders Merchants. Relax - too many of us have used them without trouble for you to be the exception. If it’s of any consequence, the oven-building course I attended many years ago was run by a bricklayer and a brickmaker. The brickmaker made soft reds.
Chas
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