A new budget build in Kent...

[frontwheel]

Hi guys,



A new member here hoping to get my build underway soon. As many have mentioned this is a great source of information.  And as with many before me, I am planning on doing it on a budget but do not want to waste my time or effort if I can avoid some real basic mistakes

Materials:

Hopefully I can utitlise some of the stuff I have, but I wondered what combination or which material might be recommended in which application from the wealth of experience here

I have about 40 themolites leftover

about 50 nightstor heater storage bricks 31cm x 21cm

few hundred Accrington red clay pavers. 20 x 10 x 5

Also have about 120l of vermiculite and perlite (60l of each)

a 3m x 2m sheet of a142 6mm mesh

2 3m of 10mm rebar

I am trying what the best course of action is to use what I have

[oblertone]

Sadly the Pavors should only be used to tile the floor in front of the oven; if used in the construction they will crack and spall badly as they are produced without being fired. What you need for the dome is half-bricks, preferably old bricks without indents or holes. I salvaged mine from a neighbours skip but a visit to a local salvage yard may e productive, especially as you'll be using them cut in half and can use damaged ones.

The heater blocks can be used as your cooking floor (as per my build below) and some have even used them for the oven shell; just be aware they are very difficult to cut.

FWIW I'd build the stand using your thermolites then clad it in red clay pavers. Make a form on top and cast the base using your rebar, the a layer of thermolites laid flat as an insulating layer. On top of that lay your heater blocks on a dry sand mix and start forming your dome.

Remember that the cooking floor should be at the elbow height of the main user otherwise you'll be stooping, and work backwards from there.

[frontwheel]

Thanks for the speedy reply...

I was thinking of cutting the heat bricks into quarters and using that for my dome... I cut a few using my 9" grinder as I have previously built a raised bed out of them. Is it worth adding any perlite into the base with the rebar do you think?

My plan is to go with the "homebrew" option which I have read about, but wondered which clay would be best, I was in the process of searching for ball clay at this place (which is local)

www.claycellar.co.uk/raw-materials/raw-materials/product/18378-pizza-oven-clay-es180

when I noticed that they actually sell pizza oven clay but wasnt sure whether this should be something I use pure .. in which case it will be expensive.. or whether I should use this as my additive to my "homebrew"?!

[hughjamton]

The clay you really want is fireclay, that company is very, very expensive £35.23 for 25kilos plus £15 delivery!!! but I understand your local.
I used www.potclays.co.uk same clay £12.76 plus about £10 for delivery. Arrived in a couple of days.
Any clay you buy is 1 part of the homebrew mix, if you buy pizza clay?? you'll still need sand, Portland and lime.
Why don't you consider casting your dome using homebrew, it's the cheapest option.
I had to build mine on a budget so that's what I did, for my 33 inch oven, I splashed out on firebricks for the floor, but you've got storage bricks.
I also had to buy blocks, but you've got that covered as well.
I am doing other work so I made a large order from BNQ, free delivery over £100 with a trade card. The cost of the materials to cast the dome were, bulk bag of sharp sand (but used nowhere near the full bag but it is part of another project) £40, bag of Portland £4, bag of lime £12, clay as above, £22. I also put polypropylene fibres in the mix that melt at 160c and aid the curing fires. £10
So the actual cast dome cost less than £90, with the exception of the fibres (but you may want them in your final render coat for strength) you'll have to spend this anyway if you continue with your original plan.
You, have nowhere near enough insulation, I managed to buy enough body soluble ceramic blanket for a 3 inch layer from ebay for £66.
I was fortunate enough to be gifted 120 kilos of pumice by a member on another site, although I spent days crushing it!, I used every speck of it. I used thermalites under the floor with 50mm of pumice on top of that.
Once the ceramic blanket was on I put about 60mm of pumice over that.
The whole process was very simple.
You make a sand mould and a entrance gallery from timber, cover the sand in newspaper, that took me half a day.
cast the dome, did it the next day, half a day, cover the dome in a wet sheet for 7 days, but take the sand out after 2 or 3.
After 7 days take the sheet off, which you've kept damp, leave it another 7 days, weather dependent, to dry
a bit more. I installed the flue whilst waiting, and I did have lovely weather.
Blanket went on and 10/1 pumice/ Portland over the top, 3/4 quarters of a day.
Curing fires 2 days later.
Still got to do the finish render coats.
Where are you in Kent?

[frontwheel]

Thanks for your reply.

I am in Maidstone. I was planning on getting a 25mm blanket from Vitcas but to wrap a brick dome as opposed to a sand one. One thing I dont really get with the sand option is how you get a (relatively) perfect dome shape? do you just make a sheet of ply form or is it just a best guess approach?

Thanks for the tip on the fibres! I am planning on casting my own worktop so will throw some in that mix too!

[hughjamton]

[frontwheel]

Looks good... though I am none the wiser how you achieved that shape

[hughjamton]

Sorry I was trying to load some photos for you and was getting a message saying it wouldn't load, so I hadn't realised one had loaded, by the way, I can't see it!!
I used a small piece of timber the exact height of the inner dome, half the width of the dome, I put a brass screw in the top then drilled a hole in the head of the screw.
I made a template from ply, a quarter circle, half the dome, I put a small nail in the ply that located in the hole in the screw to keep it centralized.
A lot of the dome area was made up with paint tins timber and milk containers, but I still used over 2 wheelbarrows full of sand, obviously with the timber in the exact centre.
It was easy to get the shape by revolving the ply around the post, adding or taking away sand as I went, I thought it would be more difficult than it was.
It was much more difficult to put the newspaper over the dome, it won't stick to sand. I ended up putting a few 50mm wide strips over the top then patching the rest with paper and flour.
I only suggested a cast oven as it's a really simple build and cheap.
I'm in Rainham.

[frontwheel]

I think I understand, but would love some more photos just to get my head around it... can you DM me and I will send my email address?