breadhunter's Brick Oven

Real visible progress today. The box has been filled with cellulose insulation, cement board on top of that and then a layer of solid block. The next stage will be to lay the brick hearth/floor.
No matter how much measuring and planning you do, you can be certain you'll be making adjustments as you go along. Just as a 2x4 does not really measure 2x4, a solid 4x8x16 block does not measure 4x8x16. Those are nominal measurements, not actual measurements. You can expect your oven to be a little bigger or smaller than what you expected, unless you apply engineering exactitude, but that type of precision does not interest Breadhunter.

Breadhunter's Brick Oven

Getting the four towers to line up properly really took a certain amount of hair pulling. Things would have gone faster and better had I relied on my eyes more than on levels and tape measures. In addition, had I positioned the towers on a concrete slab, I probably could have had everything lined up in 15 minutes, but I'm determined to not mix cement or mud for this project. So, I probably spent an hour getting the towers right.
Next, a box was constructed, and it will sit on the towers. Insulation will go in the box, and then the oven will go up. I've decided to use cellulose insulation because it's a recyclable material (looks like old newspapers to me), has a high R value and it's cheap. I've never heard of it being used in this type of application, so we shall see.

Breadhunter's New Brick Oven

Today I smoothed out the crushed rock and positioned the concrete block. Tomorrow I'll level the block and add two more courses.

Breadhunter's New Brick Oven

No, it's not done, but I have started, and what you see is indeed a soupy mess. On top of all the rubble and gravel, I'll be placing a layer of crushed stone to support the concrete block base. My idea is to build an oven without mud or mortar, that can easily be disassembled and moved to another location. To complete the project, few carpentry or masonry will be required. If everything goes as Breadhunter hopes, a manual detailing the project will be published. In the meantime, photos will document the daily process.