Oasis Rising

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

Tscarborogh, that is high praise coming from you. I will not be giving up my day job for bricklaying.

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

We will finish the brick work around the blockstand today (even though it is supposed to hit 101 degrees. and I am really tempted to cook in it tonight. I have had 4 days of curing fires with the Propane. Several hours each time. working my way up in temp. Last night the internal dome temp was over 500 degrees Exterior was only around 200. the floor of the oven was about 250-300. I don't think I can get it much higher than that without using wood. There were a few readings of the inside dome temp around 630 but I figure that was the direct heat of the gas hitting it. Havn't had any cracks yet but I expect i will, like most people do. When I finish the brick work around the blockstand I will post some more pictures.

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

so much for grand dreams. I still have about 50 brick to lay around the blockstand. the heat took it's toll on me. Since we were heating up the oven my wife asked if I could slow cook some ribs in the oven. So we gave it a whack and then we cooked a chicken and some rolls it was quite a feast. I threw in some wood and got a good fire going....perhaps too good. I have acquired some long cracks. They are visible on the outside but I couldn't see them on the inside.

[leckig]

Re: Oasis Rising

it is amazing how those cracks find their way between bricks that line up too close. If i were you I would just dump half bucket of concrete to cover the crack.

any hope for a picture that shows how you did your landing, vent and chimney? I am also using angle iron but I am still a bit behind you.

These ribs look great!

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

the landing isn't really done yet..I have one piece of chimney pipe on it and haven't done the outer arch yet. I will take some more detailed pictures of that area in the next couple days. I will also make sure I document the way I overcome it and build the chimney.

[leckig]

Re: Oasis Rising

so you are going to do the outside arch. I am thinking about putting another angle iron there. I also have one piece of chimney pipe but I am thinking about building a vent. The easy way would be to rest the chimney pipe on... angle iron

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

I didn't want to put the chimney pipe on angle iron because of the difference in heat expansion....although brick and iron probably have the same issue.
Since you asked I went out and took a couple pictures of the vent....like I said it's half a vent because the arch will make up the rest of it. I used a solid block for a side support to add more strength to it We will see how that goes. I think it will be ok.







And above everything else. USE A LEVEL. I got frustrated after staring at it for hours and just started to build it....without a level. So the angle Iron is slightly slanted....I was clever enough to adjust for that with the pipe, so it's straight .......I used a level.

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

[leckig]

Re: Oasis Rising

thanks! i woke up today way too early and I used the time to design what I think may work very well. The idea is very similar to what you have.

How did you do with the dome? Did you use any forms at all to close it?

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

I think that at the top of page 6 you can see the form I used to close it. I took a piece of fan fold insulation and cut and taped it into a form with a couple pieces of it going across the top for support. It worked. Not elegant, but it worked. Just make sure you drop if after a couple hours so you can get in there and scrub off the excess mortar or it might be there to stay.

[leckig]

Re: Oasis Rising

thats right, I forgot, i saw that picture before. Not elegant is the right world. So is "very creative!"

[leckig]

Re: Oasis Rising

are you going to do igloo or house? I just realized bricks can be had on craigslist for next to nothing, I am thinking to scratch my original plan and go with the house enclosure.

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Oasis Rising

I am doing a gabled house enclosure. Yes bricks can be found on Craigslist.....although not always at a reasonable price when you factor in the cost of going to get them. That said, all the bricks I have used so far to surround the block stand I got for 50 bucks about 5 years ago. Can't tell you how happy my wife is that we are now using them. The down side is that to finish the project and also do the outdoor fireplace I have planned I will have to buy 2 more stacks of bricks at retail because they have to be a match to the ones we have here. Sooner or later it will all be done and I will move on to some other overly ambitious project.

[Brauma]

Re: Oasis Rising

I got to the post where you said "I went down to BMG Metals in Richmond..." and I thought, Woh! Where is this guy at? And now I see you're in Chesterfield. Cool. I'm not too far away, in Goochland.

I wish I could say that I'm a master mason and ould come help but I'm not and it doesnt look like you need much help. Looks great.

I had grand dreams of building an outdoor kitchen and a Pompei oven but life got in the way. I'm still holding on to the dream and I'll do it one day.

I'll continue to watch your progress.

[Brauma]

Re: Oasis Rising

BTW, was that a Hopdevil Ale in one of the pics? Good beer.