Dolf's Bushveld Oven

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Yes, the baboons in question have loooong tails and do not carry any of my genes that I will admit to. My 21y old "baboon" studies mechanical engineering and can probably calculate the stresses in the arch ;-)

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hi All
(Don?t worry about the look of the oven yet as there is a stone front coming to cover all over the front)

As per my posting re the raised chimney, I have now obtained & used the insulation bricks to separate the oven from the vent. The black line you see between the landing arch and the insulation brick is a channel in which I plan to slide my draft door.

I am quite happy with the progress, but the angle & slide inclination on the arch is slowly getting interesting.

Cutting of bricks still an issue as the blades just don?t last. These bricks are really hard :-(

Still having loads of fun!

Dolf

[JosephW]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hi Dolf,

your oven is looking really great.

Bela Bela is in such a beautiful part of the world. I've got family not too far from there up on the Lapalala Reserve.

Good luck and I'll definitely keep an eye on your progress.

Joe

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Thanks Joe!
While I know I am biast to both oven and area, I love both :-)

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Rejoyce with me please friends! I found the right rock
I have been searching for the right rock to use as a natural landing entrance for my oven. Most rocks are either not big enough or flat enough to offer any reasonable surface or if the one side is nice & smooth, then the thing is so thick, there is no way I will be able to handle it to get it out of the bush to a road. But then on Saturday morning I found what I believe to be ideal :-)

As per the pic below, the dimensions are roughly 700x350x180
I only had to cut a small triangle out on the one side to get the fit I want. The plan is to fit shaped insulation bricks in the gap between the landing and the oven floor. (The outer arch will still be built with rock so the bricks you see are not planned to be the visible end)

At this stage I do not plan to do anything to the top op the insulation bricks as I believe it will fill up with ash. Should I rather seal it with something?

[Tscarborough]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

That is a nice chunk of stone.

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

I had some time to play with my oven again this weekend.
Row 8 is almost done. The weekends layes also now took me past the final mouth/dome transition which I think came quite well :-)
I stacked bricks inside the oven and placed a piece of wood on top. On this I put other bricks. wedges, stones etc to do the supporting while the H40 sets. With the slide down of the angle progress is slow. The plan works, but calls for a lot of waiting.
In the down times I proceed with the Portland cement stone work around the mouth.
I am happy with the progress. Not as neat as some of the other folks' work on the list, but with rocks from the area it is shaping with a character of its own fitting into the environment I think

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hi
Another layer down. I am losing the circle somewhat, but am still optimistic

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Eventually had a chance to get back to the farm again!
With the very hard bricks, cutting is hardly possible and chisel breaks somewhat unpredictable, so I use all offcuts as well. I know it is not first prize, but at only a few cuts per diamond blade, I can not afford differently, so I have to live with the odd shapes.
As you can see in the pic, I still have to clean properly and lost the circle, but I am 200mm from closed.

Still having fun :-)

[azpizzanut]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hello Dolf,

WOW !! I see possibilities here......What a great opportunity to make an artistic construction feature of the "face" shape of the opening. Trim the final bricks in the shape of facial features such as, eyes, nose, mouth, chin and incorporate them into the final dome closure. Maybe only you will know they are they are there. Your tribute to the hard work of making the dome. An "oven saint" to look over your cooking efforts and an inspiration to your continuing efforts to perfect pizza and delicious local foods.

Cheers,

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

You mean like this?
:-) Never saw the "mouth" before you mentioned it!

Groetnis (Afrikaans for "cheers")

[heliman]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hey boet - that oven is really starting to take shape now. When do you expect to crank it up for the first time? Better have plenty of Klippies handy - that's going to be one serious bash....

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Because the oven is on the farm, I can only work when when family and work responsibilities allow me to go. These 2 are unfortunately not so predictable, so the true answer which may sound flippant, is "As soon as I can". Realistic guess would be that I should have the dome done I insulated end November, but the finishing with the rock may even take me to end January as stone selection/searching tends to be unpredictable. Gathering Klippies you may say :-) .
I do not want to try her before I have done the final covering as the next few months is our rainy season and I want to have her sealed before I start curing.

Grant me patience Lord...but HURRY!! :-)

[Dolf]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hi All
As you can see a lot of time passed since my last posting. Changed jobs; so life work-wise has been hectic & no time to get to the farm. So then when I got there I found that bees have inhabited the woodstore part of my oven !!
Normally not a big deal, but since I am very allergic to them, it was a bit of an issue to get them out.

Anyway, that done, I have now inserted the last brick , layed the ceramic blanket and is busy doing the vermiculite & cement outer. Again because of my friends the baboons who will surely use the nice vantage point to sit (& sh#t ) on, I am using some reinforcement in the outer cemement before I do the final stone layer.
Pics below shows the progress. (The tin sheeting is just to hold the gap together with the bricks just as placeholders for the vermiculite)

[C5dad]

Re: Dolf's Bushveld Oven

Hang in there Dolf - your in the home stretch and things are looking good

As for the baboons, maybe a spiked roof would encourage them to stay off!