Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

great build stunning location

[Sharkey]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

With the steel folded and the timber partially finished I am very pleased with the look. Again, this is still just sitting loosely in place - it is yet to be properly attached. The stainless steel was folded so that the back goes down below the bottom of the timber, into a groove in the concrete. You can also see a pizza peel I made out of a second piece of stainless (I bought 2 in case I mucked one up).




Detail of the left end






And the right end showing the fit against the uneven rock.

[Sharkey]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Here is the timber sitting loosely in place. There was a lot of work with a saw, jigsaw, planer and sander to get it to fit. The recess in front of the oven is to flush mount a piece of stainless steel. The funny, triangular piece of timber is to be mounted to the front right corner of the bench, against the rock to cover the corner of the wood store.




And here is the unbent stainless steel just sitting in its slot. I wanted to ensure the timber would not be damaged by the heat of the oven so I have cooked in the oven several times with it just sitting like this, and there hasn't been an issue.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Nice rocky outcrop.
My quirky nature tells me you should put small convict like chisel marks in the sandstone rather than the jackhammer marks, but thats just me.

Then Id be telling everyone that its an original 1770's oven that you renovated.....

[Sharkey]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Thanks everyone for the positive responses.

Dave, I do get a bit of moisture in the oven if it rains continually for weeks on end. It hasn't been much of an issue though, I just light a low fire the day before I want to use the oven and keep it warm for 24 hours or so before heating it up for cooking. I still plan to enclose the oven anyway and this should help keep it dry.

After changing my mind several times I finally decided on a timber counter top. I just have so much rock that I thought the contrast would be good. Plus I managed to find a supplier of good, solid blackbutt at a good price. In fact I have also decided that I will build an on-ground deck out of the same timber.

I wanted the bench top to be at the same height as the cooking floor so after sourcing the timber I cut the top of the new rock wall to a suitable height.




Then it was back onto the jack hammer to take out the excess rock. I cut a recess into the top of the rock to fit a timber trim piece and then used another piece of timber the same width (actually, a piece of pine decking) as formwork. I then poured a concrete slab that I will attach the timber bench top to. My enclosure wall will mount to the edge of this slab too.




With the formwork removed you can see the recess cut into the top of the rock wall. In this photo you can also see more of the wood store. I need to mount something in the bottom of the store to keep the wood out of any water.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Gudday Sharkey
Great to see you are still about and enjoying your oven! You certainly brought a new tool to oven building ..... The jackhammer!
I believe last time we wrote it was on moisture proofing Did you have any problems in the end? I just except that I'll get to much rain in a short period of time every now and then and ovens get wet and you dry then out and go on
Keep the pics coming

Regards dave

[Xene]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Wow! Love the rock - and your bread is gorgeous!

[V-wiz]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Wow i really like this build. Awesome work. Really makes it feel like your in some cave.

[Bert]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Sharkey, nice work! I hear you with sloping blocks and moving heavy stuff on elevations.

But on the flip side the topography adds another dimension to the property.

I was having a quiet beverage in my construction site the other night, it was so clear and there are not many lights, so the stars were amazing. I feel into a dream about my WFO in winter, watching the flames while sucking back a nice red. hahahaha dreams are free!

Looked at your pics on photobucket. The wood serving area looks great as well as sandstone on front face. Different textures always look good.

Keep it up!

[Sharkey]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Well I finally got back to working on the WFO after spending some time working on other projects. The oven has been getting a lot of regular use, so it hasn?t been a priority to get it finished. Anyway, I had some time off work over Christmas and started on the rest of my rock work. I got the jack hammer out again and carved out a wood store next to the oven.




I sorted through the huge pile of rocks I had sitting in the corner of the oven area and found the biggest, flattest slabs I had to make the rock wall under the oven. This involved many hours of shaping rock with a hammer and bolster. Once I had the required rocks I then moved the 2 tonnes of spare rock I had. This meant I had to carry the rock down stairs from the oven area by hand one at a time, dump them in a wheel barrow and then wheel them to another location where I am going to build a retaining wall. This was pretty much a whole days work, but it freed up a lot of space.

Here you can see I have concreted in the bottom row of stone and placed the second row to check for fit. I wanted to use substantial stones to achieve the look I was going for. I have built a similar wall on another project a few years ago and it has weathered to a really natural look.




Here is the nearly finished wall. Already a big improvement over what was there before.




And here it is finished, just needing a bit of clean up.



More photos to come soon.

[markor]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Bravo Sharkey!

[Pompeii Nate]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Amazing job Sharkey! Truly a sight to behold!!! Hope to see some more of your progress soon! Seeing your photos makes me want to live next to a large rock wall as well.

Nate

[Cookie Monster]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Hey Sharkey,

Oven and location looks absolutely beautiful. Any updates lately? Would love to see how it is coming along.

Cheers,

[wallyberger]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Sharkey,

Wow, what a beauty. Really like a piece of art in that spot. I just cannot stop examining the photos. Truly great job. Inspirational. Thanks for showing how good it can be.

[brianventura]

Re: Building Between a Rock and a Hard Place

That bread looks absolutely delicious. My goal is to achieve bread that looks that good.

Nice job!

Brian