My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

[alexi82]

Thought i'd whack up a pic of my first oven. It hasn't been rendered or cleaned up yet but im pretty stoked.

I used all materials i either had, or got really cheap. All the concrete blocks cost me about $50, and the firebricks for the hearth were from an old kiln and cost about 100...the red bricks for dome and arch were about 70. so did well!! just wish the ciment fondue wasn't so expensive!

anyway, now to start curing...

[brickie in oz]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

Wont the steel lintel over the door opening be a problem with expansion?

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

I hope not!

Apparantely the steel lintel is used in Alan Scott ovens to hold up the front part of the chimney....

Do you think it will cause issues?

[brickie in oz]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

Do you think it will cause issues?

It all depends on hot the steel will get?
Gasses exiting my oven flue have been clocked at 600c.

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

Hrm...strange that it's specified in the design.

I have left a bit of room in mortar so hopefully that will be enough...

Will have to keep an eye on it I guess...

What else would you do if not using a steel lintel?

[brickie in oz]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

What else would you do if not using a steel lintel?

An arch.......................

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

yea i thought about that after i had already done the facade arch as per alan scott's book...would have meant another internal arch...in the end i spoke to some people on here and they suggested the lintel..prob what they did in the book. hopefully will be ok.

This is what someone else wrote on another blog..."As for the steel lintel, again, this did cause me to wonder when I was building the oven. I left a bit of room for lenghtwise expansion and hoped that expanision in thickness would be small enough not to cause problems. So far, so good. "

the so far so good bit is promising haha

[fxpose]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

When you asked about this last week I had imagined the bricks laid on the lintel will lay across completely hidden from view, behind the upper main arch (as per link you provided).
It's a matter of aesthetic at this point so it doesn't matter.

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

Yea it originally was going to be but I stuffed up my dome to door height ratio so had to lower it. And best way was lowering that lintel

Yea you can hardly notice the lintel when looking at the oven...will keep an eye on cracks

[fxpose]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

What you can do is erect a smaller decorative arch within the main arch to hide most of that.

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

true, however i dont really mind the look. i think it looks quite good. and realistically, no one else will ever know it's not technically supposed to be there! once its cleaned up should look ok

[fxpose]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

I agree. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. Once you get the exterior all finished up everything will blend in well.

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

dont worry i didn't think you were implying anything! i like the candid nature of this forum anyway!

i'm still stoked at my first oven nearing completion.

learnt heaps and when i do the next one i'll have learnt from previous mistakes. in the end i'll have a reasonable barrel oven and depending on how easy it is to manage heat will determine whether i do this or a pompeii next time. although, i think i'd do a pompeii anyway to learn that one

[alexi82]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

and rendered...woohoo!!!

[gummz]

Re: My first oven - Alan Scott style down under

Hi Alexi82,

Have you stared curing fire's yet??? if so what is your plan? and how long?

Cheers,

Gi

I've only just finished my first row of the vault ceiling ....