42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Nice work. I wish I had put in an arch for my lintel. FWIW, I've used the grinder a fair amount to smooth out my work . I think most people use a couple layers of luan for the arch forms. It's a bit stronger than the flashing.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Discovery:
One can make a poured concrete arched lentil (reinforced with lots of re-bar) over the front of the wood storage. I made the forms out of 3/4 plywood with 2x4 spanning the bottom then covered by a strip of 8 inch metal flashing.
Lesson Learned: if the space between the 2x4 is wide - the result will be scalloping as in the photo: I plan to "clean that up" with the grinder. I also learned that attaching photos is better than inserting them

[Neil2]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

"Yes, I determined the arch for the dome by placing bricks on the floor and getting the angle that I needed to cut the board."

Nice. Simple and foolproof.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Brianventura
Thanks for the encouragement, one key to everything looking good - carefully pointing the camera away from the oops and frustrations.

[brianventura]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

brianventura
I like the simplicity (function!) of the plywood template. Aside from having the bricks touch the wooded guide, was it difficult (necessary?) to determine the angle of the "oven" face of each row of brick - I am trying to understand if the "clamp to the desired angle" feature of the IT is and important feature lost using your method. Forgive me if this is a dumb question - I have not yet placed one brick. (But I will be building my stand this long weekend).

dvm,
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner but I was away. Yes, I determined the arch for the dome by placing bricks on the floor and getting the angle that I needed to cut the board. It may have been a crude method but it worked for me. I'll attach a photo of what I mean. The photo is before I put them on a foam core board to trace the bricks.
Hopefully this is of some help to you.
By the way everything is looking great.

Brianventura

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I am enjoying this project ... and learning a lot as I go. Dan at Backyard Flare drew a series of block by block diagrams for the project. Outdoor Fireplace and Fire Pit Design Plans by Backyard Flare, LLCHe is a good guy who worked up the design from my measurements and responded in a timely manor to my requests for revisions.
Things I have learned so far:
1) Sticky mortar is good mortar
2) Run conduit under the slab to emerge in the cells of desired block (as opposed to installing the first row of block then running conduit horizontal within the structure)
3) This tool is cool. Amazon.com: QLT By MARSHALLTOWN 14739 Rebar Bender: Home Improvement

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Hi John
My sons and I made some great progress this weekend.

dvm

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

dvm,
Good-looking start to your oven. Final floor height is usually slightly higher than elbow height with your arms hanging straight down and your forearm held parallel to the floor.

I used a plywood dome template rather than an IT. With the template in place, it was easy to butter a brick and push it into place so that the face barely touched the curve of the template. You really only have to use the template every 4th of 5th brick to stay in round.

Looking forward to seeing your build. Where in OC are you?

John

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Great to have a three day weekend to kick off this project. In addition to remembering and being thankful for the men and women who serve and have served, I am making decent progress on my project!
An observation on elevation. My 6 inch foundation is 4 inches above the patio pavers, 5 courses of blocks will be (about) 40 inches high (using mortar), top of the stand 4 inches, Insulation board 2 inches, floor 1.25" for splits and + 2" for tiles
I get 53.25 inches to the cooking floor and 64.75 inches to the top of the arch. I am 6'2" inches tall and prefer not to stoop when I work, however - will this oven be too tall?

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Blockwork begins The entire structure includes the pizza oven base, an adjacent fireplace, a inserted gas grill, with side counters and small fridge, and a pony wall for seating.

[shuboyje]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

One advantage of a low dome oven is the fact that you can built you soldier the same height as your door. At that point tying the two together at the top is as simple as bevel ing the angles to match.

On the flip side I would not personally consider 18" to be a low dome oven, and using my method would not work well due to the taller door.

Just thought I would chime is since I have built two low dome ovens and can give a good amount Of guidance on them that others cannot.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

brianventura
I like the simplicity (function!) of the plywood template. Aside from having the bricks touch the wooded guide, was it difficult (necessary?) to determine the angle of the "oven" face of each row of brick - I am trying to understand if the "clamp to the desired angle" feature of the IT is and important feature lost using your method. Forgive me if this is a dumb question - I have not yet placed one brick. (But I will be building my stand this long weekend).

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

DeeJayOh
AhhHaa I see what you mean. Thanks for the sketch-up diagram. I was also interested to hear that you don't think that a Clamp is needed to hold the brick in place with the IT. I have not place one brick yet... But I expected that securing the interior face of the brick at the desired angle and holding it there would be difficult and achieved by rigidly clamping with the IT.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

zdziandy
Welcome to the forums. I have been reading them for months and I discovered that IT refers to an Indispensable Tool. You can search the forums and find several threads describing variations on the "IT" with photos and instructions for construction. Like here http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...heme-2985.html
If you were making a 42 inch diameter oven (with a floor radius of 21 inches) and a "High Dome" (with a height of 21 inches) the IT could pivot from the center of the floor and align the bricks for each row in the dome. Deejayoh and I are discussing a means to modify the "IT" for a low dome application - the catch is that with a 42 inch diameter and a low dome (in my case 19 inch - though 15.5 inch has been described!) a simple radius will not work.

[Gulf]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

About the IT: I did not adjust if myself, stayed with the sphere. However, I do believe that if you really want to lower the dome using the IT, an adjustable IT would be the route to go. I had planned to lower mine but, decided to leave well enough alone as I got into it .
I used a large turnbuckle.

My plan was to wait until I cleared the inner arch before beginning the adjustments. (My inner arch and it's protrusion into the dome was guaged to the IT @44") In my case I did not think there were enough rows left after clearing the arch to get to a low ceiling heighth.
Someone with some experince with marrying the low dome with the inner arch may can help but, I think that an adjustable IT would be the Key.
Just Sayin'