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Photos of my 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio.
This turned into a really enjoyable lifetime achievement for me.
Began digging foundation: 3/28/12
Hearth complete: 4/26/12
Dome & vent complete, ready for oven curing: 6/23/12
Curing complete, ready to cook: 7/16/12
Completed: 7/25/12
Summary:
-I spent a couple months using the Forno Bravo "Pompeii Oven Plans Version 2.0" .PDF & this forum to plan the build. This time was spent determine factors such as:
-----Oven floor height. (settled on ~44.75" from the ground, based on a comfortable height for me to use oven tools)
-----Oven landing & vent landing sizes
-----Flared (much more aesthetically pleasing) vent landing or straight (much easier) vent landing.
-----FB Board insulation or insulated concrete hearth.
-----Creating the inner arch out of firebrick (much more aesthetically pleasing) or steel reinforced straight inner arch (much easier).
-----Placing the first chain on top of the floor, or having the floor sit inside of the first chain.
-----Figuring out how to cut an angle & bevel on the dome bricks for a tighter joint fit (see thread for details).
-My foundation was made w/ 8" X 8" X 16" cinder blocks. The dimensions of the foundation are 64" across (4 full 16" blocks), 80" long (5 full 16" blocks). The height above grade was determined by the desired cooking surface height. I settled on ~44.75" above grade, as mentioned above. The only minor issue w/ these dimensions is that the FB blanket insulation is a tight fit against the wall studs against the sides (64" dimension). I might try to go a 1/2 block next time to make it 70" wide by 80" deep, but I'm not sure the 1/2 block is worth the trouble of centering the door, etc...
-Since I wanted the cooking floor ~44.75" above grade, I needed to subtract:
-2.5" for the fire brick floor,
-2" for the FB board insulation under the firebrick floor
-5" for the structural concrete hearth
This left the top of the cinder block foundation ~35.25" above grade. If you were off a little bit, you could always pour your structural concrete hearth a little thicker. So probably better to be a little below, than above your desired height.
-I went w/ a 5" concrete hearth w/ 2" FB Board as insulation between the oven floor & the concrete hearth. I spent a lot of time making sure the FB Board did not get wet. If I do another build, I think I'll go w/ the insulated concrete hearth method to avoid having to worry about this during the entire build.
-The floor is a herringbone pattern that lies inside of the outer half soldier first chain.
-The dome bricks were each cut w/ an angle & bevel to ensure the smallest mortar joint on the inside of the oven. Details of how this was done can be found in this thread. This appears very complicated, but w/ the right jigs goes very smoothly.
-I flared the vent landing slightly to allow for easier access to the entire dome interior. I'm glad I did this, but it certainly complicated the angles when constructing the vent landing and outer arch.
-I used the FB Blanket as insulation wrapping around the dome. I then filled the dome void w/ Perlite to further insulate the structure.
-Roof pitch I used is 8.5/12, I've had many questions on this, so I thought I would add it to the summary.
__________________
Todd
Link to my build - http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...ast-18900.html
This turned into a really enjoyable lifetime achievement for me.
Began digging foundation: 3/28/12
Hearth complete: 4/26/12
Dome & vent complete, ready for oven curing: 6/23/12
Curing complete, ready to cook: 7/16/12
Completed: 7/25/12
Summary:
-I spent a couple months using the Forno Bravo "Pompeii Oven Plans Version 2.0" .PDF & this forum to plan the build. This time was spent determine factors such as:
-----Oven floor height. (settled on ~44.75" from the ground, based on a comfortable height for me to use oven tools)
-----Oven landing & vent landing sizes
-----Flared (much more aesthetically pleasing) vent landing or straight (much easier) vent landing.
-----FB Board insulation or insulated concrete hearth.
-----Creating the inner arch out of firebrick (much more aesthetically pleasing) or steel reinforced straight inner arch (much easier).
-----Placing the first chain on top of the floor, or having the floor sit inside of the first chain.
-----Figuring out how to cut an angle & bevel on the dome bricks for a tighter joint fit (see thread for details).
-My foundation was made w/ 8" X 8" X 16" cinder blocks. The dimensions of the foundation are 64" across (4 full 16" blocks), 80" long (5 full 16" blocks). The height above grade was determined by the desired cooking surface height. I settled on ~44.75" above grade, as mentioned above. The only minor issue w/ these dimensions is that the FB blanket insulation is a tight fit against the wall studs against the sides (64" dimension). I might try to go a 1/2 block next time to make it 70" wide by 80" deep, but I'm not sure the 1/2 block is worth the trouble of centering the door, etc...
-Since I wanted the cooking floor ~44.75" above grade, I needed to subtract:
-2.5" for the fire brick floor,
-2" for the FB board insulation under the firebrick floor
-5" for the structural concrete hearth
This left the top of the cinder block foundation ~35.25" above grade. If you were off a little bit, you could always pour your structural concrete hearth a little thicker. So probably better to be a little below, than above your desired height.
-I went w/ a 5" concrete hearth w/ 2" FB Board as insulation between the oven floor & the concrete hearth. I spent a lot of time making sure the FB Board did not get wet. If I do another build, I think I'll go w/ the insulated concrete hearth method to avoid having to worry about this during the entire build.
-The floor is a herringbone pattern that lies inside of the outer half soldier first chain.
-The dome bricks were each cut w/ an angle & bevel to ensure the smallest mortar joint on the inside of the oven. Details of how this was done can be found in this thread. This appears very complicated, but w/ the right jigs goes very smoothly.
-I flared the vent landing slightly to allow for easier access to the entire dome interior. I'm glad I did this, but it certainly complicated the angles when constructing the vent landing and outer arch.
-I used the FB Blanket as insulation wrapping around the dome. I then filled the dome void w/ Perlite to further insulate the structure.
-Roof pitch I used is 8.5/12, I've had many questions on this, so I thought I would add it to the summary.
__________________
Todd
Link to my build - http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...ast-18900.html
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