My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

032 - Inner arch, 1st attempt, mortared.


5/12/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

031 - Inner arch, 1st attempt, dry fit.


5/12/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

030 - Vent landing, flared opening taking shape.


5/11/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

029 - Inner arch base & inner arch form/template.


5/11/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

028 - Inner arch base & inner arch form/template.


5/11/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

027 - Oven floor installed, first chain mortared.
No turning back now.


5/10/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

026 - Oven floor installed, first chain mortared.
No turning back now.


5/10/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

024 - Mortaring first chain (half soldier).
You can see the overlapping tin foil around the floor to keep any moisture from the mortar from contacting the FB board.


5/10/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

023 - Oven floor & first chain (half soldier) dry fit.


5/6/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

022 - Oven floor & first chain (half soldier) dry fit.
I designed the vent landing with a flared opening.
This was much more work for arch angles down the road, but well worth it in my opinion for the larger opening for better oven access.


5/6/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

021 - Oven floor & first chain (half soldier) dry fit.
I used overlapping foil around the floor to keep any moisture from the mortar from contacting the FB board.
It worked pretty well, but it took a lot of effort to keep the FB board dry (it's not supposed to get wet).
If I did it over again, I probably would use the insulating concrete method.
On the other hand, people that use the insulated concrete hearth don't seem to like that the consistency it difficult to determine and they don't seem to know if they mixed it correctly or not.
So it's probably a pain in the butt either way you go.
My only experience is w/ the FB board though.
I couldn't modify the plans & switch to an insulated concrete layer at this point since the FB board is 2.5" thick & the insulating concrete is 4+" thick, so my floor height would have been off (I would recommend measuring your elbow height within ~1-2" & designing down from there if it's not too late, this will give you the most comfortable height when using the oven tools for cooking).

Don't make the same mistake I did by using permanent marker on the firebrick.
After a good amount of usage, the permanent marker burns off, so probably a moot point either way.


5/6/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

020 - Leveling sand on ceramic fiber board.
Ready for dome floor.
I opted for the dry sand/fireclay 1:1 mixture as a leveling agent.
I decided on this method in an effort to keep the ceramic fiber board from absorbing any moisture.


5/4/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

019 - Ceramic fiber board & floor layout being transferred to hearth.


5/4/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

018a - Cutting ceramic fiber board to size.
Tablesaw or sawzall cut through the ceramic fiber board like butter.
Be sure to wear a respirator!

I used the B12T50A ceramic fiber board from skylinecomponents.com.

I spent a lot of time researching and found the refractory properties an excellent match to the FB Board.
I advocate support Forno Bravo as much as possible, but living on the east coast, shipping from FB was very pricey.


5/4/12

[boylanta]

Re: My 42" Pompeii Oven build, Northeast Ohio

018 - FB Board Template.
I used the B12T50A ceramic fiber board from skylinecomponents.com.

I spent a lot of time researching and found the refractory properties an excellent match to the FB Board.
I advocate supporting Forno Bravo as much as possible, but living on the east coast, shipping from FB was very pricey.