Making Progress in Montana

[JoeT62]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

A question - did you use two pieces of iron to "sandwich" the span bricks over the opening?

[swripley]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Mike,

I'm going to stay in Western Montana. Flyfishing and making biscuits in the dutch oven.

Where in Western MT are you fishing? My husband and I both fly fish - for me an occasional hobby, for him he might consider choosing it over breathing! We've fished quite a bit in Western MT.

Maybe next summer if you?re in the neighborhood of the foothills you can swing by. I would be more than happy to through something in the oven for you. And by then I might have figured out how to work this thing!

Thanks Joe,

A question - did you use two pieces of iron to "sandwich" the span bricks over the opening?

Yes, that is exactly what I did. I had to cut down the depth a bit and angle the ends in order to fit it on the "columns" I created to form the sides of the openings. This also allowed me to easily create a 1/2" reveal for the door stop. On my original dry fit I planned to cut the height down to equal the iron and make the opening walls equal to this height. But later decided to leave it at full height and drop the walls lower so that the vent will be 1/2" above the iron to create the door stop across the top. The photos show as best as I could capture it.

Question for any who have an opinion. Do I need to worry about the crake that will be created where the cast vent will meet the angle iron? My plan was to fill the gab with the same high heat mortar I used in the dome. It shouldn't be very wide, maybe a 1/8", but I don't want to worry about smoke seeping into my enclosure.

Sharon

[El Puaco]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Hey Sharon

More nice looking pictures. I'd have to guess that you're on the right track about smearing some firebrick mortar on that little gap. I couldn't get my mind around that so I built an arch instead. Probably just traded one problem for another. But it works.

I'll be going South of Missoula. You know flyfishermen, they won't ever tell you exactly where they're going but they might take you there if you swear not to tell (or blindfold you so you just don't know). Mostly Lochsa, Selway and Bitteroot Rivers. I usually spend some time on upper Rock Creek but am changing up my pitches this year. My wife is sort of semi-retired as a flyfisher but I still get wound up about it.

I might take you up on that pizza sometime. Let me know if you get to the coast maybe I can return the favor.

Mike

[swripley]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Casting the vent was interesting to say the least. If I had it to do over again, I would mix the KS-4 a bit wetter. In this case following the directions to the letter wasn?t the best option. Filling the form was challenging as the castable was very thick. And there is a reason they call them stainless steel NEEDLES. Pocked the hell out of my hands even with gloves on. When I unmolded the vent I had a few voids but nothing that would leak smoke so I decided not to sweat it. The firing went without a hitch. My sister and I decided to take it to 1600?. The firing took about 16 hours and we gave it a day and a half to cool. While installing I had a bit extra high heat mortar so I filled any voids. I know they will be covered up with the enclosure but as long as I had the stuff mixed I figure it wouldn?t hurt to use it. Photos below show the filled form and installed vent. I put the chimney anchor plate in before mortaring the vent in place. Thought it would be easier to line up while it was on the floor instead of above me head. It may not be the prettiest oven/vent but I am remarkably proud of it.

Moving on to insulation next. I have decided to insulate first and cure later. I am going with 2? of blanket insulation because I got heck of a deal on it locally. Will add another 3-4? of vermiculite as well after the enclosure is done. May start curing before this however. Will keep posting photos as I go.

Sharon

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

That vent looks great!
Drake

[christo]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

When I make my next oven I believe I'm going to do the same thing!!!

I had fun making an arched vent, but then I felt I needed to add butressing etc to make sure that over time the arch does not try to push the sides out. At that point I was wishing I had gone the angle iron or poured vent approach.

The stainless needles sound painful....

Looks great!!!

[Unofornaio]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Question for any who have an opinion. Do I need to worry about the crake that will be created where the cast vent will meet the angle iron? My plan was to fill the gab with the same high heat mortar I used in the dome. It shouldn't be very wide, maybe a 1/8", but I don't want to worry about smoke seeping into my enclosure.

Sharon

If you have not addressed this area yet you should do so before the curing fires.
Ideally you should shove some insulation in the gap first. If you have fiberglass insulation cut a strip and twist it like a rope and shove it in between the metal and the vent just enough to close the gap (about the thickness of the steel-1/8"?). Make sure to moisten the area well and then add the mortar to fill the gap. If you are using the fire clay mixture, mix some straight clay with water to make a thin paste first, paint it on the surfaces that the filler (mortar) will come in contact with then add the mortar before it dries. If you can thin the refectory mortar (Don't know never worked with it) do the same this will help the bond.
This is another one of those areas that have a lot of movement especially the steel expands quite a bit. I say do it now because you will be able to see the cracks which will most likely occur. When you put the mortar in do it in thin applications with a smearing motion at first (use a tuck pointer if you have one) or just use your hands.
If you have the refractory blanket cut a strip and fill the entire area (height of the steel) then mortar over it.
For others using angel iron for the opening a good tip is when building fireboxes we always rest the lintel on a small piece of fiberglass insulation to allow for expansion. So you would have the brick- insulation -lintel-next course of brick.
EDIT>>>saw that you ARE using the blanket, this is the ideal material to use in this example. Shove this in to cover the metal and then follow the fire-clay/refractory mortar directions.

[swripley]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Uno,

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I had moved past that point before I read your post. I only used high heat mortar to fill that gap which was maybe a ?? at its widest point. I just a popsicle stick (my favorite mortar tool ) to push it into place so I feel like I got it filled pretty well. But now am very concerned about the vent failing. Oh well, at least I now know how to fix it if I have problems in the future. I made certain that I had plenty of blanket insulation well packed around the joint on the outside.

I completed the blanket insulation and was able to get the walls of the enclosure finished today. The insulation was easy but a bit itchy - cover up! (not very pleasant with the 100 degree plus weather we have been having) I dry fit the chimney and everything seems fine there. I will move on the roof later in the week. This will undoubtedly take a while as I'm still building up my confidence to tackle a hip roof.

Sharon

[Unofornaio]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Your welcome. Popsicle stick...I like it. Ive done stonework on some pretty ritzy houses and had a few smart a$$ customers and others on the site make comments or give strange looks at me for using a piece of scrap wood to tool the joints but it still works better than ANY tool for sale..
Why are you worried about the vent (piece you cast?) falling?

[swripley]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Why are you worried about the vent (piece you cast?) falling?

Not worried about the casting - its not going anywhere. It weighs a good 75 pounds. But am about concerned where it meets the dome. After reading your suggestions wish I had added insulation around the angle iron.

S

[Unofornaio]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

You say failing I say falling you say tomato I say....sorry I misread it. Don't sweat it sounds like it should be OK. When you do your curing fire/fires you will know if its OK, its not like its a structural area and its easy to get to so if it leaks you can either add or re do it. Its a small area in the scheme of things.
Good luck.

[swripley]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Pretty productive weekend. On Thursday afternoon I got a bit of help from the professionals. A friend of mine in the business called in a favor and a couple of guys came over and helped frame in the hip roof for me. They got more done in 2 hours than I could have accomplished in two weeks. I still have to put in the common rafters, but the hip is done. Spent the rest of the weekend framing in the counter to the right that will house the grill, double burner, sink and bar. Another friend roughed in the electrical for me. Started putting the hardibacker on. Which brings me to a question...two sides of the oven/counter are 6" away from the fence. Do a really need to stucco this? It will never be seen. Will the hardibacker wear better with the added protection of the stucco? Or will it just not make that much difference? I'm starting to run out of steam and thought this would save me a bit of time. But I want to do this right. So if I really need to stucco this, I certainly will.

I couldn't wait any longer. I started the first curing fire. Although the chimney isn?t in place yet, the vent worked very well.

Sharon

[swripley]

Failed to Show the End Results

This thread has been dormat for a long time so not sure who will pick this up but....I've been talking about all of you and this amazing forum lately and realized that I never showed you my final results. When I finally finished my oven life got a bit crazy and I stopped visiting the forum. My heartfelt apologies for not thanking you all adequately and showing you my end results. Hope this is a case of better late than never!

[Archena]

Re: Making Progress in Montana

Well, seeing as those pics are awesome, we'll let it slide this time...

Seriously though, lovely work!