My Old Kentucky Dome

[rlf5]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Ken

Did you find that you used a LOT of mortar for your soldier course? I guess I was spoiled by the 2mm thick mortar joints of my floor bricks, but I'm averaging about 1/2 inch for the soldiers...more if I get slightly off track and have to correct for it.

[asudavew]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

We took a road trip to Columbus, OH to see Genesis in concert last night. No oven progress to show, but the concert was well worth it!

I guess I'll give ya a break.

If you like Genesis, then you must be about my age.......

I used to love them, but haven't listened to Phil and the band lately.

I guess I need to bust out some MP3s.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

And I do expect some Monday photos Ken.

We took a road trip to Columbus, OH to see Genesis in concert last night. No oven progress to show, but the concert was well worth it!

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Ken, are you posting all work in photo gallery? It would be nice to see all progress in one set.

Yep! Click the Photo Gallery link, then click "K". My pics are all there (or you can click on my Picasa album as Dave mentioned.)

Your solder is on the oven floor, what had you go with this idea rather than around the oven floor, on the hearth?

My Kaowool boards look a bit different than the CalSil sheets others are using. I think that's what's giving you that impression. My dome and floor are both sitting directly on insulation board.

Thanks for the comments!

[asudavew]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Your solder is on the oven floor, what had you go with this idea rather than around the oven floor, on the hearth?

Hey Acoma,

I've been following Ken from the beginning.
If you will look at his Picasa photos and look at the pics from the beginning, you can see that his oven is set on sections of Kaowool. And that is what his soldier course is set on.

Nice work indeed.

And I do expect some Monday photos Ken.

[Acoma]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Ken, are you posting all work in photo gallery? It would be nice to see all progress in one set.
James, I hope that the idea of the yearly grand prize is oving foreword. This would be so inspirational to all.
Ken, your work is looking strong. Your solder is on the oven floor, what had you go with this idea rather than around the oven floor, on the hearth?

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I couldn't cut the top/bottom faces with my saw. The brick would be too big to clear the saw at 112mm.

I have the same problem. I set up two jigs on my saw table, one to the left of the blade and one to the right.

The blade is raised up so the brick will just fit under the blade arbor. I can cut about 3/4 of the way through on the first pass, then flip the brick, put it on the opposite side jig and cut the remainder. It takes some tweaking to get the c-clamps adjusted just right, but once it's set up I can rip through 30 half bricks in about 20 minutes.

[rlf5]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Looks great. I actually had to cut more off the sides of my half bricks b/c I couldn't cut the top/bottom faces with my saw. The brick would be too big to clear the saw at 112mm. Now they're more like 88mm.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Its hard to tell in the pic (kinda small on my monitor), but are your bricks tapered on all four sides?

My soldiers were tapered slightly (no calculation, I just cut a shallow angle on them).

The second course required 28.5 half bricks. I tapered the bottom and sides. The top, exterior and interior sides are untouched. The bottoms of the second course bricks are tapered so the interior side is closely aligned to my curved foam dome gauge (not shown in picture).

I'm pretty happy with the results... I'm giving the second course a grade of "B". I'm shooting for at least a B+ on the 3rd course

[asudavew]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

You bringing sexy back!

Looking good.

Excellent work.


I hope i can do as well!

[rlf5]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Its hard to tell in the pic (kinda small on my monitor), but are your bricks tapered on all four sides?

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

2nd course of dome bricks cut and mortared. My angle cuts aren't quite as accurate as I would have liked. I didn't get the micron-sized joints some of the pros here are getting, but I still used a fraction of the mortar that would be required if I didn't cut. So that's a good thing, right?

[rlf5]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I had the same problem before my floor went down - the Cal Sil sheets were covered with plastic sheet, but I overlooked the condensation factor. Result - the insulation sheets had a big moist patch in the middle of the floor area which was particularly difficult to dry (with a fan heater). To overcome this, I?ve since elected for a double layer approach - see pic. The tarp also lets me work on the dome in inclement weather.

Cheers, Paul.

Good idea! The double tarp will also help me in the days to come since rain is likely to return.

[rlf5]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

What kind of boards are you using? About two hours after finishing my soldier course today the sun dried everything out and the boards were again very rigid and sturdy.

I think that once the oven is finished out and protected from the elements, it won't be an issue. Any moisture that makes it's way into the floor from humidity will be driven off when the oven is fired. Once the dome is in place, we won't have anything heavier than an iron skillet or two on the bricks. Should be fine. Seems to be working for others!

Aluminum Silicate boards. Yes after drying they are back to their original strength. I can put a brick on a board and stand on it w/o any deformation at all. I just have to be able to keep concentrated weight off of it while damp.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

A cardboard flavour is one thing ....

Once the floor hits 700-800F I don't think cardboard flavour will be an issue
Anyway, I grew up with Italian delivery pizza in Philadelphia. The cardboard taste will bring back memories!

Rather than just let the gap fill up with ash (or more likely mortar from subsequent courses!), I filled it with dry firebrick dust from my brick cuts. Hopefully this will permit a little movement if it stays dry.

I've thought about doing this very thing. But my cardboard in the crack should keep out unwanted mortar.

To overcome this, I?ve since elected for a double layer approach - see pic. The tarp also lets me work on the dome in inclement weather.

I've seen several people with tarps. I might go to WalMart and get an inexpensive one. Seems like a good idea.