My Old Kentucky Dome

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Hi Ken,
are you happy with your Harborfreight saw? did it work ok? I am planning to build the oven and I was thinking to buy the same you have, thanks Carlo

Carlo,

Yes, I'm very happy with the HF saw. Go for it. If I did it again, I would buy the replacement warranty that they offer when you purchase it. My water pump is starting to go on the fritz and I'll probably be shopping for a new one this week.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Before we went out of town last weekend, I finished the 5th course:



Here's some detail of the arch/dome transition starting to take shape:

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Finished the 6th course this afternoon...



Transition detail:



Kind of cool that it no longer looks like a model of the old Cincinnati Reds stadium and is starting to look like a pizza oven!

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

One more pic... Interior through the entry arch:

[Acoma]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Ken, I love the look. Your dome is clean and shaping well. Two questions:
1) Why no entry cut for a door along the wall?
2) Why the 1-2" width cuts throughout the 5th and 6th course?

[Brauma]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

2) Why the 1-2" width cuts throughout the 5th and 6th course?

I think I can answer that one, Acoma. He did that so that the vertical mortar joints stay staggered and don't line up.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

1) Why no entry cut for a door along the wall?
2) Why the 1-2" width cuts throughout the 5th and 6th course?

Good questions. The arch you see will be the door jamb. The vent arch will be about 1/2" higher and wider, leaving a 1/2" jamb for the door. I've seen some very clever and more structurally sound methods for doing the jamb, but for my planned design, this will be the easiest route.

My design is heavily inspired by Balty's. This picture of his entry will make better sense:



Second question: The narrow blocks are placed as necessary so the vertical joints on two adjacent courses don't line up. Every course seems to need 2 or 3. This is one of the biggest challenges I've run into. I've made a couple of boo-boos, but for the most part, it's working out ok.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I think I can answer that one, Acoma. He did that so that the vertical mortar joints stay staggered and don't line up.

Bingo! You answered it better than I did.

[Brauma]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Do I get an "A" teacher? Ive been paying attention. Actually I read that somewhere on this site.

I've never seen one of these ovens in person; never touched one. Never seen one in action. But I want one. Thanks a lot you guys.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I've never seen one of these ovens in person; never touched one. Never seen one in action. But I want one. Thanks a lot you guys.

Go for it Brauma! You need to start building.

[asudavew]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Looking good Ken.

Should be a fun weekend.

It will be interesting to see how hard these next few layers will be.....I figure mine will need some kind of support.

[Les]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Awesome work Ken! I just completed number 4 - your solder course got you higher and faster then my approach. I'm hoping to get 5 and maybe 6 in this weekend.

Les...

[Acoma]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

With the latest photo, I can see the door location matching to the vent arch. I did not see the most recent photo showing the detail until now. As for the bricks, I thought that was the case.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

7th course is in the bag.
8th course bricks are cut and can be seen in the pics.



Transition detail:



The transition turned out ok. It droops just a bit, but I'll compensate on the 8th course with shims and mortar. After taking the overhead picture, I was happy to see I kept the arc pretty continuous through the transition.

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

While doing the 7th course, I noticed the upside-down "V" shape gap between bricks was becoming quite a bit more pronounced due to the steep angles.

I decided to make compound cuts on the edges of the 8th course bricks to minimize the gap. I'm still sticking with 1/2 bricks.



Stay tuned to see how they work out!