My Old Kentucky Dome

[pizzaadmin]

Motivated by all the other amateur builders here who said "If I can do it ANYONE can do it", We've kicked off construction of "My Old Kentucky Dome".

It will be a 42" Pompeii oven.

A recent trip to New Mexico inspired us to finish it out with a southwestern theme. The base will reflect southwestern architecture (stucco, brick), the oven itself will take on the appearance of an igloo Horno oven, like those found in many Indian Pueblo backyards - An Italian brick pizza oven hidden inside of a Native American Horno .

Our patio will eventually be covered with an overhanging Santa Fe style arbor to tie in with the oven's theme.

Today we poured the pad (and some stepping stones with the left-over concrete). The Mini Mix company in Louisville specializes in small loads and small trucks. For the money, it was a great choice. I will definitely have them deliver the hearth concrete as well. I'm not mixing dozens of 80lbs bags in 100 degree heat!

Against my better judgment, I've decided to keep close track of my oven building expenses. Usually, I don't track these kinds of projects, because I really don't want to know how much I've blown! I figured, others might be interested in what the project costs for research purposes. Here's the link to a public spreadsheet that I'll keep up to date:

Google Docs & Spreadsheets - Pompeii Oven Costs


Time to put together an order for concrete blocks!

Ken

Appreciate work.
Keep It up ...!

[pizzaadmin]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I started an album so I don't have to chew up Forno Bravo's bandwidth. I'll include highlight shots on my posts and more detailed pics on the Picasa album.

Picasa Web Albums - Ken

Ken

Hi.
These all are nice photos. I admire your creative work.

[Bajpai]

Ken,
Getting inspired from your design and craft, beautiful.
Rgds
Bajpai

[Bantar1000]

Ken I love your build! What are the dimensions of your foundation pad? I'm trying to decide if I will put extra concrete to stand on. later I'm planning a patio around the oven. Just can't decide which one I like yet. Thanks! -John

[UtahBeehiver]

Lots of ways to skin the cat, we have two old timers with builds with no buttressing that have not failed and there may be some out there that did fail (probably not going to admit it). One just needs to look at their oven design and decide what works best for them, do they have the room, and what are the trade offs, etc. IMHO, as for structure forces, it is relative the amount of force placed on the design rather than size, ie a small poorly constructed or design structure may need more buttressing than a large well designed structure (that's the engineering in me). Ultimately we want everyone to succeed with their build

[cobblerdave]

G'day
I'll secound that only 6 years old no problems with soldier course either.
I think we forget we are building a small structure here not a full size building.
Regards dave

[Ken524]

Hi Ivan,

I didn't buttress the soldier course. Dome is now 8 years old and still looks like new. I wouldn't change a thing. Good luck with your build!!

Ken

[ivancito]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Fri, Sat, Sun progress:

Started by first mortaring the sides of the entry arch and a soldier brick on each side. Then started slapping soldiers into place.

The only thing I'm doing differently (at least I haven't read it anywhere) is that I'm placing a thin strip of flattened corrugated cardboard cut from a box between the soldier course and the edge of the floor bricks. This is so I get a nice clean gap for thermal expansion.

My first attempt with the cardboard strip was wide enough to stick out so it could be removed (it can be seen in the interior pictures). I soon discovered it got in the way of my trowel and sponge. My strips are now narrow enough that they can't be seen or removed. Once the oven floor goes above 500F the first time, the strips will burn away (So that's why the pizza tastes like cardboard!).

Although my soldiers were all trimmed for a fairly snug fit, I got in a hurry yesterday and set two of them twisted slightly out of alignment. I discovered it too late and had to compensate with a couple of fat, ugly joints (overhead picture, 3 o'clock position). Oh well. When it's all done, I'll be the only one that knows. Message to self: "Slow down, have fun... slow down, have fun."

Hi Ken, very impressive build you have and I'm sure your very proud of it. I just started forming my dome and have a question for you since our builds will be very similar. I also started with full length soldiers and was wondering if you had considered the need for buttressing your soldier course? Im trying to get a general idea of what members recommend as far as buttressing the soldier course.
thanks
Ivan

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Hi Jonny,

Sorry I missed your post. The arch that is pictured above was built with the same firebricks as the dome. The color difference was due to the bricks being wet. The outer, decorative arch (not pictured above) was done with house bricks.

I didn't use thermal breaks anywhere. I had actually planned some but decided the amount of energy transfer wasn't worth the effort. My oven cooks like a champ and never disappoints.

[Jonnymac]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Dave,

My transition starts out underneath the arch and is pretty much the width of the arch, then slants upward to the top of the arch where it's about a half brick deep by about 13" wide (5 bricks on edge)



The transition is simply a square brick box with an 8"x8" interior sitting on top of it. I cut the lower bricks in wedge shapes to conform to the arch. Easy.

Will it work?? Beats me! I've never built one of these before.

I have really enjoyed your photos etc of your build. Can you advise me if you have used non firebricks to build the exterior arch? Also is it considered necessary to have a thermal break between the interior and the exterior arch?Thanks Jonnymac

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

For anyone interested, I have reworked my construction time lapse video. The old Dean Martin music was starting to get on my nerves. You can only listen to "That's Amore" so many times before fatigue sets in...

I reorganized the photos a bit and produced it in HD.

[forno di Lucca]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

great job....I like the way you tied everything in together with the patterned concrete....also nice work on the pergola~!

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I was curious about the sides (wide sides)...they appear tapered from inside-out in the photos

Wow... I had completely forgotten that I did that. Yes, they are tapered (I tapered only one side) and I made the cuts with the HF 10".

I honestly can't remember if I made the cuts in one shot or had to flip the bricks over. It's been 3 years and my memory is getting really sketchy on the details

[ggoose]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

Yes, I see you angle-cut the top of the soldiers, but I was curious about the sides (wide sides)...they appear tapered from inside-out in the photos, or again, I could be perceiving it incorrectly.
gene

[Ken524]

Re: My Old Kentucky Dome

I noticed you face-tapered your soldier course (if I interpret you photos correctly). Did you use your 10 inch HF wet saw for this? It seems that since the face of the brick is 4.5" and the saw blade diameter is 10", it must have been a tight squeeze to get the brick past the blade to make the cut.

Yes, I tapered the top edge of the soldier bricks with my 10" HF. I laid each brick on the saw table with the wide side down. No problem with clearance.

Off topic, Louisville, flying...UPS pilot?

Excellent sleuth work . I fly the 757 & 767 for UPS.