Hansen Horno

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Daren, is your outer arch bigger/higher than the inner arch?

Yes, looking into the oven, the reveal on the top is at least 1" bigger than the sides. I'm hoping my chimney draws well enough so that that's not a problem! Otherwise, I may need to lower my final decorative arch. There was no real reason for it to be so much higher; it just ended up that way.

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

This is the vermiculite "attic insulation" I found at Menards. Does the particle size look too small to use as loose fill? It's 100% heat-extruded vermiculite.

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Here are pics of my chimney base plate and arch buttresses. I attached the plate with tapcon screws, and put a layer of insulation blanket in between the plate and brick.

Not sure if I needed the buttresses, but they'll be completely covered with my enclosure and they add a bit of insurance.

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

This is my 3rd curing fire, and one of the cracks I discovered after the first fire. I think I probably went too hot with the first 2 fires, though I did only use newspaper. There are several cracks around the outside top of the dome, possibly because the fire was concentrated in the middle of the oven. The cracks are long but pretty small, so no concern at this point.

EDIT: I should have mentioned that the grey stuff with the crack in it is a layer of HeatStop covering the top half of my dome. I never posted a pic of that. The cracks start there and travel down mortar joints to my soldier course, in at least 2 places.

[egalecki]

Re: Hansen Horno

This is the vermiculite "attic insulation" I found at Menards. Does the particle size look too small to use as loose fill? It's 100% heat-extruded vermiculite.

That's the size mine is- and mine's from the pool supply. I think perlite may be a little bigger than vermiculite... but what you have looks fine to me.

[Les]

Re: Hansen Horno

The cracks are long but pretty small, so no concern at this point.

Daren - your cracks look no worse than mine. I wrapped it up and called it good. Proceed my friend, and remember - cracks happen. EVERYBODY has them.

Les...

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Thanks Les and Elizabeth! After running a 500+ degree fire for 8 hours on Sunday, I wrapped it all up with the blanket. In retrospect I should have put the chimney on for the day, 'cause it sure did get black on the front!

To take advantage of the heat, I baked some naan (Indian flatbread) for supper. It turned out great!

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Here's my attempt at a DIY door. I used a piece of 2" insulation board sandwiched between a thick slab of maple and some Durock cement board. I used some hi-temp fireplace sealant to seal and secure the side, top, and bottom pieces of Durock, which are not screwed down like the back. Then I painted the Durock with hi-temp grill paint. I still need to add some fireplace gasket rope where the wood touches the brick. We'll see if that keeps the wood from burning up!

This door might be next week's firewood, but I figured it was worth a shot. Total cost = $35.

[egalecki]

Re: Hansen Horno

ooh, let me know how it works out. I think it's a great idea. Not as sure about the maple front (although it's lovely, I'd hate for it to burn up!) but the durock covering the insulation might work. I've been trying to figure out the door thing too- I've been using board covered in heavy duty aluminum foil, and the insulated door really makes a difference in heat retention, and tipping it backward and elevating the bottom a bit while I'm firing (to get the air whooshing in) works great too. Much better than leaving it open while firing.

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Not as sure about the maple front (although it's lovely, I'd hate for it to burn up!) ...

I agree, but I got it free so the price was right! It was actually the only piece of hardwood I had lying around that was big enough. It's a solid piece of wood, so the risk of cracking and warping is high. We'll see.

...tipping it backward and elevating the bottom a bit while I'm firing (to get the air whooshing in) works great too.

That's something I'll have to figure out with this door. The durock is pretty snug under the arch, so I can't tip it back. But maybe if I just pull the whole door out a bit it will work, since my entryway is tapered.

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Here's a pic of the oven with 3' chimney attached. It draws fairly well, but I'll definitely need to position the decorative outer arch a bit lower than my outer oven arch, because plenty of smoke is escaping out the front right now.

Got it up to about 750-800 degrees tonight! Just beginning to clear the soot off the dome. No cracking evident on the inside ... yet.

[thebadger]

Re: Hansen Horno

Hansen,

Looking good. Did you put HS on the top inside of your dome??? I did that (thinking that I won't the next time) but haven't had any issuess.

Don't worry - cracks happen. Call it character.

Dick

[dbhansen]

Re: Hansen Horno

Thanks Dick. No, I didn't put any HeatStop on the inside (except whatever shows between the dome bricks, of course). I did put some on the outside, maybe 1/4 inch thick, and there were several long cracks in that (and in the mortar lines). I was worried they would appear on the inside as well, but I can't see them so far. Actually, I should probably stop looking, because I'm sure I'll find something wrong the more I look! Better to just ignore it.

[woods witch]

Re: Hansen Horno

unbelievably neat and beautiful work!

[mfiore]

Re: Hansen Horno

Daren,

You'll be having pizza in no time! How are you measuring your temps? Surface temps with IR, or thermocouple? What thermocouple reader did you ever settle on?