Northern Ontario oven build

[hillscp]

Shawnr THanks. I'm referring to the metal studs I think theyre usually 18g. Probably doesn't matter much though once you screw the board to it.

Nice work BTW

[Shawnr]

Got the roof on! Woo Woo!! In good shape now for winter.

We are going with steel shingles and they are not on order yet (Sales guy has been off) but at least I got the water proofing membrane on so I can relax and quit playing with tarps. I will play around a bit over the next few days and finish closing it up better but feeling good about it.

I am hesitating on the arch. In an earlier post #54, I showed the look of the 2 inch bricks in an arch. Not really big on that look but still trying to come up with something else, now that I mortared the side walls in. Something will come to me. We know we want an arch (versus a flat top) but the 2" full bricks don't look great, imho. Maybe 2 1/2" would have been better but stock was out at the time. I will keep surfing for other ideas. I am pondering cutting the bricks down (from say 4.5" to around 3" before putting them into the arch. Won't be as high but the sides are the full brick width. I could also cast a top for the tunnel and then face it with something that boss girl decides next summer. Any suggestions anyone?

I had another fire today. I checked in the stand and found moisture (more like water) coming out of the drain holes. I ran a bit through them to make sure they were all clear and am surprised how much water was coming out. I did not really look before so not sure if the moisture was driven out by the fire today or has just been dripping all along. I don't doubt the insulation got wet during the build. As much as I was pretty strict on tarping it, the hearth still got wet so the insulation must have picked up more than I thought. The fire today was around 400 F with one high around 500. That might have been right over the fire at the time. I moved the fire around in the dome too. I was surprised how big the fire was to only get those temps. I think I read that as the moisture comes out, the temps will rise more quickly for a given amount of wood. Wood was relatively small, older birch branch stock (ie not split). The fire was going for several hours and I checked often with an IR gun to make sure I was not creeping up in temp. I hope I am understanding the curing process correctly. Several small fires increasing in temps. I think the longer lasting fires though would be more effective at forcing the moisture out.....as long at the temps do not increase beyond the expected.

That is it for now.

Cheers,

[Shawnr]

Thanks UtahBeehiver .

hillscp I am not sure. It was just a piece of stainless that I had but I would guess 18 gauge. I cannot cut it with hand tin snips. Might even be 16. I will measure the thickness and let you know

[hillscp]

Hey Shawnr What gauge is that metal? Looks good!

[UtahBeehiver]

New ovens have a tendency to smoke quite a bit during the initial fires,

[Shawnr]

I completed the vent, insulation and moved on to the framing and roof structure. When I started fitting the steel in place for the vent, within the sides, it looked like I was going to be restricting the size of the vent a lot so I rebent it and placed it on top of the sides. I built a small "test fire" and I seemed to be getting a lot of smoke out the front but in fairness that day, the smoke that did come out of the chimney, came down anyways, so conditions were not conducive to a good test. I also had only kind of placed the cast vent up against the dome. Since then, I mortared insulation bricks to the front of the dome, and then place the cast vent up against that and made a better seal. I think it all helped a bit. I also have not completed the landing arch so I tried playing around with options there but it seemed to still smoke out the front a bit. I am hoping that when the landing arch is complete or a decent amount of heat is built up in the oven, that the chimney draws a little better. I know I can add a 1 foot section of chimney to the top as a last resort but the boss girl already does not want it any taller. Negotiations will continue into next summer...

3 layers of insulation went on, metal studs in place and cement board sidewalls in place. Soggy weather here last couple of weeks and I have been working around that but a few nice days ahead. I probably should have erected a canopy but almost done now. The rainy days have been few until the last couple of weeks.

I have been building a few small fires and moving them around while I work. Just building the fires is kind of a reward for the work so far.

Cheers,

[MarkJerling]

A question I have for the folks doing/building a squirrel tail chimney......other than having it exit out of the dome center, what is your reasoning for it? I just always wondered that(?) Nothing wrong w/it at all, just wondered.

I read somewhere that a squirrel tail chimney design helps to heat the top of the dome more quickly. I have no idea if that's true, but that was not my primary motivation: We have a window to the side of the oven and I wanted the chimney to be clear of the view out the window.

The other reason is that I have a "know it all" friend and I knew that he would tell me that the flue out the top of the dome was wrong and that I'd lose all the heat out the oven. So, of course, it was fun to have a bit of fun with that.

[MarkJerling]

Thank you Shawnr . It sounds like your guy works a bit like my guy! LOL

[Shawnr]

Thanks again MarkJerling I had not seen the one showing the top on. It looks great, looks more substantial than I pictured for some reason. I probably worry too much but knowing the guy that built my oven, well.....

Great question NCMan ! For me, I felt like the chimney up front would be towering over me. Not really true as it sits back a bit anyways with the tunnel landing, but I just wanted to move it back. And since I am doing a "dog house" over the oven, it allows me to put the chimney centered in the peak front to back, (more or less) which I pictured being a little easier to frame than right at the front. If I had done an exposed dome, I would have probably kept it at the front cause I like that look.

It does not seem to be done very much. Not sure if most just like the chimney at the front or don't want the extra headache. I did waste hours trying to figure out how to do it, but I tend to overthink things before I make my mistakes...(yes, not a typo )

Cheers,

[NCMan]

A question I have for the folks doing/building a squirrel tail chimney......other than having it exit out of the dome center, what is your reasoning for it? I just always wondered that(?) Nothing wrong w/it at all, just wondered.

[MarkJerling]

Here's the only two photos I took of that phase, sorry.





And the oven drawings has a cross section that shows it all quite clearly. So far the fire bricks have spanned across quite nicely. If there's ever a collapse, I'll need to open it up from above and find another solution. I like your stainless steel idea.

[Shawnr]

...... if the builder says his or her oven is crackless then they are a politician or a used car salesperson. .

UtahBeehiver lol...

Again, thanks guys.

Had a good day yesterday, mostly. Picked up chimney parts which helped me finalize my chimney plans. It seems a lot of this project is winging it as I go but I guess that goes hand in hand with unchartered ground, as this project is. The chimney mount is defective, which I did not know until I tried to attach the chimney to it but the store is replacing it for me. It is missing the groove for the locking band to grab. At least having it on site allowed me to move forward.

I mostly finished off the brickwork to form the vent up the dome. I have been planning on putting firebrick across the top but with the discussions about movement and cracking, I wondered if the firebricks could crack and fall into the vent so decided on placing a piece of stainless into the sides to form the top, as shown. . It will not be physically fastened to the bricks so can move but will be installed in a way that it cannot slide out. I will contour it once the chimney mount and vent are in place. I also reinforced the brick sides with mortar and fibres on the outside of the vent. I could not find pics of finished squirrel tails. MarkJerling I saw your pic but only the sides in place.

I took the forms off of the cast refractory vent. I am pretty happy with it but might not know any better. It looks functional, exactly what I wanted. Getting that sometimes surprises me... I thought I tapped the heck out of the from when I poured but obviously, not enough or the way I built the form would not give me that nice smooth look. It will be totally hidden anyways.

So when I get back there, I can finish the chimney install, insulate and start framing the sides. Daytime highs are still looking good for the next week or so. Weather has certainly been in my corner this fall. We should be scraping frost off the car windows in the morning by now.

[MarkJerling]

Thanks Mark.

As I am obviously disappointed, I have been wondering (kicking myself) how I could go so far south on this criteria that I knew about. I then recalled from building that it seemed that the seams seemed to align on the inside or the outside, probably something to do with my cutting of the bricks (could have done better?).
Going back to post #32, the shot of the inside, the seams look much better so I think that is what my focus was. If the outside aligned but the edge of the brick sat mostly on or near the middle of the brick below it, then I stuck it in place. Where I could not get that, I cut a brick (most of the time...?) so I will try to relax a bit. As I said, not much to be done with it now but for other new builders, maybe this will help them out.

Regards,

No worries Shawn. I have a few places in my oven where, purely per chance, some bricks line up. My oven has three small cracks but it makes absolutely no difference to the overall strength or function of my oven.

[UtahBeehiver]

Due to the shape of the pompeii ovens, they are self supporting. You may seem some cracks but I dare say the almost every oven has cracks and if the builder says his or her oven is crackless then they are a politician or a used car salesperson. But that said, there is a lesson for future or current builders, you cannot judge the interior joint alignments by how joints look on the outside.

[Shawnr]

Thanks Mark.

As I am obviously disappointed, I have been wondering (kicking myself) how I could go so far south on this criteria that I knew about. I then recalled from building that it seemed that the seams seemed to align on the inside or the outside, probably something to do with my cutting of the bricks (could have done better?).
Going back to post #32, the shot of the inside, the seams look much better so I think that is what my focus was. If the outside aligned but the edge of the brick sat mostly on or near the middle of the brick below it, then I stuck it in place. Where I could not get that, I cut a brick (most of the time...?) so I will try to relax a bit. As I said, not much to be done with it now but for other new builders, maybe this will help them out.

Regards,