Michigan WFO

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

I really under-anticipated how much Heat-Stop I would need. I am going through this faster than Daren went through saw blades!

How much Heat-Stop did most go through? I feel I'm being conservative, making careful cuts to eliminate much of the gaps between bricks, mixing in small amounts, etc.

Getting more has really become cost prohibitive. It is not available locally, so I need to special order it, with a subsequent fat shipping charge.

I think I'll have to switch to mixing my own very soon. Any tips? I still have some Heat-Stop, but clearly not enough. I thought I'd save that for the stress points. Where do you think those are? Vent/arch/chimney or the rest of the dome?

[egalecki]

Re: Michigan WFO

How many bags did you have, and how big is your oven? I used 3 bags of heat stop and still made my own- I used the home brew to fill in the gaps around the outside. My oven's a 36".

I used the fireclay from cutting my bricks- I saved it all along in a bucket. I used the ratio in the plans of sand, fireclay, lime and portland. It's a pretty good mortar to work with.

I was pretty fussy about spilling, picking up and reusing blobs I dropped, etc. I have very little left over, but I did make it through. If you've saved your fireclay, go ahead and make your own. It's good stuff. I didn't use it in the arches or in the dome proper, just for pointing up the outside and cladding.

[Les]

Re: Michigan WFO

Mike,

I used one bag of heat stop in the beginning, most of it going on the lower levels and the arch. After that, I started using the home made - I only went through one bag of sand so I tossed the rest of the Portland, clay, and lime. I did borrow about a quart of refmix from Acoma for my flue. With that said, I would estimate that it took less than 4 bags for the build.

Les...

[Derocherconstruction]

Re: Michigan WFO

No one has done a finer job on the fit and finish of a brick oven Mike. Open that wallet up and buy what you need...We have cooked over 150 pizzas since the 4th of July. Once your project is done and the pizza parties starts the cost of the oven really doesn't matter. You are doing a job that everyone is amazed at, perfect cuts and fit. You must have been a bricklayer in Rome in an earlier life!!! The material costs add up fast, but when it's done, you'll only look back on the fun of the build, not the extra dollars involved. Keep up the fine work, looks great...Those pizzas are getting closer with every brick! Jim

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

You must have been a bricklayer in Rome in an earlier life!!! Jim

That's funny! Certainly made my day. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Bricklaying is quite a divergence from my day to day work. I'm going to miss it once the dome is done.

As far as the wallet goes, I've opened it up, but it's empty!! I might have to dip into the wine cellar budget

[fullback66]

Re: Michigan WFO

Mike,
Did you ever go and watch the Lions practice at SVSU?
fb66

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

FB66,

No. I've only lived in Saginaw for 4-5 years. I think the Lions moved their training camp to Allen Park in 2002 (I could be mistaken). Nonetheless, I missed out.

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

I tried mixing my own mortar, but was not happy with the consistency. I'm sure it would hold up well, but I've been spoiled with using HeatStop up until now. I followed Jim's advice and "opened up my wallet" for a fourth, and hopefully final, bag of heatstop.

I almost completed the 10th course today. A few bricks short. The wet saw woke my baby up from his nap. That didn't go over well



A few more nice days, and I think I might make it to the keystone before snow!!

[dbhansen]

Re: Michigan WFO

Lookin' great, Mike! Wisconsin is sending you some nice dome-building weather as we speak.

[Les]

Re: Michigan WFO

Mike,

Did you use the FB receipt? I found it to work pretty well, not as good as heat stop, but a fraction of the cost. Also, get the finest sand possible.

Les...

[egalecki]

Re: Michigan WFO

Mike,

Did you use the FB receipt? I found it to work pretty well, not as good as heat stop, but a fraction of the cost. Also, get the finest sand possible.

Les...

yeah, and you really have to prepare smaller batches of dry mix so you can do a good job of mixing them. I don't think I made up more than a gallon dry at any one time. And I still had to keep mixing the dry stuff up- it settles out if you don't, and I did have some issues upon occasion with it not needing the same amount of water added to each batch. It worked great, though. Solid as a rock even with the variations.

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

Thanks for the tips. I did use the FB recipe for mortar. Perhaps the sand wasn't fine enough, Les. It didn't have a smooth texture like the heatstop does. It seemed grainy, no matter how much I mixed it. Even with experimenting with different amounts of water. As it set up, the outer surfaces, or little bits that had stuck to the outsides of bricks, seemed very dry and crumbly. Today, however, those areas are rock hard.

My experience should in no way discourage another builder from using the FB recipe for mixing their own mortar, especially if you have any masonry experience. I think my inexperience scared me off a little bit.

I also found this old post from Unofornaio (what ever happened to him? He contributed a great deal to some of the old threads in this forum)

"... Id say defiantly stick with what you have been using. If you switch you may have different expansion issues ..."

Not sure if it really matters. Either way, I have one more bag of heatstop coming.

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

Thanks for the good weather coming this weekend, Daren! (new Avatar? Looks good!)

[mfiore]

Re: Michigan WFO

11th course done. I'm moving at a snails pace. I thought I would cruise once I cleared the arch, especially these upper courses, with fewer bricks and all. It seems to be taking me twice as long. All bricks have to be cut funny to get them aligned. Takes longer to set up before I can move to the next brick.

I hope to see the keystone soon!

I was going to climb in and clean up a little bit. I read the threads about cleaning mortar off brick with Muriatic Acid. Where can I find that stuff? I didn't see it at the regular spots (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc).

Thanks

[Dakota Earth]

Re: Michigan WFO

Mike,

Menard's carries it for sure - sunnyside brand... $4-5 a gallon.

Dan Avery