First rough draft oven design - Want comments

[clofgreen]

Re: First rough draft oven design - Want comments

Wow, these are great comments.

Tscarborough: Shooting flies with a 12 gauge? Could you elaborate? I shot a sparrow once with a 20 gauge and a squirl with a 30-30. Both created a bloody mess. Is that what you're saying, this is going to be a bloody mess?

dmun: Really? I thought you had to cut every brick in half for the dome. Also, I've read here and elsewhere that the large mortar joints were a problem. In the 3D model most of the joints were all quite thin and the number of cuts were quite low. Hmm. But you are the master jedi oven builder so I better go back and count them again.

Regarding the seams: In some historic Domical arches they run a supporting rib up the seam but it hasn't been shown to add that much more stability. These arches by themselves are very stable, or so the history books say. But they were a lot better craftsmen than I'll ever be. This will be my first ever masonry project. I haven't done too much research on mortar yet but hope to use whatever will be the strongest in a thin joint. Suggestions would be very helpful.

David S: I did a 3D study yesterday and yes, I think I will be able to tie the corners.

Mike D: I've read the section regarding dome vs. vault several times and frankly I'm not convinced that for general post-fire cooking (which will make up the bulk of my cooking) that there is much difference. Unless I find someone who has built the Domical arch oven and tells me it flat out doesn't work I'll proceed with this design, if nothing else just to add to the knowlege base of what works and what doesn't.

Craig

[Mike D]

Re: First rough draft oven design - Want comments

Everyone says a round oven works better. Read the section in the plans why. That design doesn't look any easier than a dome anyway. (kind of a fun idea though)

-good luck

Mike

[david s]

Re: First rough draft oven design - Want comments

Can you stagger those bricks on the corner seams so they tie into the corners better?

[dmun]

Re: First rough draft oven design - Want comments

I'm not convinced that it's any less cutting than a standard pompeii, unless you try for the perfect fit, but it looks cook and I wish you luck. I'm just a tad concerned about the four giant running seams going from top to bottom. What mortar are you planning to use?

[Tscarborough]

Re: First rough draft oven design - Want comments

It will certainly work and be a piece of art, but it is shooting flies with a 12 gauge.

[clofgreen]

I'm totally new to this forum as well as the idea of building an oven. I hope people can give me some advice. I'm building the oven for just my wife and I. We'll bake bread twice a month and an occassional pizza, maybe a roast, or corn on the cob, etc. I'm building it mainly as a failsafe against a long term power outage so want to build it on the cheap.

I happened to find a great deal (I think) on high quality firebricks. They were destined to go inside some ovens at a steel mill but they changed their minds. Here are the bricks I got. The small ones were 35 cents apiece, the large ones were 50 cents apiece and the arched one is a dollar. The small piece has 60% alumina, the others 45%. Is this too high?



I thought I'd make a 3 foot by 3 foot oven (interior dimensions). I'll use the larger bricks for the hearth. The arched pieces give me a 10.5 inch high by 15.5 inch wide doorway. 10.5 is exactly 63% of the interior dome height.



I don't own a tile saw so will be borrowing a neighbors. Since I don't want to do a bunch of cuts, I came up with a domical vault design that (I think) will combine the advantages of a dome with the simple construction of a vault. At least this is the idea. Since the vault brick pieces are tapered, I can get by with a very thin joint except where I want it to curve more to give me a slightly lower ceiling. Also, I'm not sure if 3 inches of brick is enough for hearth and dome. I guess I could add an inch or so of refractory conc if needed.




I'll frame the opening with a stack of the smaller bricks that match the height of the arched piece. I'll fabricate a vent over that.



I'd really appreciate some feeback since I'd like to start on this right away. Thanks for a really good forum.

Craig