Hello from Bathurst, Australia

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Love the doors that people make with glass dishes so tracked down some really old Pyrex pie dishes. Hopefully one is the right size and we can replicate the beautiful doors I have been drooling over.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

measured the marble that I might use for the hearth entrance.

The hearth entrance doesnt get exceptionally hot but it does get very hot, dont know how marble will handle the heat?

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Well progressing slowly at the moment. I managed to get my planning (exempt) application drawn up and into council. So hopefully should get the go ahead this week. Also picked up the fire clay and measured the marble that I might use for the hearth entrance. Also confirmed a couple of sources of perlite and vermiculite in the big bags, nice people at elders in widsor have them in stock at a great price. Did a mockup of the oven with entry arch in cardboard so I could check the placement and that I could see the internal spaces from my seating area.
This week I want to:
Clean up some of my reclaimed bricks.
Make the floor template.
Start levelling the area.
Want to find a source of old wood fire heaters as I might be able to scavange handles or glass from them.
That will probably be enough to do. Can't wait to get the go ahead though.
So funny I was thinking about the project the other night and I understand what people mean now when they say they can taste the pizza and bread already. Ha ha ha.

[Gulf]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Origional post by SpottedFrog

Also my little man is teething so is very clingy at the moment

.

Rosemary,
For teething fever and pain, we use a necklace made from nettle root. I have heard that it grows all over the world. I've raised several kids and a few grandkids. The stuff works. We dig and wash the roots of the plant, cut in sections, and make a necklace strung from sewing thread. When all else fails it will cut the fever and the fretting of a young one. I have converted several young parents who did not believe in folk remedies, who now swear by it. Over here it is a garden weed mostly found in cultivated garden sites. It is usually harvested near the end of the growing season in overgrown vegetable gardens.
I hope this plant grows in your neck of the woods. You might want to do a search of nettle root or other folk remedies for your area.

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Thanks for the thoughts Neill. I popped out and measured the vent transition and it is only a tiny bit smaller than the 20cm diametre flue I will be using. A mere 23cmsquare difference so at this stage it will be staying. I have been thinking of may e making a vaulted arch and I have seen some smashing draft doors to enhance the start off period. Anyway. I've decided to use black grout/cement on the outer arch just incase.
Been a wet week in Bathurst so not much done on the cleaning of the bricks. Also my little man is teething so is very clingy at the moment. Picking up the fire clay and the marble for my entry this weekend. Might also stop in at field furnace guys in Sydney. Not sure depends on how the day goes.

[nissanneill]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Rosemary,
looking at your pictures of the flue transition, I will lay money on the fact that you WILL GET SMOKE OUT THE FRONT as the transition is way too small to collect and direct the smoke and heat up the chimney. Go the extra and make it much bigger to prevent it. Mine is quite large and the only time that I have had smoke out the front was when some 'purchased dry redgum firewood at $320/tonne' refused to burn nicely so I took to it with a petrol leaf blower at full throttle. That made a hell of a difference, almost melt steel in the oven then! You also need to have an 8" (or sorry for the non metric members) a 200mm flue. It will draw much better than the smaller 6" (150mm)!

Neill

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

So as this is suppose to be the intro section. I'll introduce myself and then start a new thread with the build process.
Living in Bathurst on maternity leave at the moment. Thought I would have lots of time for interesting projects. HA, HA, HA. My munchkin is a very busy little man. Hubby loves the idea of the oven and we are starting to fine tune the design after looking at lots of photos and threads. We both love Bathurst, not too hot or cold and close enough to the big smoke to pop down for the weekend.

[nissanneill]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Hi Rosemary,
your hearth or cooking floor height should be where you can see without bending over or standing on tippy toes. This can cause a problem if the owners are both tall and short, but as I learned many years ago, always build things to suit yourself, everyone else will need to adapt!
Once you have established a hearth height, deduct your floor thickness and get your base + insulation to that height.
Also, rather than putting the oven way down the back, put it just off your deck where it is close to all your amenities and also close to deck cover if you have it, allowing the oven use year round rather than braving the elements!

Cheers.

Neill

[Gulf]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

This is just my 2 cents worth. Err on the side of at least 4 inches too high. You can always increase the height of the area that you stand on in front of the oven, but it would be hell to jack up a WFO .

[david s]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

The consensus is about elbow height.

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

hmmm,
something else i have been wondering about is how to work out just high from the ground I should be building the floor of the oven. I have not really seen anyone talk about this, except to say you don't want it too low. I have the Pompeii plans and may have missed this. I get that you work backwards from the floor down to the slab but thats where i loose it. I was thinking quite low but seeing the photos of other peoples builds I realise that is not right. Do you aim for chest height? Any suggestions welcome.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Rosemary,

Good for you to be able to scrouge around and find materials to use. Especially your brick. You guys/gals have to pay such a premium for you fire brick Looking forward to seeing the construction pics.

[david s]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

5 mm should last several years. Heat will accelerate any corrosion. If your oven is outdoors and gets wet at all this won't help either. I prefer to avoid anything that will corrode, but you should get plenty of life out of 5mm.

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

Been a good week for materials. Scored some more bricks. Found some really old thin bricks that should work well for the decorative external arch. A mate has some re-enforcing mesh I can have for the slab as well as some lime for the mortar and picked up some fire clay on eBay. Next week I'm going to source lintels and file the paperwork with council.

[SpottedFrog]

Re: Hello from Bathurst, Australia

David,
Nope it is welded steel about 5 mm thick, pretty old but only very light surface rust from being outside for a few years so I think it should do the job.
ATK406,
Yes I think being able to see to fire is pretty important too. We were originally going to have the WFO on the back deck untill we realized how big it ends up being. So now it is down the bottom but should still be close enough.