New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Gudday Steve
MK 2 ..... I like it,its balanced both in its buttressing strength and the " low line" of the front . I think it will work well with the slim steel chimney.
Regards dave

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Thanks Dave - Now that's sorted it is onwards and upwards again. Just got advice that the ceramic blanket material has arrived at the place you recommended. Might go get it on Friday.

In the meantime it is perfect weather for drying things here at the moment and perfect for chasing a fish and crab while the oven dries some.

Cheers ............. Steve

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

The ultimate arch! Just found a load of creative wood stacking pics.

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Gudday
Good one!
.....wouldn't the termites love that house. Couldn't do that in QLD
Regards dave

[brickie in oz]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Version 2 looks a lot better, did you cheat and wedge the arch for in to hold it and just take down the side bricks?
I would have......

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

I took the arch out in a couple of pieces, built the pillars again and 'reinserted' the arch pieces (with a little adjustment) with the assistance of the arch form.

Lesson for the day - Do it right and do it once!

At least I am confident that it is there to stay now.

Cheers ............. Steve

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Picked up the ceramic fibre "wool" on Friday after an adventure to the city. Had the opportunity to have a look at a local precast oven and was somewhat perplexed by the flue placement (well up the dome). I suppose it works but it looks strange after everything I have read here. It was interesting to see what refractory products are out there.

Happy to have gone down the trail of stacking bricks now! I will start curing my oven tomorrow.

Cheers........... Steve

[brickie in oz]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

and was somewhat perplexed by the flue placement (well up the dome). I suppose it works but it looks strange after everything I have read here.

But it wont work well, thats the difference.

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

That's what I thought when I saw it.

First fire in mine today and pleased to report that most of the smoke went up the flue and only a couple of hairline cracks. I expect that they will grow as things hot up during the week.


Cheers ............ Steve

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Picked up the ceramic fibre "wool" on Friday after an adventure to the city. Had the opportunity to have a look at a local precast oven and was somewhat perplexed by the flue placement (well up the dome). I suppose it works but it looks strange after everything I have read here. It was interesting to see what refractory products are out there.

Happy to have gone down the trail of stacking bricks now! I will start curing my oven tomorrow.

Cheers........... Steve

Gudday Steve
There are heaps of different ovens at there. A lot of those "commercial" oven kits are built to a price and ease of built I suppose. I know of 6 ovens now. They all work and there owners are proud of them and I would never be critical of there work.....but I know enough to say here I recon the forno the better design.
So onto curing fires now good idea I recon to cure now before insulating the dome.
Regards dave

[brickie in oz]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Steve.
One thing I did notice is the strap holding the flue up, if it is alloy as I suspect from the looks of it, the alloy will react with the stainless flue and one will become a cathode and one will become a anode, one will rot away real quickly.

Both of them need to be of the same material to avoid this.

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Thanks Al - will fix that so it doesn't become a problem, some s/s strap should remedy it.

Hey Dave - I hear what you are saying. A bit like beer, all good just some a bit better than others. I feel a bit privileged to have the time to just build this from start to finish on one roll and respect the tenacity of those who have been soldiering on for a very long time in their valued spare time.

There are probably lots of people who would not have the pleasure that comes with a WFO for a lot of reasons without the kits that go together quickly.

There are probably a lot of people like me who would have found building one much more difficult without this forum and the assistance it provides too.

Thanks and Cheers ............. Steve

[Greenman]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

The curing fires are done and the coals of the last fire are on the way down as I write this. I cured the oven without the insulation. There seems to be multiple schools of thought about that but the ambient temps here are not extreme and frankly it made sense to me to have a way out for the moisture as the heat drives it out. There are some small cracks in the mortar but they have settled back to be nothing much (the pic was taken when the oven was very hot but the exterior had not saturated). The inside has no evidence of cracks.

Tomorrow I will put the ceramic 'wool' insulation on, the chicken wire and start on the vermicrete layer. I am thinking of applying the vermicrete in a couple of layers to allow it to dry more easily. Would a couple of days between layers be of use for this purpose? Also, how long is good before applying the stucco?

There has been some mention of leaving a vent for moisture to escape the dome. Would anyone care to expand on the notion?

Other than that, I used the later curing fires to cook and am happy with the results. I figure it will just get better from here.

Cheers .......... Steve

[brickie in oz]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

The curing fires are done

The curing fires take weeks to get all the moisture out, dont take it too quik otherwise you may be sorry you did.

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii at Bundaberg

Gudday Steve

Dome cap mk 11 basically a brass water pipe end cap silastic to the dome. Hole was caste by rolling a bit of cardboard and mortaring around it . Once the mortar had cured the cardboard was wet and soggy and easy to remove. A chain has been attached to the cap and drops down the pipe so "little fingers" don't lose it.
Perhaps a bigger end fitting and cap is made irrigation pipe? , there's a bit of that in you area.
Hope this helps in some way
Regards dave