Newbie In Mexico building Pompeii oven

[powderskier]

Hi all great info on the fourm. Glad I found it before I got too far ahead.
looking for input on some ideas being its hard to get materials.
I cant get firebrick or refractory mortar but ive got a lot of pumice and bricks, caĺled lights, made from pumice. I was going to do a double wall with these bricks 10 cm apart then fill the gap with pumice. I'm seeing that the pumice bricks maybe too insulative to make a heat sink. After seeing a 35 year old adobe dome oven the other day I thought I should emulate. So now I'm going to get abobe bricks made angled on all 4 sides to use less mortar. Make mortar from Adobe mud powder, lime, cement and swimming pool sand.
the second dome will be the pumice blocks.
Any tips or tricks? Thanks in advance.

[Gulf]

Hi Powderskier,

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like that you already have your plan. However, I would suggest doing a little more research on the forum before jumping in. If you haven't already, download the free Pompeii Oven Plans. Check out several builds on the forum. There are several on our forum from Mexico. One that may peak your interest is the Guana Juato Build by Jubilado. Another Short thread by Jubilado is Material Sources in Mexico.

Researching some builds can bring a lot of things into light. For one, your plan on tapering the adobie brick on all for sides to use less mortar. The top side may be a problem with the set in an "IT" . That's another search.

Though, you did not give the proportions for your mortar, it is similar to what we call "home brew". That is a a very good and inexpensive choice for mortar. Some have used this for the entire oven dome which can be found under a search for "cast oven" builds.

I'm looking forward to following your oven build.

[powderskier]

Thanks Gulf for responding. I do have a "plan" but as I have said to everyone, I'll change my idea as soon as I see anything better. I have already stopped going ahead with doublevwall pumice brick and going adobe inside and pumice outside. Thanks for the Mexico links. I'll check them out.
also definitely learning a bit more about the angles and bevels. I was hoping someone had previous experience using the Mexican pumice bricks. I put a torch on them hot tip for over half an hour and the brick had no signs of wear.
I'm building 42 in. inside dia dome and 56 inch outside diameter domes. Again thank you for your response. I've got the base built, 10 in. Pumice Crete. I'm waiting for the basalt slabs for the floor. They are 1 in. Thick I'm using 2 layers.

[Gulf]

Your welcome. Here is a google search for "pumice brick forno bravo".
This is a search of the forum for "pumice".
Here is a google search basalt forno bravo.
There are other Mexican builds on the forum. You may do some searching and find one that is closer to what you want to do. There are many builders on the forum who don't keep up with it after completing their builds. They may not see the questions in your thread. But, if you find a build thread during your searches that is related to your questions, you can pm or visitor message them through the forum. You can also include a an "@" in front of their "user name" within any open post. That will send them an email alert in most cases. IE: "@" + "powderskier" = powderskier .

You mentioned putting a torch to the pumice brick. I would be more concerned with the adobe brick as they will be nearest the flame. It is not just will they will stand the temperature of one fire up. It's how they react to multiple firings after multiple cool downs. I am impressed with the adobe dome that you mentioned in your first post. Since adobe can vary from region to region, I would do some research on what soils and mix were used in that oven.

[powderskier]

Thanks for the links and the tip on the @. I've talked to a few people down here and even the simple ovens last forever its the wood frame tables they build on that fall apart. I'll take some photos of the adobe oven and put them up. Still trying to understand the fourm architecture a bit. There's so much info.

[powderskier]

1. Here are photos of near by restaurant adobe oven still used on holidays. 35 years old. Adobe brick on log base. Mud mortar and Adobe mud covering. Oven is about 1 meter inside dia. 39 inches. Inside you can see some loss of mortar and outside cracking on slip coat,but I would think it's been that way for most of its life

[Gulf]

The pics may need resizing to fit the forums specs. It looks like you were loading them as “Attachments”. Try the camera icon on a new post after downsizing them.

[powderskier]

OK I'll try again. 35 year old still in use adobe only oven.

[powderskier]

Here is another adobe only oven about 20 years old still being used.

[Gulf]

I'm glad that you've got the pics down pat now. Seeing and hearing about old ovens is always interesting to me.