Cooter's pompei

[egalecki]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Initially, I left my bricks in the water for days- I'd cut some and put them in a 5 gallon bucket. I would pull out 5 or 6 pieces at a time and mix up some mortar and go to it. There was a definite difference between the first brick and the last one as far as ease of sticking went. Eventually I just let them finish bubbling and pulled them. Sometimes, though, you'll have to stick it back in the water for a second if the surface gets too dry. I suspect it's different when it's not 100 degrees out too...

[Cooter]

Re: Cooter's pompei

I'm lucky to be having a very pleasant run of weather in the low 20's as I imagine high temps would add another variable to the fun.
I think the relatively high clay content of the mix predisposes it to shrinkage,so if the drying down can be slowed down the cracking is reduced
Yesterday went well,with quite a few bricks sacrificed the the oven gods trying to think and cut in three dimensions.The chain that marries into the entry arch particularly
My really big lesson for the day was that if you leave your hands in wet gloves working with mortar too long your finger tips turn to jelly and split !

I have learnt this lesson before,but i am obviously a slow learner and will have to suffer consequences today
T finish the final chains I have cut a piece of ply to prop up under the top opening and will do the old sand sculpting trick

Cheers Cooter

[Salv B]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Hi Cooter,

The dome is looking great. Im so jealous - all I have at the moment is a cement foundation.
Can I ask you - are you tapering all your bricks for the dome courses?

Cheers

Salv

[dickydiedoe]

Re: Cooter's pompei

cooter after watching my father inlaw who was a bricky/stone mason for many years before he passed away .when on the build he used to hose down the bricks in there stacks between each batch of motar mixing ? he said this prevented the mortar drying out to quick when layed so he could make minor adjustments but you are 100% rite a dry brick on a hot day with this sort of mortar would be a nightmare so if it works for you then i would keep doing it. good brick layers dampen there bricks all the time (well old shool ones like my father inlaw did on hot or very warm arvo's)
richard

[Cooter]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Salv
Its been a very solid day,and not over yet
I have just had the satisfaction of placing the the final keystone in so am having a beer to celebrate
As far as the bricks go its been a bit of a mix.
The first chain I sat flat on the oven floor on edge. The next 3 chains i used just straight half bricks using mortar to fill in the gaps.From then on i tapered the bricks (6 chains i think)
Its pretty slow going which requires quite a bit of mental gymnastics
The system i eventually settled apon was to have a stack of half bricks on hand ,cut a group of them roughly to shape, and used a 4 inch angle grinder with diamond blade to fine tune them before placing them in position
There is probably a more efficient and mathematical way of doing it,but its what worked best for me
I will upload a few photo's tomorrow

cheers cooter

[dickydiedoe]

Re: Cooter's pompei

yippy more oven porn keep it comming cooter.

richard

[Cooter]

Re: Cooter's pompei

After my celebration beer i intended to mix another batch and start a top coat but my back said Noooo !
So tidied up and had a second celebratory beverage and come in to post the days progress

The last thumbnail attachment is a pic of the guide I used to do the first 4 chains
It basically uses the same principal as the piece of string method,but I found had a couple of extra benefits
The length of timber has a hinge which I pinned to my centre point of the floor
The little block of wood at the required distance supported the brick being layed long enough for it so set in position without really impeding progress, and by having a square surface resting on the brick it provides 2 consistent angles for the half bricks

The next research and decisions are the entrance and flue
I sussed out stainless 6" flueing at a local combustion heater shop,and it runs to $46 per 900mm with a cap costing another $95
On those results i called into a salvage yard with no joy,but will do a ring around to other yards to see if it is available second hand

I live in a part of the Adelaide hills which has a pretty high bushfire risk and would appreciate anyones experience with" spark arresters'

Cheers cooter

[dickydiedoe]

Re: Cooter's pompei

hey cooter nice job
when it comes to spark arresters though i would think that not many sparks will be comming out of the flu ? is the flu going to be on the top of the entry arch?
away i saw on the wfo mentioned about that my friends brother built he just used some s/s termite mesh on the top of chimney inbetween the last brick course the flu was only used as as liner and had brick surrounds with a 10" terra cotta pot with the bottom cut off as the cimney top .
richard

[Salv B]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Hi Cooter,

Thanks for the info on the brick tapering, I'm still deciding whether I should even taper at all. I am also interested in what you do with the chimney and vent. I've done some preliminary ringing aroud Adelaide and flu prices are around $70 for an 8" stainless steel, 900 mm in length. Are you planning a fabricated steel vent?
Re the spark arrestor, fellow Adelaideian, NissanNeill has posted some stuff on making one up - it would be worth a look - sorry but I cant remember where the post was.
I hope you celebrated your achievements with some good South Aussie beer!

Cheers

Salv

[nissanneill]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Hi Grant,
check out my thread:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...ster-2333.html

for a few ideas on what I did.
I live almost on the boundary of the Sturt George National Park and although I have never seen any flame nor sparks coming from the oven, I made and installed one to satisfy some fellow members.

Give me a call if you have any queries.
Also do you want to drop down on Sunday as I'm cranking up the oven for pizzas and the some sourdough bread baking.

Neill

[Cooter]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Reading about Tims first firing with his gourmet toppings is an inspiration

The vent and flue area is coming along slowly
I have been very impressed with the durability of the diamond blade in the drop saw
Before starting the vent area I thought a new composite blade would make life easier as it would be able to go through the brick in 1 go
Well 15 cuts later it was prety much stuffed so it had cost $1 a cut
Put the trusty diamond blade back in and cut bricks all day
I have a stainless base plate for the flue left over from a pottery kiln so am going to try and create a manifold up to it with brickwork
Another dusty day ahead!

[dickydiedoe]

Re: Cooter's pompei

hey there cooter can you tell me what the nails are for on the dome? the oven is looking good ! i want to start mine but it is now getting very hot here in the port pirie so i will start it next autum this will give me some time to get the area ready over summer and remodel the patio end and also to collect more besser blocks for the base.
how big was the diameter of your oven again ?
thanks richard

[nissanneill]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Looking good Cooter,
Ain't it great when you are making progress.
Give me a yell if you get stuck or need a hand.

Neill

[Cooter]

Re: Cooter's pompei

Thanks guys
I put the nails in the dome when i put the crust layer over the bricks as something to anchor my chicken wire to.
They may not be necessary in which case I will pluck them out,but just thought it would provide me with a way of achieving some firmness over the blanket as i apply the vermiculite concrete
I will soon know as i'm hoping to make a start on this today
Have decided to make the vent transition to the flue with brickwork which has turned out to be a real head scratcher
The long strips in the photo are offcuts of kiln shelving which are coming in very handy and should handle the load

[Cooter]

Re: Cooter's pompei

The chimney/ vent area has turned out to be the trickiest part of the built so far,but wouldn't be if i were to do it all again ..I guess all builders think that
The nails i placed in the dome skin worked a treat to attach the chicken wire to over the fibre so was able to move on quickly to the insulating layer
I soon found that was like rounding up cats
the trowel was next to useless and resorted to spreadind it on by 'gloved " hand
Managed to get about an inch all over and hope the next layer will have something to bite into
I'm starting to smell pizza!

cheers cooter