started my build and have some questions.

[staestc]

I'm very familiar with sketch up, but have only scratched the surface with FreeCAD. Mostly only played with part module and part design workbenches. Is there a FreeCAD thread on Fornobravo?

[JRPizza]

No, I'm pretty sure there isn't. I thought about starting one, but never got around to it. That said it might be helpful to have a thread of at least something like "Using FreeCad to plan out your oven".
If you do a forum search though, you can find where I walked a few folks through the process and there might be something helpful there for you. I too really have only scratched the surface with FreeCad. I played with the architecture module a little when I created the "patio view" but find the two part modules do everything I need. They allowed me to model the important parts of the oven, create views so my Wife could see what I was planning on doing, and I have even created a few parts to print with my son's 3D printer.

[staestc]

Sorry for hijacking the thread. I'll keep playing with FreeCAD but will stick with sketchup most likely. My outdoor kitchen and WFO pictures from like 7 years ago are in the outdoor kitchen thread somewhere . Thanks for the feed back folks, and I will pursue the forum a bit more. I don't think FreeCAD was even around back when I did my original designs!

[autumncs]

hey everyone,

I've been missing in action for about a month work has been crazy, and working for yourself it falls on you,lol. And the weather here has been crazy, hot, cold, wet, wet with floods and stupid 100km (60mph) winds. This with spring which I keep some bees there doesn't seem to enough hours in the day and then the young family.

I'm hoping to organise bricks and extras this week and start building the oven,I've been advised by the commander and chief that it needs to be working Mid November, I'm hoping I've left myself time. The days are getting longer now so some after hours might get me over the line.

I have another couple of questions,

I'm getting a dry saw to cut the bricks,I couldn't justify the cost of a wet saw, what is the watch out for? I know the dust is going to be a killer.

Is there any advantage to using full bricks? just a crazy thought of a longer "cook" time but for my limited space I'm thinking not for this build.

My supplier of the bricks has a remix mortar, how easy is it to f*** up the home cooked version? if I can get the supplies.

[SableSprings]

You are definitely not alone in the "life has been crazy" class of 2016. Mid November is going to be a little tight for being up and running...especially if SWMBO wants the "finish" to include making it look finished .

Dry cutting: You are in for plenty of dust, but if you soak the bricks first they will cut a bit easier and there won't be so much dust. There are several builders that have purchased a brick chisel and simply whacked the bulk of the bricks in half. It actually works far better than most people expect.

Full bricks: Twice as many needed ($) & lots more wood to bring the oven up to baking temps. Pizza definitely not the primary focus for your use of the oven. The return/cost investment on a Pompeii dome doesn't seem worth it to me...if you were building a barrel vault and thinking of lots of bread (+50 loaves a bake) several times a week, it would be a better investment IMHO. If you insulate well, you'll have at least 3-4 days of cooking time with the "normal" half brick construction. Pizza, breads, roasts, beans ...planning meals & items based on the gradual loss of heat from the oven works well for lots of folks with "half-brick" ovens (not to be read half-baked ) ovens and a plan. I usually do 15-20 loaves of bread and have enough residual heat to easily bake a 20 lb turkey the same day with a batch of baked beans the next day on the single firing with my 39" Pompeii.

If you buy pre-mixed high temp mortar and only cut bricks in half, you'll be spending a lot of money for the pre-mix to fill the gaps. The home brew works really well, is difficult to f*** up, and will be a lot less expensive. Note also that the pre-mixed stuff generally says in the directions to only use for max 1/8-1/4" (2-4 mm) gaps and that's virtually not going to be what you end up with if you don't do angled and beveled cuts on each brick. Go with the home brew!

Looking forward to your progress!

[thevance53@gmail.com]

I just finished most of my brickwork on my 42" oven with home brew. It is really hard to mess it up. I just used a small storage container for the mix proportions and made either a single batch or a double batch at a time. I have a mister attachment on the hose and when it stiffens up a little, just a touch of water makes it workable again. you spend more time making small batches, but it is easier to keep the mix workable with the smaller batches. I just used the bottom of a 5 gal bucket and mixed everything by hand.

[gastagg]

autumncs, I would second SableSprings. Use home brew, you'll save a ton and it is easy to mix. Looks like you're cutting bricks and not going whole bricks, which I think most everyone would recommend. You're looking for quick heat up. Also, on front end, I wish I would have doubled my floor insulation from 2" of CalSil to 4" I even had a cheap source but didn't do it. I also went with igloo and stuccoed right over the lathe on top of the blanket. I have a 33" oven and have done parties up to 50 people eating within a 2hr window and with some help, get 3-4 pizza in at a time. Don't know what you're work schedule is, but getting it done by mid-Nov would be great! Keep us posted on the progress!

[autumncs]

autumncs, I have a 33" oven and have done parties up to 50 people eating within a 2hr window and with some help, get 3-4 pizza in at a time. Don't know what you're work schedule is, but getting it done by mid-Nov would be great! Keep us posted on the progress!

Thanks @Gasstagg 33" is about what I'm looking at doing.

With the sheet insulation here it seems that it's very expensive as in approx 3 ' by 7 ' by 1" sheet from one supplier was going to cost $360. I have another company looking for me. On the other hand I may not need to buy the blanket as I have a customer who uses it for there furnace and said I could have some. I don't know how much some is but some is better than none.

[autumncs]

I do have another question.

With the first course I'm soldiering them the Pompeii oven plans says to cut them length ways, do you taper them?

[UtahBeehiver]

Our Southern Hemi bros have to deal with such expensive material costs. Consider using perlite or vermiculite/cement 5 to 1 ratio. Not as good as ceramic fiber board so requires more thickness but it is a possible cost saving option. Roughly a .70-.75 K factor (P/Cmix) vs .55-.60 K factor (CF board). You do not need to taper soldiers unless you want to. Remember you do not need to follow the Pompeii plans 100% in fact the plans are somewhat dated and many new innovations have been developed recently.

[gastagg]

MrChipster recommended that I don't do soldier, but instead stacked 1/2 bricks to get the height I wanted before starting the arch. I think there was some concern about the stability.

[autumncs]

So I've found a supplier of some insulation board, I don't know what it is but their supplier says it's perfect for the under floor of a WFO, I'll find out what it is on Monday. They only come in 1000 x 600 mm (about 3' 4" x 2') sheets or if I wanted to special order larger sheets from Denmark. Well no let's get this oven moving.

I've cut the floor tiles to suit and it has been set to what fnbroken suggested 810mm diameter. Gee the wet tiles were easy to cut with a diamond blade. I'm gong to have to buy a diamond blade for the cut off saw, used the angle grinder for the floor tiles.

I've decided to soldier the first row however I'm going to use full bricks, 3 reasons here, less cutting, a bit more thermal mass and maybe a bit more stability while building.

I do have more questions, well one main one, I'm under the pump time wise, will more people helping slow up the process or speed it up? It seems like mainly a one person job and I know some jobs take longer with more people.

[autumncs]

OK finally got building the dome today. I've built mrchipster 's jig with a little problem of not building the jig with a cut out which made the 3rd cut difficult. And 3 of us debating the angles with the jig.

The board from the local supplier was ceramic fiber broad, and at $33 a sheet more reasonable than the $360 from Melbourne.

Hopefully tomorrow is a fine day so I can do the next couple of courses.

[JRPizza]

will more people helping slow up the process or speed it up? It seems like mainly a one person job and I know some jobs take longer with more people.

I know what you mean about more can be slower, I call it "subtraction by addition". That said, having a helper at this stage of the build can be valuable if they don't mind doing the "grunt work". If you have your bricks cut, having a helper mix your mortar and do all the cleanup can save you a bunch of time. Sometimes it seemed like I spent almost as much time cleaning up the saw, my tools and all the buckets etc., plus mixing mortar (both my dry and wet mix), as I did laying bricks.

[autumncs]

JRPizza yep i had 3 others here yesterday at one point, 1 was doing other work for me and i the other 2, worked on me having a problem with cutting the bricks (because of my self doubt) and we spent a couple of hours working it out until i went lets just trusted the spreadsheet.

i have a small cement mixer which i mixed the mortar in. I'm changing to a paint stirrer and a bucket. the mortar just stuck to the sides of the mixer.

well better go and do some more coarse.