81 Inch First Build (and first post)

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

and some more detail...the header brick was an end broken off one of the monster bricks..lots of cutting...

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

built the light in tonight, cobbled it up from my wife's bacon pan and some pipe..hope she don't miss it real soon...

[jrparks]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

What a great project! I need an excuse to build 81" WFO...just for a life experience!
Cheers,

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

now here is a loooong peel..;

YouTube - abbotsford convent bakery

that is the oven at Abbotsford convent

I plan on fabbing up some tools...but dont forget, we wont bake pizza in the very corners anyway....the space is to keep our options open....we can bake where the temp is the best. I imagine that 75% of the pizza will be in only 50% of the oven...the rest of the space is just to throw it's thermal mass around..so when someone asks "where do you bake pizza?" we can answer..."anywhere we want".
Roger

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Tonight we got the soldier course to both sides of the arch..left a space for lighting fixture....only problem is....I don't have one to put in there....thinking of making one up from a toaster oven door and metal reflector..



Roger

[PizzaPolice]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Whoa....That bad boy makes my 60" look tiny. You'll want to fully insulate it so your recovery time is lessened.
...Can't imagine where you are going to find any L O N G peels. That' going to be some unwieldy pie wranglin'.


Man...I'd hate to be your stick man.

[MAVANO]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

I'am looking forward to this oven wowww very nice thats my next project a large commercial oven ; LOVE YOUR SIDE ARM

[drogers]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

The photos with you in them makes me realize how large this oven will be. An impressive project.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Nice................

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

I got the idea of using the corner cut-offs in a meaningful way from looking at the geo-dome build of dmun's..thanks guy!

Here is my helper staying warm by the fire...it was cold that day..



the soldier/ skew cutting jig




hard "at it"


Roger

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

My wife was able to help over the weekend, tending bricks and cleaning up after me...as well as overall inspiration, thanks honey!

the first few soldiers ..the foreground is my center post and frame template....things changed when I lowered the dome height from 36" to 24"







several bricks drying out before going to the oven

Roger

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

got the saw working again and set up the jig to cut 90 bricks for the soldier course which will be 8.5 inches tall....using 10 inch brick and cutting the skew angle on the top end..

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Very interesting...and since my brick saw just quit tonight, I have a little more time to work that soldier course height out....ooops..thanks!
Roger

[shuboyje]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

I'll start with the info then get into my speculation. h=d/3.4 is a simple guideline that has been given to approximate the proper height for a pizza oven. It doesn't give you the shape of the ovens found in Naples which is fairly secret, but it gives you a height that is close to what would be found in one of their ovens. I've seen this posted a few times on line, and have been told it is in a few books of brick ovens in Italy. Now for my speculation. One day while researching arches I ran across a three centered arch. To me it looked like a dead ringer for the sketches I had seen of the cross section of a Naples built oven. On a hunch I opened up my cad software and laid one out. In this type of arch the height is dictated by the width. No matter how wide the arch I found h=d/3.4. This leads me to believe the ovens built in Naples use a specialized shape based on a three centered arch modified to make a soldier course work. They have hundred of years of experience building these ovens in Naples, so I am more then happy to go with what they do....

As for a soldier course I feel they are critical in a low dome oven burning efficiently. This is speculation mixed with the experience I have using my oven and some other feedback. Low dome ovens have much less volume over the door then the high dome ovens that are common here. The higher the soldier course the more volume above the door. I personally think the volume over the door forms a "air cushion" that holds heat in the oven and makes them more efficient. Just a theory...but it my mind atleast it has basis.

[dmun]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Yeah, I've never figured out what the soldier course is for. It's traditional, but to my mind it just makes it weaker. Your huge low dome is going to have a lot of side thrust, and putting it up on stilts is going to accentuate the problem.