Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

[stonecutter]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Mortar should not be cured by fire.

[mikku]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

My oven is not brick, but isn't there a routine for slow burns to cure the mortar? If not, that is the way to go!

[ronwass]

First curing fire

No insulation and wet wood, so I couldn't get it up much over 250 degrees.

Two blankets of insulation on order, along with the chimney mounting plate, 24 inch chimney 6 inch diameter, and cap. With shipping about $500. Not cheap. There go all my savings from my Craigslist bricks.

[mikku]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

My starting method is bottom ups!

I place a 2x4 that has been split in half- so now it is about 38x45mm on each side of my starting fire pile. Then I'll put a cross piece on top so that it elevates the front a little. Then put all kinds of little kindling stuff on top of the cross beam. On top of that larger and larger until I'm back to 38x45 stuff, which is half of a 2x4! I have to throw the plug in for 2x4 because I build North American 2x4 Housing in Japan...and 2x4 is what a lot of people are looking for!

now, Brickie is going to SPAM ME for promoting a building style...maybe ---but 2x4,2x4,2x4! Better get a commercial in whenever I can....... But 2x4 is pine or spf (spruce,pine,fir) so it is sappy wood--but usually dry to about 19%...Blah-Bla-bla!

When the little mountain of kindling is complete, I light a fire using a propane soldering torch...Nothing special--just something that I picked up from any home center. The cylinders are cheap like 2 bucks and they will light these fires many many times before the cylinder is depleted!

BTW my little fire pile is right at the entrance to the dome, what I call the landing...the back of the wood is in the oven, the front is parallel to the tangent of the diameter...Does that make any sense?

Once the fire shows any sign of self ignition; I use my specially sharpened wooden stick (same stick as I use to push the coals around)--it is naturally burned to a point from many coal moving attempts!---Bla-bla-bla and push the pile of kindling to the extreme back of my oven. Sometimes the oven fills with smoke entirely, but if you have patience, a draft begins; the flames start to take on their own energies and the oven becomes illuminated with the light of a freshly lit fire. When this happens, I load as much split oak as I can that completely covers my little pile of kindling--and the wood is piled until it cannot go any higher!

this is what I call--bottom fed, fuel till it chokes itself, blast furnace fireball lighting technique. or BFFTICIBFFLT FOR SHORT!

When this puppy really ignites, it only takes two more loads of good dry oak and the oven will be sizzling HOT!

But back to New York and Mr. Ronwass's build--you are a little early for my technique. Once you got your curing fires done, you can try this is you think the brick oven will take the HEAT like cast refractory mortar!

Now, I am afraid someone is going to interrupt my rant and tell me that...anything you can do, I can do better or cheaper or whatever! This time around the answer will be CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! YOU ARE A BETTER MAN THAN I OR ME... Laurentius you can correct my spelling since you are not going to retract your other comment! Read on and everyone enjoy!

Great find today! wood splitter parts--but this saga is under fire management--I think...so you have to go there for your next installment of BULL S--T from Tochigi Prefecture Japan!

[cobblerdave]

Re: repaired entry arch and first attempt at a fire.

OK, here is my repaired entry arch. I didn't rebuild it, just put some extra mortar in the cracked joint. It makes the column not too straight, but that fits in with the rest of my oven.

The outer arch seems strong enough to hold up the chimney.

This is my second attempt at the chimney base. Note the very long brick along the front. Finally found a use for it.

Ordering my Fornobravo insulating blanket, chimney base plate, 24 inch chimney stack, chimney cap, and my tuscan grill unit this weekend. Might order some flour if the shipping charge is the same.

Couldn't get the curing fire lit because the wood was too wet. Gotta go onto the trail near me to look for some kindling.

Gudday
Just thought I'd mention the top down method of fire lighting.

Basically you build it at the front of the oven just a raft of your bigger kindling. Next build up a "log house" of the next size on top of that the space in the middle of this fill with your combustible . Paper etc i use charcoal left over from the last fire soaked with metho (dentured alcohol ). Finally the real light stuff gets piled on the top . Light and wait till it gets a good flame going and use something like a hoe to push it to the middle of the oven. This is when the magic part begins . You'll get a layer of smoke form for a little while then the oven warms enough and starts to reflect back into the fire and that smoke layer disappears and you'll hardly notice any smoke after that. Unless of course your wood is damp.
Regards dave

[stonecutter]

Re: repaired entry arch and first attempt at a fire.

OK, here is my repaired entry arch. I didn't rebuild it, just put some extra mortar in the cracked joint. It makes the column not too straight, but that fits in with the rest of my oven.

The outer arch seems strong enough to hold up the chimney.

This is my second attempt at the chimney base. Note the very long brick along the front. Finally found a use for it.

Ordering my Fornobravo insulating blanket, chimney base plate, 24 inch chimney stack, chimney cap, and my tuscan grill unit this weekend. Might order some flour if the shipping charge is the same.

Couldn't get the curing fire lit because the wood was too wet. Gotta go onto the trail near me to look for some kindling.

Since you have to buttress the arch, the fact that your bond is still broken, doesn't matter, ( pointing a crack in the joint won't bond the brick)...the buttress is providing the structural support needed.


Just in case anyone is interested...if you build a semi-circular, or pointed arch, the need to buttress goes away for most chimneys.

[mikku]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

I'm just up early and it is Sunday morning!
Really liked that news show when I lived in the USA, is it still on TV?

Poison Ivy? I don't know! I know enough now to wear high rubber boots when walking around in the mornings outdoors! Last week, I was picking some cucumbers and looking at my squash plants --wearing Crocs, no socks and terry cloth knee length shorts. There was still dew on the grass ---I felt a burning and itching sensation to my ankles and calfs and when I looked down, it looked like someone had thrown wet coffee grounds onto my legs! Wow there were all kinds of little biting things making a meal of my untanned chicken legs!

Well the itching and burning has gone away--sprayed alcohol on them after rubbing off the critters -- that is what you get for enjoying early morning quiet in rural Japan!

The wood gathering will be quite the chore. Then you need somewhere to keep the wood dry! The storm downed wood will not always be good for firewood--its going to start rotting and all the BTU's will be lost.

Different note--no need to wait for your parts to arrive. If you are buying a 6" flue starter--the hole will be 6"- that is not going to change, the flange has to be larger because there is at least 1" of insulation or airspace on the piping.--And then it is a little larger than that. I would say that the baseplate without seeing it would be about 12" square, hopefully it is made of stainless steel ... Just make sure you can transition slowly from what you have to this 6" hole opening... You will need a flat surface for the starter section to fasten to.

I just ordered a 6" stainless starter for spiral pipe, had a friend weld a plate to it and made my own insulated chimney and base. But I am trying to be Tim the Tool Guy all the time!

Anyway, build is looking great--keep up the good work! Soon I will be able to smell good pizza fragrances on the Jet Stream originating from NY!

[ronwass]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a trail near here with still tons of trees downed by Superstorm Sandy. Pretty much enough wood for all the pizza's I'll ever want to eat. (And that's a lot.) All I have to do is transport it home first by little red wagon on the trail to my minivan.

I generally walk out there all winter with my Beagle. I stay away in summer because of the poison ivy. Do they have poison ivy in Japan?

I'm going to have one or two more courses of bricks on top of this long narrow trench that will hopefully reduce it gently to the size of the 6 inch chimney base plate. I'm going to wait for delivery so I can match it correctly.

[mikku]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Funny thing, that brings up a new topic--firewood!

If you need to scrounge kindling along paths, what are you going to do when you have to do regular firing once the oven is complete?

I imagine firewood is available in your area to purchase, but what will this precious commodity cost so that you can enjoy your new build?

I just had a big pile of oak logs delivered, but summer is the wrong time to get wood--too much water in the logs! So I am going to end up removing the bark to let it dry quicker. Then comes cutting and splitting!

I am thinking about making a gasoline powered wood splitter but new 4 cycle air cooled engines cost a lot of money. Japan has a lot of "K" vehicles, that means the engines are 600cc--to fit that category. Thinking about just buying a "K" car engine and use that for my power source. They are light but water cooled and should last a bit longer than a Briggs, also have an electric starter. All this BS so that I can feed the "Wood Hungry" WFO and Jotul wood stove in my house!

Back to the "hunter and gatherer" roots of our ancestors!

BTW, how are you going to transition from your long and narrow "transition" to a "round chimney starter"? so that you do not reduce the volume of flow?

Bet all the neighbors are waiting for the first pizza baking session!

[ronwass]

repaired entry arch and first attempt at a fire.

OK, here is my repaired entry arch. I didn't rebuild it, just put some extra mortar in the cracked joint. It makes the column not too straight, but that fits in with the rest of my oven.

The outer arch seems strong enough to hold up the chimney.

This is my second attempt at the chimney base. Note the very long brick along the front. Finally found a use for it.

Ordering my Fornobravo insulating blanket, chimney base plate, 24 inch chimney stack, chimney cap, and my tuscan grill unit this weekend. Might order some flour if the shipping charge is the same.

Couldn't get the curing fire lit because the wood was too wet. Gotta go onto the trail near me to look for some kindling.

[boerwarrior]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Good point Dave

Mine is enclosed and was easy to cover up. Would be much more challenging for an Igloo.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Ron

I built two cheap but effective buttresses out of angle iron. You can kind of see them in this picture - more detail in my thread.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/3...nia-19283.html

Neil

Gudday
That looks like a neat solution, but would really be more suitable to having a enclosure.
Ronwass is it an igloo or enclosure?
Regards dave

[boerwarrior]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Ron

I built two cheap but effective buttresses out of angle iron. You can kind of see them in this picture - more detail in my thread.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/3...nia-19283.html

Neil

[ronwass]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Thanks all. I think I have a good idea how to backtrack and proceed again.

[mikku]

Re: Rockland County, NY 36" build with pictures.

Ronwass,

Your oven is really coming along, I would never have even attempted this because I have zero skills in brick or block laying.

I have a little experience in design though. The experts out there can correct me if I am wrong but--it appears like the ends of the arch are supported by nothing---you have three or four blocks stacked up and the arch is angled into the columns--no type of end cut is made where the actual weight of the arch can rest---once that it is set or the mortar has set.
It appears like the whole thing is like a wedge forcing downward.

You can imagine splitting a log by driving a wedge into the wood. Your design is doing the same thing. Any weight that you put onto the arch is always going to force things outward. If it were my build, the starting brick for the arch would be cut into the last course of the column supporting the arch and brick on each side should be built outward to take into account the outward thrust. If the arch were monolithic, the force would simply be downward, but since yours is segmented, you have both outward and downward to deal with.

I hope that I am not coming off as sour grapes, your oven really is looking good, and you should be proud of what you have accomplished so far. As someone else said, you really are on the home stretch...Keep at it and keep the photos coming. It is fun to see how others deal with situations that arise when you make a WFO! Congratulations many times over!!!!!!