Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

[oblertone]

Those artisans responsible for some of the fabulous builds detailed on here should really look away now ! Like many first-timers I have lurked at length on FB and taken due account of the sage advice freely available; however my driver to build a WFO are somewhat different, and so is my build.

I live in a rural part of West Devon (UK) where we have a church, a village hall, a telephone box (decommissioned), 4 street lights and about 30 houses.

The hall doesn't get much use but in a drink fuelled discussion with the neighbours I rather foolishly agreed to provide pizza at an Italian Night in the hall to raise some maintenance funds.

Now while I support the hall I didn't feel like donating an oven, so the answer was simple, make it mobile ! A road trailer was considered but as I only live next door a hand trolley was a much cheaper option, and so it was off to eBay where a 500kg rated trolley was snapped up.

A second trawl of eBay secured 50 odd storage heater blocks for the princely sum of ?4.12. Recovering these nearly killed my elderly Volvo estate as they weigh about 5kgs each !

Measuring a brick and a few calculations later saw me off to a local fabricator who produced a tray & stand in short order !

[oblertone]

1st into the tray ...

... is a 1" (25mm) sheet of vermiculite board, followed by 35 heater blocks; at which point I discovered that rather than a nominal 9" x 7" they are in fact 9" x 7 1/16" which meant I had to trim the bottom layer

[Bubb]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

No,no,no that looks like a accident waiting to
Happen. With that cart you will be grossly
top heavy. The first slight hill or grade it will tip.
I'd make a base double the with of the oven. I'd also
Keep it as low to the ground as possible. Love
The idea, just want you to be safe. I'd put 300 lbs
On that cart drag it around your intended route. See
What if any trouble you get into (tipping) before
You send time building the oven..

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

Thank you for your concerns but it is what it is, and it's only got to move about 50 yards, and it will be stabilised when in use with corner props.

It's also worth noting that the legs of the tray are fitted with spigots that fit into brackets on each corner of the trolley

[Bubb]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

Okay, just be careful when you move it maybe
Guys on each side. Have a great time hope you
Raise some good money.

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

Followed by a layer of the aforementioned heater blocks !

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

I'd measured one of the blocks at 9x7"; unfortunately most of them were actually 9x7 1/16" which meant cutting the last layer using my venerable tile cutter which has a fixed 1" depth, with the guard and guide removed.

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

While I managed the trimming by turning the blocks, I also removed the tips of two fingers on my right hand

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

Let the laying out begin ! I'm using free bricks from a 200yr old chimney recently removed from the farmhouse opposite me. They are solid red wire-cut bricks and although difficult to split tidily, they were free

It would appear that I'll have a 32" oven, leaving myself sufficient room for an insulating blanket and waterproof render.

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

I began mixing 3-1-1-1 by hand and using the wedge from behind method, progressed swiftly to level three by the end of day 2.

There is a certain time imperative as I received the tray on 29th May and the Italian evening is on 28th June

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

On day 3 I nipped out to find some angle iron for the door lintel; on my return I was amazed to see an advert on the village notice board for a cement mixer. ?50 later and I pushed it home. Remember there are only 30 houses in the village so I'm going to christen this build 'the dome of serendipity'.

Top Tip: Don't point your new cement mixer towards your wife's 10 day old car

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

Progress was swift and I soon reached the point where no amount of sticky mortar would hold my bricks in the near vertical. I will confess that by this time I'd abandoned the wedges and was going 'freehand'

Top Tip: Placing rags in the bottom reduces the time spent clearing gobs of mortar as you go along !

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

Not using a former or IDT was a conscious decision but I was now faced with a roof gape larger than the doorway so a bit of lateral thinking was required. Chancing on a pack of tiles I'd picked up (free) intending to form the arch entry I noticed they are a little shorter than the height I'd achieved, so placing some on end, and then some across the top I produced a floor at the correct height

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

A few rags to bung up the gaps and in with some sand.

[oblertone]

Re: Mobile Pompeii - Not for the purists

I was gratified to find it held long enough to form my dome shape