My first WFO build...

[cobblerdave]

Re: My first WFO build...

Gudday
Beg to differ David but from what I have read (and no I have had no personial experience with mud ovens). After removing the mold sand small fires of straw and thin twigs are used to dry the oven out from the inside out. From what I understand its a drying process rather than actually firering the clay. I can't give a link to help but I believe this warrants further investigation

Regards dave

[david s]

Re: My first WFO build...

If you are lighting fires in the oven, you are firing the clay. But you need to get it to 573 C to make the clay permanent (won't return to mud if made wet) Apart from the surface at the apex of the dome a WFO is unlikely to get that hot. The drying fires are only driving the water out, but as the flame is difficult to control it is probably prudent to allow wind and sun to do most of the work safely for you. Water in thick pots or sculptural clay work has a tendency to explode (blowing) at around 250 C it may look dry but water suddenly turning to steam in the centre splits the wall neatly in half. Exactly the same thing can happen to a cob oven if there is substantial water sitting in the middle of the wall.

[cobblerdave]

Re: My first WFO build...

Gudday David
I suppose this practice like others ....crushed glass as insulation etc should be viewd as "folk law "rather than best practice

Regards dave

[david s]

Re: My first WFO build...

Gudday David
I suppose this practice like others ....crushed glass as insulation etc should be viewd as "folk law "rather than best practice

Regards dave

Yes, I agree with you, ultimately, whatever works, works. There are many ways to get to the end point of having a workable oven and this is what makes it such a fascinating obsession.

[Mooveebuff]

Re: My first WFO build...

Hi All! I imagine nobody noticed that I fell of the face of the Earth for over a year,
but for those of you that were following my thread, I apologize.
I've had some serious back issues that have had me down for the count for all this time,
but things are getting better. I did get the sand cleared out of the dome,
got it dried/cured, built a few fires in it, and even made some pies to test it out.
Here's picking up where I left off but never posted:

[Mooveebuff]

Re: My first WFO build...

The pics above were from my final firing...got it up to just shy of 1500 degrees F. Once it died down, I got ready to make some pies:

[Mooveebuff]

Re: My first WFO build...

More pies...I made a sausage pie, a white pie, and a veggie pie:

[Mooveebuff]

Re: My first WFO build...

That's as far as I got before my back started up, so it's been sitting unfinished all this time. Last weekend, I finally got it insulated using 6 parts vermiculite/perlite (50/50 mix) to one part portland cement:

[Mooveebuff]

Re: My first WFO build...

That brings everything up to date. Now I just need to apply finishing plaster, decorative tiles, and build a door. Then I get to test it again! Thanks for looking...it's nice to finally be finishing this thing.

[cobblerdave]

Re: My first WFO build...

G'day
Thanks for update and the pics. The pics were great!! (and plentiful) good to see she cooks well for you. Sorry to here about the back hope it stays healed.
Regards dave

[MD56]

Re: My first WFO build...

First off, as someone who has had the "year of back problems" let me say that I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. The psychological toll can be worse than the physical so just make sure you keep trying things and keep working on projects like this!

Getting to the oven, I have to say than when I first saw your post I was skeptical. I'm so used to see people's CAD drawings and carefully engineered plans that it's hard to imagine that you can just sort of wing it. That being said, I'm super impressed with your results. It's a nice reminder that these types of ovens were build for thousands of years without rebar and foam templates to use.

Well done and the pies look awesome!

[Mooveebuff]

Re: My first WFO build...

Thanks for the replies. @MD56...you're right...the psychological toll was becoming worse than the physical. Not being able to do anything really makes you start to feel old. That's why I got right back to it as soon as I was able. It felt good to have pain in my arms and legs from working rather than just the pain in my back!

I have to admit...I'm kind of surprised it worked myself. I did some research, mostly for what kinds of materials I would need, but I essentially just kind of threw this together. I'm not really the hardcore planning type. I think if I'd gone the route that some of the much more skilled folks on here did, it would never have gotten much further than the design stages. It's good to know that some of the average Joe's like me can still come up with something workable without spending a fortune or having a ton of construction experience. She ain't pretty, but she works!

[MD56]

Re: My first WFO build...

Thanks for the replies. @MD56...you're right...the psychological toll was becoming worse than the physical. Not being able to do anything really makes you start to feel old. That's why I got right back to it as soon as I was able. It felt good to have pain in my arms and legs from working rather than just the pain in my back!

I have to admit...I'm kind of surprised it worked myself. I did some research, mostly for what kinds of materials I would need, but I essentially just kind of threw this together. I'm not really the hardcore planning type. I think if I'd gone the route that some of the much more skilled folks on here did, it would never have gotten much further than the design stages. It's good to know that some of the average Joe's like me can still come up with something workable without spending a fortune or having a ton of construction experience. She ain't pretty, but she works!

Totally! Back problems are the worst, what doesn't help is only being 29 and everyone telling me "you're too young to have back problems" well tell that to my back! Couldn't agree with you more on getting back up on the horse, I find that staying busy actually helps keep my back feeling good. It's when I sit in a chair too long or get to sedentary that I start having the problems.

Ok enough about bad backs... onto the topic at hand.

I actually think your oven looks really nice. I think part of what makes these ovens so special is that they are rustic and earthy. It reminds you that maybe technology and blue prints don't always make everything "better".

Bravo and I hope you and your family get many years of great pizza's and awesome memories out of it!