Countryboy build in SC, US

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Will figure out a way to fabricate the smoke chamber... More reading at the Rumford site.

Did a little more cleaning inside the dome before taking the rest of the day off and learned something... I used a good bit of water while grinding and wire brushing parts of the interior. Well, a bunch of it pooled near the entrance and I wondered why I wasn't bright enough to include a drain in my plans.

Granted, the goal is to keep the oven dry, BUT, I'm sure I will get some water in/near the entrance in torrential down pours like we are having right now. A little drain in the side is good insurance to keep water from seeping back into the oven area...

So, I decided to fix that oversight. I removed the half bricks that are under the arch/smoke chamber then used a small angle grinder with masonry cut-off wheel and drill with masonry bit to make/cut/drill a channel through which that outer area can drain. Almost immediately the water level in the floor of the oven dropped.

I do still need to fill part of the cut that drifted into the red brick (will have to get some colorant and try to repair with colored mortar), but happy with the finished product. It will drain out the side under the hardibacker enclosure instead of pooling in that front area under the bricks...

Attached are two pics of the 'repair'/addition and one pic of the relatively clean oven floor with the template removed.

CB

[Tscarborough]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

If you have more money than time or skill, buy the Superior parts. Otherwise, you don't need any of the Rumford specific castings. About 2/3 of my customers now build theirs from scratch (usually with the 1/4 round throat pieces, though) while the other third think the time savings and inability for their guys to screw it up buy the Superior products (Residential and Commercial masonry contractors).

[Millstone Man]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Excellent progress and the keystone looks great. I'm inspired but unfortunately moving at a snails pace.

[KraemerBAC]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Congrats on completing the dome...It is looking good

[dmun]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Anyone with Rumsford fireplace experience?? I have a question about options for the smoke chamber.

I built a couple of rumfords. In one, I used split 8*12 flue tile to establish the smoke chamber, in the other I built it with firebrick splits lining an existing chimney. The pre-made smoke chambers from Superior Clay seem pricey to me, but I'm cheap. I think as long as you follow the general plans on the rumford.com website, you'll be fine no matter what you make it with.

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

So, it looks like next Tuesday we can begin curing fires. A good bit of clean up to do right now and need to get the finish coat on the stuccoed shop wall, but high percent chance of rain make me think it best not to chance that until Thursday.

The fireplace and inside of the oven will get attention between now and then.

Also, read last night that stucco needs to season for a month or so before painting it... May be a few weeks before we get to the paint part since I am not even finished with the fireplace or enclosure, both of which will be stuccoed.

Anyone with Rumsford fireplace experience?? I have a question about options for the smoke chamber... Cement? Cast refractory cement? Cut/pieced clay flue liner? Stacked and mortared half bricks? Too many options and considering the cost of each...

Thanks all for your inspiring threads, pics and honest self evaluations. They have been invaluable in this project.

Not done yet, but the major milestone has passed! Bread and pizza in the near future!

CB

CB

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

The nice thing about these blades is that they are more abrasive than particularly dangerous. I did manage to just scuff my thumb one time, though another point I accidentally very slightly twisted a brick that was not against the backstop and it grabbed the blade slamming it and a finger up against the backstop... that kinda smarted!! Still have the bruise and it was about a week ago!

So, we closed up the oven this morning!

Managed to straighten out a few things on the 12th course then debated three vertical bricks or two horizontal bricks for the 13th. Decided on the two horizontal.

Spent a little time inside the oven cleaning the ceiling and filling cracks, then sponged them off. Still need to do a little more cleaning and maybe some wire brush work, but letting things solidify good before tackling that. Maybe this evening.

Pics of this morning's progress follow in this and the next post.

CB

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Well, today is the big day!! Anticlimactic, almost...

First a couple fun pics... Been wanting to post these couple...

Manufacturers have nightmares about people like me (and I suspect most of you... ) Their attorneys lay awake at night tossing and turning over scenarios just like these pics. [Do as I say, not as I do! Don't do this... (yeah, right.)]

How often when cutting brick do you need a third hand? Well, often I would clamp the brick to the backstop under the blade... but sometimes you just have to be a little more creative!

Pics...

CB

PS. Pics of closing the oven coming up.

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Nice work.

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

And, here are a couple more pics...

CB

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Grab a couple hours in the morning when you can, to beat the heat.

I absolutely agree with that... but, things were slow at work today so they let me slip out at 1 pm and 100?... What am I gonna do? Of COURSE!! Work on the oven. Temps be damned.

Finished the 11th course and the chimney connection. Going to need to do a little grinding work around the inside of the ring before the 12th course, so I'll let things set up well. I'm a bit out of round, but will piece it to make it work out. Wet rags covering the oven right now.

Looks like final height will be between 19.5 and 20 inches... Better for pizza than bread, but we'll do both! May yet add a an inch of fireclay mortar on the outside to increase mass just a little. Still pondering as we hope to get 2-3 days of cooking with each firing.

After the 11th course I debated what to do as thunder bumpers were all around me, but after a while of waiting I took the plunge again...

I basecoated the stucco on the back side of the counter and oven. took a pic. Don't mind the construction debris and the EZ-Up that a recent storm turned into spaghetti!! (Can't bring myself to toss it just yet. May try to salvage the cover and take the aluminum to the scrap yard with some other metal recyclables...) Also finished coating under the oven base and started cutting brick for the fireplace.

Am ramping up to get the stuff around the oven done while it is air drying for a week or so before I tackle the curing part... If I don't have the time carefully planned I'm afraid I'll get anxious and jump the gun on the curing fires...

Anyway, pics follow...

CB

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Grab a couple hours in the morning when you can, to beat the heat. I gave it 8 hours yesterday but today all I did was make pizza's in it. A little at a time makes for a lot in the end.

[countryboy]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Agreed, George. It is good to see the many guys who use it and well, I guess we are just not among them... guessing in the end that the quality of food the oven turns out will relate a lot more to how well we can prepare sand utilize the oven...

Mick! It is hot and frankly, I love the heat, but it will sap a lot of energy! My work schedule and drive to get bread baking (and pizza, though that is not the primary reason for the oven) is a big factor in timing... Typically, I have Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Saturday off. Leaves a good bit of time for projects and stuff on our 'homestead.'

CB

[BackyardPermaculture]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

Nice work CB! I don't know how you've managed to do so much so quickly in that heat.

Cheers,
Mick

[fxpose]

Re: Countryboy build in SC, US

( I have a confession to make: The indispensable tool was, well, dispensable! I felt like it got in the way more than anything... No my hole is not perfectly round, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but eyeballing an moving a little more rapidly suited me better. Guessing in the end, no one will really be able to tell from the outside looking in and I will have the dome enclosed... I would say that for me maybe a better way of ding it in the future would be a piece of string tied to an eye bolt in the center. that would set the angle and be less cumbersome to move around... JMO.)

Likewise for me, about halfway through my build using my crudely built I-tool I realized I could have virtually done the same thing using a length of string instead and one cardboard template profiling the dome. I basically did a lot of freehanding and eyeballing (especially in preventing the courses from staggering) in conjuction to using the I-tool. What the I-tool was good for was keeping a near perfect circle, but again, a piece of string could have done the same.
In my particular case I don't think a 'better' or more sophisticated I-tool could have given me a better dome.

George