Home Slice

[RTflorida]

Re: Home Slice

Dude, your whole oven concept has been cool as hell from the beginning.
I think you will appreciate the added space you have accross the front for staging pizzas and such.....I have no idea how well this open/suspended vent will draw; but then, an oven does not need a vent and chimney to function. You will be fine.

So what is the final word on the chimney? metal? clay? brick?

one question about the pennies; 'heads' or 'tails'??? or a random combination?

Nick...we've seen her pics. As an average, middle aged (45), and balding guy, I can honestly say - your a pretty lucky guy.

RT

[Unofornaio]

Re: Home Slice

Yeah, so blah blah, i ground and sanded the vent. It's awesome.. Blah Blah. Please. Someone. does the vent suck? I stood on it today, and it didn't fall down once. (once would have been enough) I'm going to the perlite factory on wednesday with the most beautiful girl in the world.

I think it turned out great. I don't particularly like the suspendedness (new word) of it but thats just a difference of taste, I'm more a traditionalist. I think it looks very good though. I still have my reservations on it staying connected after several heat and cool cycles but you are breaking new ground my friend and only time will tell.....
Cant wait to see the pennies

[El Puaco]

Re: Home Slice

Wow! I've been so caught up in my own project that I haven't looked at yours until today. Sorry to be so late in responding. I think it's a wild idea. This could break-through stuff here. I'm looking forward to hearing how it works for you. Great work on the steel. Keep the pictures coming. The finished product should be fun to see. And you can make pizza in it!

[JoeT62]

Re: Home Slice

Nick -

The suspended vent is an incredibly cool idea. If it works, you are a master. If it doesn't, you are a pioneer! Seriously though, it sounds like it's strong enough to do the job!
JT

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Wow. Thankyou all for your kind comments. I am sorry for being so needy. I am still deciding how to finish off the vent.. Option one, which i started already is to drill little holes in the face and sides and put a coil of chickenwire around it with screws. This will hold in place the perlite mud i plan to use for the final shape of the oven. I don't like the flatness of the vent face, and want to round it off. Option two is to glue cal sil board to the face and shape that.. I want the finished shape to be organic, and look as though it is all one piece.. My worry is that the seams will crack under the heat.. As for the pennies, they will be heads up.. I'll take some pics, as im sure it is hard to visualise what im talking about..

[Unofornaio]

Re: Home Slice

Check this site out... maybe give you some ideas
RangeHoods.com for Range Hoods, Rangehoods, Broan Range Hood, Broan, Sirius Range Hoods, Broan Rangehoods, Rangemaster, Broan hoods, Rangehoods,Broan hood, imperial rangehoods, island range hood, kenyon rangehoods, broanrangemaster, wood range hood,

[El Puaco]

Re: Home Slice

Redbrick

Did I understand that you're also making wine? I have a 60 gal barrel of '05 Cab/Merlot that needs bottling and a barrel of '06 Cab that is starting to turn out pretty good.

Pizza and wine, pizza and homebrew...

[Kemo]

Re: Home Slice

Nick,

I love the idea of casting the vent in there. I will probably adopt the same method on mine except Ill have brick underneath as tradtional ovens do.

Thanks for "boldly going" with the hanging vent. I will be very interested in the final product and how it all looks.

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Yeah buddy.. My wine turned out less than good.. The grapes were not viniflora, and are some kind of light spanish red.. We made a red from them, and it turned out light and faulty.. Looks great on camera though.. I think if we vinify the grapes this year, we'll make a white. Bigger pain in the ass, but hey.. What isn't.. The vent is still there, and strong. That Refmix is tough tough tough.. The only thing im worried about is the rebar bending under the heat, but its 3/4 inch stainless, buried four inches into the opening arch, so im not too worried about that.. The ain advantage to hanging the vent is the added space around the oven opening.. If she doesnt draw well when we get er' roarin', im going to build some removable walls to put in place when the fire is going..

[Unofornaio]

Re: Home Slice

Nick-
Are you an avid grape grower? I have some concords that are ripe and just don't seem right at all. The bunches are all "tight" and the grapes small about marble size. I'm assuming not enough h20 but I also had some weird white fuzz on the vines here and there, it was pure white and in the spots it was at it was only maybe 2"???any thoughts? Hey don't sweat the rebar its not gonna bend from the heat or the weight. Where I'm interested in is the bond AFTER a few roaring fires I certainly don't think its gonna fall off or down but that joint may seperate...then again it may not..hopefull not..did you check out the link to the vents? You seem like a pretty creative guy and I thought you could get some design inspiration form them..
If anybody else is a grape grower and can help let me know.
Thanks

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Hmm. Sounds like powdery mildew.. or downey mildew. Was the fuzz on the clusters? on the leaves? Any pics of the fuzz? I hate the fuzz, they're always tryin to keep me down.. Are the grapes sweet? try tipping the ends of the new canes.. (branches) take off about six to eight inches of the tips, leaving eight or more leaves on a branch after a cluster.. This will force the growing power into the clusters, rather than the tips of the vines.. It is likely your small grape problem occured at fruit set, in which case there ain't much more you can do.. Thinning the vine so the clusters aren't shaded helps too.. Water is definitely needed.. did you have early frosts at fruit set time?

[Unofornaio]

Re: Home Slice

Thanks for the reply,
the fuzz was on the stems ONLY. I found it on the stems of a few clusters and on the new canes ONLY. I tried to take a photo but could not get a close enough photo to see the detail. Frost??? maybe we had some serious cold weather up this way this winter. (serious for out here anyway) maybe. I think my problem was mostly consistent water. Did a search for powerdy mildew that wasn't it... downey either..strange its just on the stems it looks like someone took a q-tip end stretched it out lengthwise and rested it on the stem? I don't know its so hard to tell without a photo I will try again. and e-mail you if you don't mind? Probably shouldn't continue this discussion here.

[Archena]

Re: Home Slice

I'm pretty sure y'all could take it to the chit-chat forum if you prefer.

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Back on the subject of ovens.. We're going to lightthe first of our curing fires here soon, pre insulation.. I have some blanket insulation called fyrewrap, which we got for free from the cal sil place.. I checked, called the company and its the same as what James sells on his site, just packaged differently. They have agreed to send us another roll of insulation, and we are going to plug them in the movie. Question. Is it wise to get the oven cured and up to temp before adding the final layers so as to fix any cracks which will undoubtedly emerge? Or just go for it and git' er' did?

[christo]

Re: Home Slice

Based on my experience and interpretation of what goes on during drying. I'd fully insulate and do the low and slow thing with the fires.

If you can keep it dry and don't have to finish the outside right away, you can opt to pull back the insulation to check after you have been through the drying process.

Good luck.

Christo