I'm getting closer to my Dome!

[woodfried]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

awesome oven mate, im trying to catch up to your stage

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

awesome oven mate, im trying to catch up to your stage

At the rate I work you are sure to pass me soon!
Thanks
John

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Well I got the temp of the oven up to 450 degrees yesterday and WOW what a crack! It is of course in the back solider row so you can see it plane as day. Speaking of day, did I mention you can see daylight through it! I firmly believe some pieces of firebrick/mortar debris got between the floor and the soldier course and when the floor expanded it pushed the soldiers out and voila a crack! It does continue up but gets extremely small as you follow it up the staggered mortar joints. It is kinda of ironic that one of the places I staggered the joints gave out and the places where some joints line up are ok for now. I hope I didn't speak too fast with that last remark.
So needless to say I would highly recommend building your soldiers on the hearth bricks, instead of inside the soldiers. Or at least keep construction debris out of the gap between the hearth and soldiers!
I still have everything open on the outside and will attempt to "fix" the crack. I am only looking at closing it up so you can't see through it. Anyone with suggestions as to what to use to fill it with? heatstop 50, furnace cement, homebrew? I will post pics as soon as I can, but for now the oven is covered in tarps with severe weather being the lastest bane I need to deal with.
I did put the keystone in the oven in late June and the solider course was started in early May so it has been quite awhile "curing" Slow and low fires for the first five days and before that twin halogen work lights on for 48 hours which brought temps up to 120 degrees! I do not believe this is steam induced. But then I believe in the tooth fairy Hope she comes and fixes the crack! btw I have read many posts about cracks and people talk about structural damage but never say what that entails. Is this considered structural damage? What constitutes structural damage?
Thanks in Advance
John

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

First should I start a new thread for crack repair?

I did note the first line up the soldier was an in-line mortar joint, but the next two were not even close. I didn't take pics of the inside because of the black soot on the bricks. You couldn't see much except the large gap in the soldiers. I looked at pics during the build and the soldiers were all butted together inside. I did not angle cut them, hence the large mortar joint. Pic number 1 at the bottom you can see a piece of mortar that came from a joint above. I had to pry that out. The only place you can see through is the soldier although you can see the soot on the other crack. Hey when I crack em, I crack em good! Any hints on repair tactics? Mortar to use, firing hot and repair, cold repair, what to stuff in the gap if anything? I was thinking a thin piece of firebrick slipped in with some cement/mortar/patch stuff. In other words HELP!
Thanks in advance
John

[brickie in oz]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Id be inclined to fix it while its warm and expanded.
Can you mix a mortar slurry and use a plastic bag with the tip cut off (cake decorator style) to squeeze some slurry into the cracks?

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Id be inclined to fix it while its warm and expanded.
Can you mix a mortar slurry and use a plastic bag with the tip cut off (cake decorator style) to squeeze some slurry into the cracks?

Al, thanks for advice on fixing it.
Unfortunatley I don't speak masonry/oven very well. Probably the reason I have such a huge crack!
Please explain a mortar slurry and number of degrees you consider warm. 35c 75c 300c ???
I could slip a piece of firebrick in the gaps with that slurry, would that help or make matters worse?????
Again thanks for the help
John

[brickie in oz]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Please explain a mortar slurry and number of degrees you consider warm. 35c 75c 300c ???

Make some home brew as normal and make it into a slop with more water than normal, slurry.
Warm as in 200C, not raging hot.
You may have to do it a few times to seal the crack.

I could slip a piece of firebrick in the gaps with that slurry, would that help or make matters worse?????

The less mortar the better so a sliver of brick would help.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Make some home brew as normal and make it into a slop with more water than normal, slurry.
Warm as in 200C, not raging hot.
You may have to do it a few times to seal the crack.


The less mortar the better so a sliver of brick would help.

Thanks a ton for the translation and help. One other question: Should I try to finish curing the oven before repairing or wait until after repair(s)
Al, Thanks again!

John
btw I love your third oven!

[brickie in oz]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Thanks a ton for the translation and help. One other question: Should I try to finish curing the oven before repairing or wait until after repair(s)

Do both at the same time just dont play the Devil while doing it and keep the fires small.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Do both at the same time just dont play the Devil while doing it and keep the fires small.

Thanks Al, your the best! (if this works that is!)
Thanks
John

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Well as I am waiting for some heatstop to be delivered I finished curing the oven. I am pleased to report the next fires were totally uneventful. I did go back theory my pics and the soldiers were all tightly spaced, as in no mortar gaps. Which again leeds me to believe I had something between the firebrick hearth and the soldiers. Now I will start on repairs and hope the hurricane doesn't take it away ! Lol

[woodfried]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Hi Mate , that sux about the crack im sure it will be an easy fix.
Is that Hurricane Irene your are talking about? just had a look on internet !
cheers James

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Hi Mate , that sux about the crack im sure it will be an easy fix.
Is that Hurricane Irene your are talking about? just had a look on internet !
cheers James

Yep, Good Night Irene good night Irene I'll see you in my oven! lol

I hope the crack will be an easy fix and it will be a good opportunity to fix it and let it set for awhile to let Irene pass!
Thanks John

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John,
Congratulations (on curing stage) and regrets (on the crack).

So you did have a gap between your floor and soldiers? How big was it? 1/4" or more? I don't remember what the suggestion is. (I used a double thickness of corrugated box strips) but you think a brick chip got in there? I bet that happens more than we think. I vacuumed the heck out of my floor edge but it is difficult to get the vacuum head to the rear edge and that's where your crack happened.

Al's suggestion of mortaring with slurry while it's warm is the first I've heard of. Sounds like a sound plan. No matter how you repair it, you'll probably always see a hairline crack (or re-crack) but once you insulate on the outside your dome will function like normal.

So close to being done, this small setback will be over soon. Good luck on getting thru the hurricane. If your oven survived your earthquake this week and the hurricane tomorrow, this crack is the least of your problems

-Dino

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John,
Congratulations (on curing stage) and regrets (on the crack).

So you did have a gap between your floor and soldiers? How big was it? 1/4" or more? I don't remember what the suggestion is. (I used a double thickness of corrugated box strips) but you think a brick chip got in there?

I only had 1/8" gap around and I am sure I had some construction debris in the gap, probably in more than one spot. I looked back at the pics of that area 4 months BC (before crack lol) and the soldiers brick edges touched without mortar showing. So something,or somehow not only did mortar crack but the bricks physically moved at that point almost 1/8" apart! Had to be some extreme force to move the bricks apart.

Al's suggestion of mortaring with slurry while it's warm is the first I've heard of. Sounds like a sound plan. No matter how you repair it, you'll probably always see a hairline crack (or re-crack) but once you insulate on the outside your dome will function like normal.

I have actually been able to remove the mortar between those two bricks and clean it out so to speak. I will replace the old wedge of mortar with a slice of pizza.. oh I mean firebrick. Can you tell I can't wait to get cooking! LOL With the firebrick I will use a loose mortar and then continue up the "crack" till it is as closed as I can get it. Since the crack it now a cavern, I am not sure have a warm oven is needed but I guess that it will contract on the mortar and make a tight seal. Al is that the theory behind your suggestion?

So close to being done, this small setback will be over soon. Good luck on getting thru the hurricane. If your oven survived your earthquake this week and the hurricane tomorrow, this crack is the least of your problems

-Dino

I have it all wrapped up in tarp for Irene so I cannot take pics of it after grinding, but here are two pics showing before and after. I am fine with the repair and set back although when it happened it was demoralizing.
Thanks for the support, kind words and most of all the help your build has given me.
Thanks
John