gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

[brickie in oz]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Thats how it goes isnt it, fine food, fine wine and someone stumbling....

[Tapir Force]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Sorry to hear about your arm. The fracture will be celebrated over brews and pizza for years to come. It might even be enhanced to include an epic battle between you and a block salesman who used to be a WWF who went by the name of "Blockbuster" that you vanquished with your scrap steel sword...I digress.

On another note. I agree with Brickie. The stand might do just fine if it never receives a lateral thrust like a rotund neighbor falling against it. The risk might be worth a few more braces. That said, advice is like the weather. Some of it is good and some not so good.

I look forward to your build. Keep posting the great pictures.

Robert

[brickie in oz]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Nice start.
If it were me Id add some diagonal top to bottom bracing, these things are heavy and Id hate to see it rack sideways and fall.

[Mike D]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Very interesting, most people make the block stand, but I am looking forward to see how yours works out. Sorry about the hand, that sucks. Are you going to keep the stand open or are you going to cover it with something?

Mike

[gt40]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Update:

I finished the frame and moved it to the oven location. That thing is heavy! Took 2 guys to move but it is solid. I sealed it with 2 coats of galvinizing stuff.

All in all, I am really happy with the progress so far. We started work on this project 3 days ago and now have the foundation and stand pretty well done. I have to bolt it to the foundation tomorrow and then we will cast the upper concrete pad on top of the stand. I also have to order my fiber board to go under the oven floor.

I can't wait to start digging into the giant stack of fire bricks. Thanks for looking.

A couple more pics:

[gt40]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Sounds painful. It looks like you have a great start. I will watch avidly as you progress.

Update, fractures or not, the oven build continues. Pretty happy with the progress so far for day 2 of the build.

Today we poured the slab and I managed to finish welding the steel stand. I hope to pour the upper slab where the oven goes tomorrow.
Here is the slab, 6" thick:



another shot of it:


Here is the finished welded stand that tweaked my arm:


I will post a cut list if anyone is interested but this thing is bomb proof and cost 250 bucks + I have a dramatically greater amount of storage for wood vs cinder blocks. the idea of moving 63 cinder blocks + the 60 or so bags of concrete vs 3 hours to weld the frame is a no brainer if you have access to a welder and can get steel at a reasonable price.

FYI, I have to give credit to the help of my contractor for the awesome work on the foundation.

That's it for now, thanks for looking.

[BriggsARNP]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

Sounds painful. It looks like you have a great start. I will watch avidly as you progress.

[gt40]

Re: gt40's Pompeii Oven 42" build log

update:

Well, yesterday was day one of building our oven and it was a big day. We got the foundation formed and ready to pour and I welded up a heavy 3/16" thick steel frame. I also managed to crack bone in my arm when one of the cross member steel bars fell on it.

It was late in the evening and I was lazy to turn the frame on it's side to complete the weld and just clamped the bar in place instead. A 32 pound steel bar fell 42 inches and hit my arm.

Here are some pics:





Here is a pic of the frame:


I was able to find all the pieces from the remnants pile at Industrial Metal Supply and spent $250 in material costs including them cutting it exactly to size.


Arm shot after a trip to the emergency room. Hairline fracture in my arm. Should heal quick but that's what I get for being lazy and not flipping the frame for the last welds :P

[gt40]

My wife and I love Pizza. I came across this website a few years ago and all of the wonderful builds on this forum inspired us to finally to build a wood fired oven. The amount of info here is amazing.


We were going to go with the 42 as we have some decent size parties and I figure we can use all the size we can.

After a lot of discussion, we are building a FULL 48" on the corner of the large 20x 18 foot iron wood deck we have. Basically cutting a corner off the deck and putting it there. Ironwood has the same code rating as concrete.

Contractor says there should be no issue on set backs but we live in Santa Monica which can have some screwy rules. Basically the oven will be 18 feet from the house and 14 feet from the fence. My main concern is smoke. I hope I won't regret building it so close to the deck but we plan for a proper chimney and we have good breezes near the ocean.

So far I picked up 200 medium duty fire bricks and diy refactory mortar supplies: