Mississippi 44"

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Thanks Russell,
It takes patience, but it is was a heck of a lot of fun . After setting the forms to the side, I cut some seashells for the counters. I've see them on some of the youtube videos, but did not know how to do it. I clamped a taller guide to my tile saw and started cutting these 3/8" cross sections.

It might work on larger shells with the HF saw, but I would be afraid , (very afraid) .
I am still planning on using some colored glass.

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

A fine looking dome! I am curious as to whether the metal in the fabric will heat up and expand such that it might cause cracks rather than prevent them...though since your wire fabric is outside of the insulation the heat reaching it will probably be minimal. Have you fired your dome to pizza temp and measured the exterior temperature?

gene

You are right about the metal being outside the insulation, There is a minimum of 3" of fibre blanket under the vcrete. I hope that heat radiating to the wire is not a factor. I'm almost ashamed to say that I haven't fired it yet. I was waiting on a long weekend with cool weather. I plan to use Karangi Dude's method of (heat beads) "charcoal brickettes". I plan to set up with it or at least set the alarm clock to keep it going that whole weekend. I believe this coming weekend is the one

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Those seashells will be cool. Umm the maiden voyage of the Mississippi Queen............

[deejayoh]

Re: Mississippi 44"

You won't have any heat getting past 3" of CF blanket. the surface will be ambient temperature.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Mississippi 44"

and the vcrete..........I'm guess about R50 rating

[banhxeo76]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Who Dey? Are we going back to the aints days?

[cobblerdave]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Gudday Gulf
I am continually amazed by your patience......I had to flash mine up before the insulation went on . and I was worried that the thing would crumble and break
I am pretty sure you'll have no such worries and that first pizza will taste sooo.....good

Regards Dave

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Who Dey? Are we going back to the aints days?

And brown paper bags are getting more and more difficult to find .

Free Sean Payton

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Thanks Dave, for the encouragement.
As for as the "patience" is conserned, my other responsibilities, and respect for the advice from David S to give it some time, worked together to delay the curing.
There was a lot of water in my dome as well as the fully insulated vcrete flu and chimney to air out.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Gudday
Yes Davids is very right in taking it slow thats a big mass to dry out.
Mine I cured the dome shell then dry insulated ...a bird of a different feather

Regards dave

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

I finally put a layer of base coat of stucco on the dome. I figure the vcrete had air dried enough. I thought that I would save a little time and buy some premixed. I noticed that the crap had rocks in it. Probably not a problem for chicken wire but I have 1/2" mesh.

I sifted the premix through a 1/4" screen. There wasn't that many large rocks to get out but, I wouldn't have thought there would be any . It seems to be working fine though. So much for saving time. I'll add a pic for this later.

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

I am doing some experimenting with my future counters. I made two small test pours. One with only water added and one with only acrylic liquid fortifier.

I couldn't tell much difference in the workability since this sort of Buddy Rhodes style requires the mix to be stiff.

The air pockets seemed to be more pronounced in the one with the fortifier. My first attempts at veining did not turn out like I wanted. But, the colored sand that I used did leave a a shallow seperation line at the surface. Maybe the veining will show up better when I fill the bug holes with a dark colored slurry.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Gulf,

Nice test pours, looking at the bug holes on the third pic a contrasting slurry is going to make the veins show up pretty well. Your counter top design and pour is way above my pay grade.

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Thank's Russell,
It's above mine too . I do hope that the dark slurry brings it all out, because the wife didn't exactly like the base colors. At least not for her kitchen counters that I have promised .
I had been looking for a way to include some glass but, since this style does'nt require a lot of grinding, crushed glass wouldn't work. I may have solved that problem. I found a glass place that let me go through their drop bin. For four bucks I came out with two large pieces of colored glass panes. I think that I can break up a few pieces and just place them in the form. One side of the pane is smooth so the glass will get the same polishing as the counter.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Sounds like I have competition in the dumpster diving department. I am always rooting around here at work looking in the scrap metal bins for parts for my oven. On another topic, as I finish the polishing of my counters, insulating comes next. Why did you chose the square metal wire vs lathe vs chicken wire for your stucco reinforcement. Mulling over what to do for mine.