39" Stargate Pompeii

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Really like your chimney design, and if you have no objections, I would like to incorporate the brick layout into my build, only I will adding a joint of DuraVent on top of the brick. Nice to be able to have access to all that stone. Great build.

Thanks Russell = I don't have any copyright - in fact virtually everthing is copied (not too sure if it is all acknowledged - stolen with pride) so fire ahead. Ovens are like snowflakes we all start off with the same plans but I have not seen any two yet end up looking the same.

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Well weather was good today and I did another arch with the brick I picked up the other day. It is a bit "distressed" but I'll pretend that's a virtue. I cut the bricks in half and and used the existing arch with a strip of hardboard and some hardboord wedges as a form. I will stuff some ceramic rope in there later and fill the gap with high heat silicone.
I can do it without still comitting to an enclosure - in fact I will definitely try to do the igloo shape with stucco - and if I have problems with it I will do the enclosure later. I have to round out the vermicrete on the dome and push some behind the new arch first.

The arch projects about 2" all round - the idea is that I can place a "weather" door in there when the oven is not in use.

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

We have just had the wettest June on record - a record it had already achieved when last Wednesday there was an overnight dowpour wich flooded Belfast and towns in Cork. So between downpours I read up a bit and looked at Youtube videos on stuccoing. Today was fine (reasonably) with and between showers I applied most of the scratch coat (shown including scratches).

For info the stucco recipe I used was 7:2:2 sand : portland : hydrated lime. I will use the same for the next coat (brown coat) and for the finish I have to try and locate white portland and mineral oxide pigment for colour (colour yet to be decided).

I also decided that I would stucco around the chimney flue bricks I had built up so I made a form of hardboard and filled around the brick flue with vermicrete. It's only about 1.5 or 2" thick so I hope that's enough to block the heat from the stucco.
The home made chimney will be removable, so what I plan to do is solder or braize a skirt or flashing at the bottom end.

[Gulf]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Great job on the shape. The dome is perfect. I wished that I had an eye that did not need a template .

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

"brown" coat almost done today just ran out of sand. The final coat will be a white sand white portland lime mix - but going on hols for a week so it will have to wait. Any stucco experts on the forum. I think that finish is just water resistant rather than waterproof - should I use some sealant on top?

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Well back from holiday on Sunday - to find that June, having as I said set a record for the wettest ever - July is making a brave effort not to be outdone. But in between downpours it is possible to get a bit done. I didn't like the abrupt finish at the top of my vent so I added another brick row and then sloped in some vermiculite and covered it with a coat of stucco - yesterday.
Happier with that but might need to trim the top around the bricks and fill it with silicone to stop heat cracks.
So the vent depth now - including the arch, the "saddle" cuts at front and back arches, and 4 rows of (1/2) bricks is 18". Even without the flue which I will add (about another 18" or so) the chimney seems to draw OK which makes me wonder why a lot of people are shooting up 6 ft or more. Maybe just to clear nearby obstacles.

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

An early start today on the final coat. This is a white sand: white portland: hydrated lime mix 7:2:2 and again a fight with the rain but I managed to complete it. The sponge trowel does a good job of finishing and hiding any marks from the plastering trowel. Probably a pro would criticise it but I am more than pleased with my handiwork.
Of course it hasn't been tested yet and I still have to keep it covered - mainly because my vermiculite island slab is exposed at the corners and would soak in rain I would think. Still have to decide how I want to cover the slab. Right now I am leaning towards just tiling the slab.
But next job up I have a bit of copper left over and I want to make a rain cover for my homemade flue. I started on it last night but no pics yet.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Amac,

Nice stucco work, hoping to be able to do half as good.

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Thanks Russell - I was dreading the job but watch a few youtube videos just to get the technique (mainly the angle and pressure you use the plastering trowel) approximately right and it isn't too hard at all. I'm glad to see someone else going for the dome shape (I saw on your thread earlier). I figured there was no enclosure I could build that my wife (or maybe myself) would not consider an eyesore, and she professed herself delighted with the outcome today - so thats good enough for me.

I had got some metal lath but could find any satisfatory method to fix it firmly so I rounded the vermiculite shell and applied the stucco finish directly on top.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Thanks for the you tube video idea. Glad the wife is delighted, what do they say "If momma isn't happy, nobody is happy".............

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

"If momma isn't happy, nobody is happy".............

So true!

Ok progress on the chimney cap - made with a piece of scrap copper left over from my flue
First I cut it in a rectangular shape with a straight shear. Then I turned the edges using a ball pein hammer. Then I drew out a shape that I could fold (tried it on a piece of cereal box first and this shape seemd to work - looks kinda like a pagoda roof). I cleaned the piece fitrst with a combination of brillo, brasso and elbow grease. I then hammered grooves with a cold chisel from the back and then used a rubber hammer to get the shape holding it against the edge of the bench

Now I have to figure a way to attach the pagoda roof to the top of the flue - maybe brazng some copper legs on but brazings something I've never done so might need to look at a few more youtube videos.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Amac,

Adds a nice craftsman look to you build and finale........

[david s]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

For thin copper like you've used it is better and easier to solder it and provided you don't have flames leaping out the top of the flue, it won't get hot enough to melt the solder. Nice build by the way.

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

Thanks for the tip (and the comment) David - solder it will be. I lit the oven today for the first time in a few weeks. The draw looks pretty good on the smoky startup - hard to get a good picture but today was quite still. You can see the copper change colour after heating up for a while - is this what happens when you anneal it with a blowtorch?

My idea is to solder the legs to the cap and either screw it to the flue in such a way that I can rotate it towards the front to allow the smoke free exit, or make two slots for the legs so that I can remove it completely. I held it over the flue briefly and it created a lot of smoke interference, so it is not something I want while the fire is producing smoke.

[Amac]

Re: 39" Stargate Pompeii

OK - finally got around to adding a signature (and an avatar).
I found the colours actually stay when the copper cools and googling shows that some copper artisans use a technique of heating the copper with a blowtorch to get cool colours.
For annealing it seems you need to heat it to red hot - and be careful not to overheat