Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

[Bacterium]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

I was going to build my arch first (before dome) but after reading the last few posts I can see the value of using their width when transitioning dome to arch AND also to assist with avoiding vertical joints (stacking) in the dome.

I guess you don't see the inner arch (outer edge) anyway

[texman]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Slloooowww, day today. Marrying the arch and course 3 kick my @#$, lots of trips to the HF saw. Now I understand GianniF's concept of "shaving" a brick. Came close to over cutting a couple times. Bet I walked a couple miles back and forth to the saw. But it is done. Having a martini now.............

I hear you on this one. you might consider cutting and setting the entire arch now. I started like you, building he arch as i went. I followed Gianni as well and Amac suggested that i complete the arch (sharky and Karangi style) and it does make it somewhat easier to have that arch to push against and see the cuts necessary to join. I have cut a brick as many as seven times , before it looks right. So, i would recommend getting that saw close if you can as well.
Looks great!
I bet you invented the "Brick Dust Martini"
Here is a pic of my inner arch transition tryin to avoid stacking. Not a perfect example, but maybe it will help.
Tracy

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Okay guys,

Moving the saw back and the lawn will just have to suffer and I won't (as much, anyway). I think I am going to install one more course then finish out the complete arch. Kind of a combination of suggestions from the group. So far I have using full width bricks, mine are 4.5" (abt 5.25" before) final width after the 6 degree angle cut but seeing a little overhang with the vertical joint below eventhough the edges are flush with the bricks, cord length. Suggestions or is it a mute point? I have a myriad of different width bricks, 3", 2.5" and 2.25" but was saving them for upper courses.

[texman]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Okay guys,

Moving the saw back and the lawn will just have to suffer and I won't (as much, anyway). I think I am going to install one more course then finish out the complete arch. Kind of a combination of suggestions from the group. So far I have using full width bricks, mine are 4.5" (abt 5.25" before) final width after the 6 degree angle cut but seeing a little overhang with the vertical joint below eventhough the edges are flush with the bricks, cord length. Suggestions or is it a mute point? I have a myriad of different width bricks, 3", 2.5" and 2.25" but was saving them for upper courses.

Man, this is hard enough with uniform bricks!
Are you talking about what Tscar said in post #116?

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Tex,

Like the "brick dust martini" I think a had too much of it so not writing clearly. Maybe a pic helps.

[texman]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Tex,

Like the "brick dust martinin" I think a had too much of it so not writing clearly. Maybe a pic helps.

i think the overhang (not to be confused w/ hangover) is normal as the oven dome curves upward. The center of the brick is closer to the center of the oven than the corners. so as you go up, the brick above will have a slight overhang in the center and the bottom corners will align to edge below. HTH
As long as your IT is set and cant move, your should be good.
Tex
So does a "Dirty Brick Dust Martini" have Olive juice or crumbled firebrick? Maybe a brick chip for garnish?
You get a lot of great advice on the forum. Just enjoy your build and make it your own.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

There is no way around that, really.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Gulf,

Still toying with an isolated outer arch. I your opinion, if I were to build a decorative brick buttress the width of the outer arch (say 4") and butted up against the outer arch would this be enough support or would I need to have a buttress the depth of the outer arch to the inner arch. I am not going to build a massive chimney like you but maybe a 1.5 foot above arch topped with a 3' section of duravent.

[Gulf]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Russell,
I am not totally sure what you are describing. If you build a decorative face as I see in your drawing, buttressing can be as simple as laying up a decorative brick form and pouring it full of 5 to 1 vcrete. There are other options out there. If you can draw a top view, maybe myself and others can get a better perspective and a better answer .
I would separate the face brick from the outer arch as drawn with a heat break though.

[Les]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Gulf,

I your opinion, if I were to build a decorative brick buttress the width of the outer arch (say 4") and butted up against the outer arch would this be enough support or would I need to have a buttress the depth of the outer arch to the inner arch.

Russel,

What are you going to have behind (toward the dome) of the decorative brick? I had core's and dropped some steel in them. Really not sure if it was needed but I sleep well at night.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

The reality is that the entry area gets massive amounts of heat from the exhaust gasses up the flue. A thermal break at the inner arch is a waste of time other than for residual heat. My idea was to insulate that area, and create a thermal break at the outer arch, although I minimized it at the inner arch as much as is practical.

For buttressing, the safe non-calculated method is twice the mass you are buttressing at a minimum.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

...and the rain is starting and the wind is blowing, and your back is aching ,and your fingers are sore.

The ovenbuilders alternative to:

"Summertime and the living is easy .. fish are jumping and the cotton is high"



This is a problem on the vertical joints though if you cut too much angle. i guessed for the second row that the angle would be greater than the first, and it isn't - and I had the entire row cut I ended up turning some of them backwards to compensate. The lesson I took was - better too small an angle than too large.

Interesting, this did not occur to me until I started another course and did a trial cut, though well, I will bump up the bevel angle to compensate for the next course. Did not work, too much bevel angle, ended up reverting back to the same bevel angle to work. Lesson learned, well maybe..........

[Amac]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

this did not occur to me until I started another course and did a trial cut, though well, I will bump up the bevel angle to compensate for the next course. Did not work, too much bevel angle, ended up reverting back to the same bevel angle to work. Lesson learned, well maybe..........

When you say the bevel angle I take that to mean the angle of the vertical joints - that should get bigger ok. I was talking about the angle from inside to outside which Dennis(deejayoh) has figured that the way to estimate the angle is to divide 180 by the number of bricks in that row. It sounds about right and that way the angles will get bigger as you get towards the top - i.e 180/32 = approx 6? for the bottom rows.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Thanks for the clarification, I have been finding the angle (so far up to course 3) has stayed consistent at 6 degrees. I thought the bevel would change more but it is a slight bump up if any, at least thru course 3, abt 1 degree. This may change as I do my trial cuts for course 4. Thanks again.

[Pompeii Nate]

Re: Wood Fired Beehive in Utah

Hey Russell,

How in the world did you get those nearly perfect angles on the cinder blocks for your wood storage area? I have been using an angle grinder with a diamond blade on it and it is not looking nearly as good as yours. Admittedly this is pretty much my first time ever using an angle grinder so my skills are not great but I hoped that they would look better than what I have done so far.

Thanks,
Nate