Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Thanks John I think Ill follow your lead and start placing bricks from center back to arch like you said sounds like the way to go.

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Thanks for the pointer Dino Still thinking about that one, but leaning away from the flattened dome because as you say, my dome will be exposed. We will see how the next few chains go.

As for today, I didn't get as much dome as I had wanted. I was ready to start mortar early but found that my brick end of the IT was not perfectly square with the rod by a 16th of an inch and it was messing with my head so I hit the garage and cut and made up another ( actually my third because the first one was done with a framing bracket i found at HD but didn't like how the metal was bent as it was not square on the inside toward the brick) Then I got down to the heatstop and it was a little harder than I thought at the point where you tie the soldier course to the inner arch brick. I had to butter all sides of the brick and try to wedge it in and still keep good mortar in the joint ( if you can understand the way I put that???)

anyway here are some picts

[jbruning]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Looking good. I had similar issues with mortar creep. I expected it to a degree, and it wasn't too bad for the first 4 or 5 courses, then it got a bit more challenging. Still, my precutting actually worked out really well until about the 9th course, then it required a little bit more cutting. I started each course in the center of the back of the oven and worked both ways toward the front. That way most of my odd sized bricks are around toward the entrance where they won't be that visible.

You asked about the amount of mortar per course. I can't really say how much I used, I mixed multiple small batches per course and didn't really keep track. although my joints were relatively small between the bricks in a course, the wedge shaped joints between courses really use the stuff up quickly.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Good work Chirobuggy. What you are experiencing is normal: as minimal as we try to keep the mortar and joints, it will almost always go beyond your "dry-fit", so you just have to adjust a bit. You also asked in an earlier post about "squishing" your dome. I did it by starting to cut sharper angles at the 3rd ring and an almost as sharp angle on the 4th ring, then backing off again for the 5th, 6th,...then, you have to just cut the angle that seems right for the rest. I created a bit of "shoulder" in the dome at the 3rd/4th rings and that created the squished elliptical shape as opposed to a half-sphere.

But I believe you are doing an "egloo" style so maybe a rounder dome is what you want. But, that takes me back to my 1st point: the joints tend to "get away from you" so I would shoot for a 20" dome & I'll bet anything it ends up closer to what you want (or 21") for that reason.

Cheers, Dino

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

well the mortaring has begun!!

gonna have to trim some off of the last brick at the end though...that 1/6 of an inch or less of mortar making its way up to the front of the brick face is adding up as I get around to the circumference. didnt expect it to move the line by that much but shouldn't be a problem.

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Sorry John, I read that wrong your on the fourth bag...got it! thats still good. Your oven looks great! Nice and level good lines and stagger. I feel lkie when i make and "adjustment brick" to avoid vertical lines, that I end up jacking up other bricks along the way sometimes I have to take a third off of two bricks and then make a brick to go between those....makes my head hurt.

I found out real fast that you can be good with geometry and equations but when you have to apply it to a brick in the real world its not so easy

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

John

Three bags isn't bad that what I estimated it would take me too. I have been watching your thread too I was surprised when you said that you did all the cutting during the cold months...thought that was awesome! I too began my stand in the fall (Nov) and finished it in three weekends but then had a bunch of family sports and stuff that kept me from working on it. I live in CA so I could have worked the winter months.

How much Heatstop did you mix up per course on the soldier course and then the following 3 courses or so?

Im getting ready to go outside right now and mix up a batch of heatstop for the soldiers now...wish me luck

[jbruning]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

I have two bags of Heatstop 50 that a buddy got me for free and went ahead and picked up the items needed for the Home Brew for the back fill on the soldiers and in case I dont have enough of the Heatstop to do the rest of the oven.

That's great! You can't beat free. It is about $90 a bag here and FYI, I have just the plug on the dome and the entire entry/vent left to do on my 42 inch and I'm guessing that I'm about a quarter or a third into my 4th bag of Heatstop.

I have no experience with the homebrew, but although pricey, the Heatstop has worked really well. It sticks and holds very quickly. I found that even on my upper courses, minimal support was needed after I moved the IT.

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Thanks guys... I did look up some thread about the issue last night before I turned in. So today went to HD and got the supplies to use the fresh water setup. Cheap fix. The forum here is so great for that stuff.

SO tomorrow I am going to start in the morning with the mortar

should be good weather for it. I have been stressing about getting th mortar right (good and sticky yet fluid enough to get good coverage). I have two bags of Heatstop 50 that a buddy got me for free and went ahead and picked up the items needed for the Home Brew for the back fill on the soldiers and in case I dont have enough of the Heatstop to do the rest of the oven. Home Brew is cheap but can't beat 2 bags of Heatstop FREE! I check the local supplier and it is $150 a bag here!!! If I didnt get them free I would have done the oven with the Home Brew for sure without any reservation.

Pictures tomorrow.. Any advise on techniques for buttering the bricks I may not have seen?? I've forgotten more than I remember! ...I think...

[Greenman]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

My saw just connects to the garden hose with an adjustment tap on the saw and a button on the handle to start the jet onto the blade. Doesn't use obscene volumes of water and has no blockage problems. The water from the tray can be caught and the fines settled out for later use.

[Gulf]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Also, just a little time and a little money on a cheap commode float valve will save you a lot of aggravation and time refilling that bucket .

[aceves]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

I second Beehiver's method of putting the pump in a separate bucket with clean water. Your saw will go all day without clogging up provided that you keep adding clean water to the bucket!

Aceves

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Chiro,

Place the pump in a separate bucket of clean water and it will not clog up like it will in the tray. Just need to extend the hose and put it in a Homer bucket and you are good.

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

Well all...I planned on getting home and cutting the second chain (after the half soldiers..Yeah, I re=cut the soldiers from the previous pictures because I found that the height of the dome was a little higher than I wanted). But mid way through cutting the second course my HF saw pump stopped and I had to clean it. Ran out of day light.

I have not mortared any bricks yet because I have been shy about pulling the trigger on that one. I am gonna make myself pull that trigger on Thursday though and should be able to get the two courses mortared on top of the soldiers too.

Ill post some pictures soon though.

[chirobuggy]

Re: Chirobuggy's 42inch oven build

So got some done on the oven despite 106 temp. Thought i would do some mortar but didnt attempt in the heat. Did a lot of thinking though and got the soldiers cut. Now trying to wrap my head around the compound brick cutting. Need measurements for cutting bricks on first course with jcg31 or mrchipsters method posted. I get the idea but dont know where to place line for cut when setting up the jig for the first course.

Thanks for the input guys!