36" Pompeii in DC

[mrchipster]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

without tearing it apart to measure, it appears to be about 1 to 1-1/8 inch thick. i really like your pyrex lid idea. i will keep that in mind when i am to the door build. that looks like the way to go. i hope to start my WFO in the next week or so and as a newbie will be asking lots of questions.

Jon,

There is a string I started about this window door at

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...oor-18303.html

Feel free to go there for additional details.

Chip

[kanoer54]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

without tearing it apart to measure, it appears to be about 1 to 1-1/8 inch thick. i really like your pyrex lid idea. i will keep that in mind when i am to the door build. that looks like the way to go. i hope to start my WFO in the next week or so and as a newbie will be asking lots of questions.

[Laurentius]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

a dryer is a good source of free metal and less to haul out of your basement. if you do decide to use your dryer door, it would be a good idea to grind off all of the baked enamel paint before you start bending and fabrication. i think the baked enamel is only on the outside. the inside is usually just a primer or lesser grade baked enamel. but otherwise a free source of good metal.

on the stove door idea, i have an ancient self cleaning oven with a SS door and was thinking about re-using the door and glass for a WFO door but not sure of the temperature aspect. i know the self cleaning feature heats up to around 650F or so, but not sure it would work on a WFO door. any thoughts or ideas from anyone?

( i have been following this site for a couple months and am working on acquiring all the materials, IT, wet saw with miter, arch templates, etc. Have been working on the plans and am really anxious to get started in the next couple weeks.)

Hi Canoe,

If it's a self cleaning oven door, it might be insulated, how thick is it. Post photos.

[mrchipster]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

on the stove door idea, i have an ancient self cleaning oven with a SS door and was thinking about re-using the door and glass for a WFO door but not sure of the temperature aspect. i know the self cleaning feature heats up to around 650F or so, but not sure it would work on a WFO door. any thoughts or ideas from anyone?

The glass would be great for a baking door but I would use fully insulated for trying to retain heat. I used a Pyrex frying pan lid as the window for my baking door. Baking temps (below 600) seem to be no problem for the glass.

I do not use it when there is a live fire.

Chip

[kanoer54]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

a dryer is a good source of free metal and less to haul out of your basement. if you do decide to use your dryer door, it would be a good idea to grind off all of the baked enamel paint before you start bending and fabrication. i think the baked enamel is only on the outside. the inside is usually just a primer or lesser grade baked enamel. but otherwise a free source of good metal.

on the stove door idea, i have an ancient self cleaning oven with a SS door and was thinking about re-using the door and glass for a WFO door but not sure of the temperature aspect. i know the self cleaning feature heats up to around 650F or so, but not sure it would work on a WFO door. any thoughts or ideas from anyone?

( i have been following this site for a couple months and am working on acquiring all the materials, IT, wet saw with miter, arch templates, etc. Have been working on the plans and am really anxious to get started in the next couple weeks.)

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

Some SSs are slightly magnetic and will rust, 316 is not magnetic and will not rust either. But any SS would work and even CS is a good option. Scounging, if you are up to it, is like a treasure hunt sometimes. I picked up a side panel of 316 SS on a medical cabinet for free and using it for my door.

[rsandler]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

Chip: Heh, maybe I'll give it a magnet test when I get home.

DJ: Online metals might be an option, though the shipping costs more than the metal for a 2'x2' piece :P.

Kanoer54: Hmm, good point about the enamel. Wonder if I could find one of these guys that picks up scrap metal and offer to trade? Trouble with waiting for a large item pickup day is that I really need some kind of solution, if only a quick fix, ASAP, as I want to keep using my oven in the meanwhile, and my cracked door is worrying me...

[kanoer54]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

if you live in an area which has BIG item trash pickup day, perhaps you could find a stainless steel stove front...with high temp glass included. or if you have a place you can take recycled plastic, glass, etc. they might also have a piece of stainless you could get for nothing. i'd be careful of a dryer front as these typically are baked enamel steel designed for light dings and easy cleaning, not high temperatures. you could have baked enamel popping of in your food.

[deejayoh]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

I would use at least 16 gauge. There are probably several metal resellers in the area. There is one called Potomac Steel that I found without looking too hard. Or you could order from Online Metals, although I am not sure about the shipping as their location is right down the hill from me so I get the metal will-call

[mrchipster]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

Hmm, maybe I'll look a little more for plain steel. Best price I could find for a piece of stainless was an offcut from a local fabricator $35, and would require figuring out how to actually get there during business hours (a huge pain). Lowes seems to have a 2'x3' sheet of 28ga plain steel, but I feel like that's probably going to be too floppy--same problem as I had with the aluminum.

This is making me tempted to take my angle grinder to the old, unused gas dryer in my basement which came with the house and has remained because it probably won't fit out the door...probably isn't steel anyway.

If a refrigerator magnet sticks to it it is steel.

Chip

[rsandler]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

Hmm, maybe I'll look a little more for plain steel. Best price I could find for a piece of stainless was an offcut from a local fabricator $35, and would require figuring out how to actually get there during business hours (a huge pain). Lowes seems to have a 2'x3' sheet of 28ga plain steel, but I feel like that's probably going to be too floppy--same problem as I had with the aluminum.

This is making me tempted to take my angle grinder to the old, unused gas dryer in my basement which came with the house and has remained because it probably won't fit out the door...probably isn't steel anyway.

[mrchipster]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

There is no need to use stainless. Mild steel works just fine, and is probably cheaper than SS needles. It will cost you less than $30, and you can probably scrounge something even cheaper

I agree just make sure it is not galvanized and not painted.

Chip

[deejayoh]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

There is no need to use stainless. Mild steel works just fine, and is probably cheaper than SS needles. It will cost you less than $30, and you can probably scrounge something even cheaper

[mrchipster]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

Chip,

I'm not trying to make my life difficult, I'm just trying to figure something out that will work, and/or learn why alternatives won't work. I'd love to have a nice, sturdy metal door like yours (exactly like yours, in fact; it would be great to have 4" of insulation). But more insulation costs $$, stainless sheet costs $$ and is a pain to acquire, the tools to work with stainless (a welder or cobalt drill bits) cost $$, and I'm already cringing at how much $$ I've sunk into just making a bloody door. That, and from my previous attempts I seem to be fairly incompetent when it comes to working with metal. I can get a pound of SS needles online for around $15, and at least with mortar/concrete I kind of know what I'm doing.

If it's infeasible, because SS needles won't hold it together, or the edges will chip excessively, fine. I'll shell out for stainless, and try to figure out a way to assemble it that I'm less likely to screw up. I'm just trying to figure out if that's so, and why, just to fill out my own scanty knowledge.

FWIW, Tscarborough had a concrete door, at least as of a couple years ago: http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/9/tw...html#post91821 So if it's totally crazy, at least it's not uniquely crazy

-Ryan

Ryan,

Become a scrounger, Craigslist, garage sale, Thrift store etc you should be able to locate a SS Kitchen Trash can, old stainless grill door that the internal parts have gone bad on, non working stainless fridge or dishwasher, all good sources of nice thin stainless. Check out appliance stores that take the old ones from peoples homes, they often scrap this stuff out and will give you a door or panel for next to nothing.

I looked on DC/Craigslist for ====FREE=== 2 Stainless Gas Grills, 1 dishwasher, and one microwave. All good sources of stainless sheet metal.

There may be other good sources of thin stainless out there and if anyone has any ideas please chime in.

As far as cutting and fabricating. A thin metal cutting wheel on an angle grinder is all i used. I bent the metal with pliers, a hammer and blocks of wood. Drilling does not require cobalt bits. TI coated - the gold ones work just fine, and pop rivets work well but are not required you can use stainless sheet metal screws, you already have 4 bolts to hold it together.

Chip

[rsandler]

Re: 36" Pompeii in DC

Chip,

I'm not trying to make my life difficult, I'm just trying to figure something out that will work, and/or learn why alternatives won't work. I'd love to have a nice, sturdy metal door like yours (exactly like yours, in fact; it would be great to have 4" of insulation). But more insulation costs $$, stainless sheet costs $$ and is a pain to acquire, the tools to work with stainless (a welder or cobalt drill bits) cost $$, and I'm already cringing at how much $$ I've sunk into just making a bloody door. That, and from my previous attempts I seem to be fairly incompetent when it comes to working with metal. I can get a pound of SS needles online for around $15, and at least with mortar/concrete I kind of know what I'm doing.

If it's infeasible, because SS needles won't hold it together, or the edges will chip excessively, fine. I'll shell out for stainless, and try to figure out a way to assemble it that I'm less likely to screw up. I'm just trying to figure out if that's so, and why, just to fill out my own scanty knowledge.

FWIW, Tscarborough had a concrete door, at least as of a couple years ago: http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/9/tw...html#post91821 So if it's totally crazy, at least it's not uniquely crazy

-Ryan