36" pompeii in WI in the winter

[Les]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,
My gun only goes to approx 950 deg. and I have had it pegged. I used a product that was rated at 1900. With that said, I seriously doubt that the hearth is going to go much higher than 1200 (if it can). And even if it does, that is just the rating of the product - if it gets to 1201 it will not turn to ash. I would think you are good to use it. Some have set thermo couples into the hearth - it would be interesting to see their highest recorded temp's.

[Gulf]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

One more question.... I CaSi board I found is rated at 1200F. Will that work? from what I've read the oven will have the potential of getting that Hot.

Take care,
Aaron

My understanding is that the apex of the dome may get somewhat hotter, but 1200F is within the max temp for the floor of a WFO (I think about 1100F). Maybe someone else can give you a true Pie-R-Square on the subject. I think that you will find from researching many of the builds on this site, that CalSil is OK for the floor.

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

One more question.... I CaSi board I found is rated at 1200F. Will that work? from what I've read the oven will have the potential of getting that Hot.

Take care,
Aaron

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

I really don't think that it is going to "slide around", as long as you keep this baby level while transporting. I definately wouldn't use any type of glue or any substance that is petroleum based. If the finish on the slab is rough, that should be enough. The shere weight of the dome will keep it from shifting. If it would make you more comfortalble, place the calsil on a thin bed of mortar or thinset.

Thanks. I'll pry use some mortar.

I picked up my firebricks today and upon close examination I found that the surface is covered with really tiny spider cracks. Is this normal? I need to get a pic to post.

Also I found some mortar at Menards called Medium-Duty Refractory Mortar by Akona for $55 for 50 lbs. The specs are here: Products | TCC Materials It's rated at 2550 F. Has anyone used this mortar before?

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

Aaron,

That's some base, and it can double as a bomb shelter. Send pictures on the build. Looking forward to seeing it moved.

[Gulf]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

We took the forms off a few days later and as I said before......It's one solid base. Ripping the forms out inside was not fun and took a lot of prying with a large pry-bar. It weighs around 4000 lbs now and according to my calculations the finished oven should weigh around 7000-7500 lbs. I have a friend that has a forklift rated at 9000 lbs so I should be fine.

Next step.....hearth insulation. I'm planning on picking it up today.
I would like to glue the CaSi board down to keep it from sliding around. What kind of glue should I use? We use PL300 to glue foam insulation to concrete but I'm not sure if it will hold up to the heat.

Take care,
Aaron

I really don't think that it is going to "slide around", as long as you keep this baby level while transporting. I definately wouldn't use any type of glue or any substance that is petroleum based. If the finish on the slab is rough, that should be enough. The shere weight of the dome will keep it from shifting. If it would make you more comfortalble, place the calsil on a thin bed of mortar or thinset.

[AaronTheGeek]

Re: 36" pompeii in WI in the winter

We took the forms off a few days later and as I said before......It's one solid base. Ripping the forms out inside was not fun and took a lot of prying with a large pry-bar. It weighs around 4000 lbs now and according to my calculations the finished oven should weigh around 7000-7500 lbs. I have a friend that has a forklift rated at 9000 lbs so I should be fine.

Next step.....hearth insulation. I'm planning on picking it up today.
I would like to glue the CaSi board down to keep it from sliding around. What kind of glue should I use? We use PL300 to glue foam insulation to concrete but I'm not sure if it will hold up to the heat.

Take care,
Aaron

[AaronTheGeek]

Hello,

I'm finally starting to build a WFO after thinking about it for a few years now. My problem is that I work all summer doing concrete work and don't have much time for extra projects until winter comes around. Winter around here is cold and obviously wet mortar would freeze in no time. But this winter I will be able to build one in a heated shop at my boss's place. He is about as much interested in it as I am so he helps out.

The idea is to build a semi-permanent oven that can be moved without too much trouble as my boss's place is about 5 miles away and there's a possibility that I might want to take it to another place some day. After playing around with ideas for the base we decided to make one out of concrete. I could have welded something together out of steel, but we're concrete contractors so we decided to try something different.

You can see in the photos we poured the whole thing at once, the bottom, the sides and the top (something that's not possible without a wall vibrator) and believe me it's one solid concrete box now!
We formed up the outside (59x70") with wood forms that we use in our trade and then built a box to fit inside with 2x4s and plywood siding scraps from a mini-barn shop nearby. The floor of the base is 6" thick on the edges and the side walls and ceiling are 4" thick.
We put 2" of foam insulation on top of the inner box mostly for the purpose of keeping the wood from getting jammed inside the box when the concrete was hard.
We put two pieces of steel C channel in the bottom to make slots for forks to be slid underneath to lift the oven. There is rebar bent all the way around and a couple of pieces on the bottom are welded to the C channel.