42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Three rows are mortared and the 4th is cut.

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Three rows are mortared and the 4th is cut.

[brianventura]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

I had a lot of scrap pieces I used for masonry wedges and it worked well for me. Plus I had less to throw away.

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Guess I will have to start tapering the bricks on the next course.

[Gulf]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

This afternoon, I started mortaring the oven bricks with home brew. After I finished for the day, I noticed cracks along some of the bricks. I dipped the bricks in water for about a minute and used a chip brush to wet the mating surfaces. Is this anything I should be concerned about?

I think maybe just a little to large of mortar joint. Try getting them a little tighter or spacing them with scliced masonry wedges.

[kbartman]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

This afternoon, I started mortaring the oven bricks with home brew. After I finished for the day, I noticed cracks along some of the bricks. I dipped the bricks in water for about a minute and used a chip brush to wet the mating surfaces. Is this anything I should be concerned about?

I made some progress on my build today set the second course and had much better luck. Buttered all surfaces with a very thin layer of mortar (this allows complete adhesion of all surfaces) than apply enough mortar to allow for the joint size expected. I recommend the smallest size joints possible. I'm using Demon High heat mortar max joint size 1/4"

With the mortar bricks covered in plastic to retain moisture, this allowed me to push the mortar into cracked joints. I went back and on compress mortar with trowel for a crack free joint. The longer you can retain the moister the easier it is to repair those cracks and separations.

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Good to know. Thanks.

[stonecutter]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Nope...carry on.

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

This afternoon, I started mortaring the oven bricks with home brew. After I finished for the day, I noticed cracks along some of the bricks. I dipped the bricks in water for about a minute and used a chip brush to wet the mating surfaces. Is this anything I should be concerned about?

[stonecutter]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

I like the door reveal detail you cut into the vent brick...clean look.

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

I've been rained out over the past week and a half, but I added the first course of bricks in the front of the oven after work today. The ground is finally drying out and it's supposed to rain again tomorrow. Boo.

[geisen]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Massimilliano, I have seen some very succesful builds with clay ovens. You are just going back a few thousand years farther than the rest of us. should be a great thread.

[Massimilliano]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

I read with envy your posts. Here in distant New Zealand everything is triple the price of the figures bandied around in this forum. Most of our local brickworks have closed down, making imported decorative veneer bricks almost all we can find. Fire bricks, unless you want to use crappy recycled ones, are difficult to find and cost in the region of $8.50 (about $US6) each! I guess this yet another cost of living in (a fools?) paradise
To counter this a local company is making "bricks" from refractory concrete for $2.50. So far they seem to have achieved a good rap. I am sceptical, though, and am proceeding with plans to cast a dome of home-made fireclay. I am going to use the concrete bricks to make the first stage of the vent support.
Ciao and a presto tutti
Max

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Made more progress today. I made an IT and started cutting brick for the vent. I got the first three rows cut. Once all my firebricks were cut, I started laying brick.

[BriggsARNP]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

This looks like an awesome build. Can't wait to see how it ends.