32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Seventh Course done. Unfortunately this essentially happened before I read Mike's reply so I can no longer easily access the dome-to-arch transition to try and make it smoother. I will attempt to address this later from the front.

It's probably difficult to see from the picture, but there is only a circular gap of about 10-11 inches remaining. I think this means two more (small) courses followed by a center plug.

I have a couple of weird bumps which I think occurred because I didn't use small enough bricks for the last two rows. But my interior mortar joints are still acceptably small (for me at least!) and so I will make any necessary adjustments on the next course.

I think I will attempt to close the dome tomorrow!

[SableSprings]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Here's a couple of photos of my chimney transition area after a bake. The minor soot/creosote buildup I normally have after a firing is concentrated in areas where I don't get good, smooth airflow out of the oven and into the chimney. This is why I'm a bit concerned about your oven exit/chimney entrance gap & "arch dam". Yes, the soot does burn off inside the oven, but as you can see it doesn't clear very far outside of the oven's main chamber.

I know you want to finish and start the curing fires, but you'll get a lot of soot/creosote buildup during the initial firings...which will make cleaning and "fixing" this area much more difficult (and dirty work!). Again, while you've got home brew made up - use it with some fire brick scraps to fill/pack and smooth this transition area.

FYI: These pics were taken (Sunday) after my bread baking session on Friday. I normally fire the oven Thursday night late and at 7 or 8am Friday morning bring the oven up (from its overnight 400-450F range) to 650-700F when the dome clears. I make sure I've got clearing all the way to the floor and then clean out all the ash/coals. The firing door is left slightly open until I get into the low 600s when I close it to equalize. Door's usually closed from noon until 2:30-3pm when I start the bake. The first two pics are my chimney transition area so you can see the soot/smutz buildup. In the third picture you can see a portion of my cleared dome (note that I did not clean up brickwork mortar, only smoothed it) and the upper right side door opening/angle iron frame at the oven exit. The last picture is to show you some of the crap that falls down on top of my firing door.

[kbartman]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks KB! I might try and close the dome this weekend - depending on how much time I have to work on it.


You must be almost closed yourself? Or maybe already done? I think the last picture you posted was course 6 or 7.

Hope it's going well!
Neil

Been quite busy with the family........Slow but steady for me........Your builds looking good you will be closing your dome long look before me.......Today I dry fitted 7th course...........

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Mike

thanks so much for explaining this to me and taking the time to post the pictures. I have a much better idea of what to expect! Wow it sounds like you have a fine-tuned process for firing your oven.

Well, your explanation and pictures convinced me!

I think I actually managed to do better than some brick off-cuts and mortar. I was able to carefully cut two firebricks which fit the gaps fairly well. They were tricky to cut but my firebrick cutting skills have improved immensely since this project started! I was then a little concerned that these bricks might me too heavy to mortar in upside down but I was able to wedge them in fairly well into the side "pockets" so I don't think they are going anywhere!

I had to do everything from the front of the arch with a mirror but I managed pretty well. (Maybe I should have been a dentist! )

I then smoothed everything out with mortar and I now have a pretty smooth transition from dome to arch! I'm not sure how well you can see the attached picture which was taken with a light and a mirror. But you should be able to see it is now smooth.

I think I am going to owe you once I get firing!

Neil

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

The oven is closed!!!

I wasn't sure I would be able to finish it this weekend especially after I decided to take SableSpring's advice and repair the dome-to-arch transition so that it didn't have deep crevices in it.

I used a Dremel to carve my initials in the plug.

My final courses are not very pretty but I think they will work.

It is extremely satisfying to smooth out the oven exterior once it is all closed! (Like I said I probably need to get out more )

It feel like a big step to have gotten this far. My respect to all those of you with much bigger ovens - it is a lot of work to build them!

As you can see I still have some cleanup to do on the interior - which I will do before it dries solid!

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Now that the dome is built I am beginning to rethink how I plan to complete the facade, insulation and surround.

Originally I was going to have a 7 foot high wall flush with the base at the front of the oven (with an arch cutout for the oven of course!). This front section would be 4 feet wide. Then on the sides I was going to step back and have a 3 foot wide by 20 inch deep work surface on each side. At the back of each work surface I would have a 7 foot wall.

Sorry I didn't describe it well and I don't have a sketch-up picture.

In plan view the profile of the seven foot wall would look like:

. __
_| |_

Oven in front and work surface on either side.

But now I am not so sure... I will start looking at other people's photos... (up until now I have only been worried about oven build pictures!)

[kstronach]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

looking good! keep up the good work! not long now and you'll be ready to start lighting some small fires up!

[Calisdad]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Nice looking build boerwarrior!

Thanks for posting as I'm about a week or two behind you in that I layed my floor yesterday. I especially like your solution to the IT. I was headed out to find a heim joint today but think a caster will be far easier to find.

What's your finish counter surface going to be? I was wondering if I should put mine above the fire brick at the opening to allow for expansion or just butt it.

(Trying to post pics but I keep getting the dreaded red X)

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks Calisdad

yup castors are easy to use and many here have used them. If you get one with a bolt in it then you can save yourself the trouble of drilling out the rivet and also reuse the bolt for the stem! I made my little shelf (it is an angle bracket) adjustable so I could move it a bit up and and down - as my rows progressed I needed a slightly different height. It was also useful to drop the shelf after the mortar had partially set so that I didn't disrupt the first brick when I moved the IT to the next one!

I haven't yet decided what to make my counters out of! I may use concrete or some kind of red-brick colored tile. I think my oven outer arch is going to be flush with the wall on the base - in which case i will only have counters on either side of the oven.

Good luck with the build. Most photo editing software (even the free ones) allows you to re-size the pictures so that they are small enough to post.

Neil

[Greenman]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Hi Calisdad - An even simpler way to use a castor for your IT is to drill and screw in a threaded bar straight into the castor wheel. That way you don't have to pull anything apart. I used mine to build my dome and it worked a treat, right to the last chain. If you drill the hole with a pedestal drill you the wheel can be centred in the hole in the support. Also, if you drill it all the way to the spindle and screw the rod right in it will act as a damper.

Cheers ..... Steve

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Started work on the front arch today - been working on the flagstone patio base rock so was a bit delayed in making progress on the oven.

I made two side buttresses out of angle iron and set them in the concrete base with anchor bolts. I plan to fill in the small gap between the buttress and the bricks on the outer arch with mortar - unless anyone has a better idea???

Photos attached. I had a helper today (my 7-year old nephew) so I took a picture of him next to the oven as well!

I also made my wooden form for the front arch.

Neil

[CoyoteVB]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Looks great. As you are planning your next steps consider reinforcing your cladding prior to insulation to prevent movement and cracking. There are several threads that discuss how to add this structural strength.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Be sure to save your arch forms so you can use them as a template for an oven door if you build on.

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Looks great. As you are planning your next steps consider reinforcing your cladding prior to insulation to prevent movement and cracking. There are several threads that discuss how to add this structural strength.

Thanks Brian

I read through the crack thread that you started and looked at other crack posts and also searched on "reinforcing cladding", and I cannot find anything that indicates I should do anything else before my first (slow) firing?

I have probably about a 1/2 inch of homebrew mortar around the entire dome. the dome has been curing for 2 weeks. (longer for the lower courses!) I plan to start firing slowly this weekend, before I put the thermal blanket on. Anything else I should do first? Or could you point me to a thread?

Neil

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Be sure to save your arch forms so you can use them as a template for an oven door if you build on.

Russell, thanks for the tip! So far I have saved everything! My workshop looks like a storage closet!

And, yes, I will be building a door - probably out of (non-zinc-plated) steel with with CalSil board or thermal blanket in the middle. My friend has a welder and he promised to show me how to use it (if I'm lucky by the time he has finished demonstrating the door will be done!)

Neil