32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

[kbartman]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Looks great............I wish I could work and fast as you............By the looks of that brick work, I would say you have been laying bricks for years.....

[K79]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Looking real good Neil. Nice work!

ditto... keep up the great work.

[jbruning]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Looking real good Neil. Nice work!

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Ok, I have to admit that I am seriously tired of laying brick!! I now have a lot more respect for people that do this for a living! Someone in this forum posted that Winston Churchill used to lay brick as a hobby - he must have had some serious issues!!

I counted and believe it or not there are nearly 1,000 bricks in this structure. No wonder I am tired! And that is not counting the 200 or so fire bricks in the pizza oven!

I am almost ready to move to the back and start framing in the surround which will close the "box" and house the insulation. Then I need to put a roof on the thing. I am thinking of using clay tile...

And I still need to decide on the work surfaces on the left and right. Not sure whether to use brick or not. I may go with granite or sealed flagstone

Neil

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks Cobblerdave!

For me keeping at it is the most important thing! You have way more stamina than me! If I don't finish it now I never will!

Neil

[cobblerdave]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Gudday Neil
I'm slightly " masonry impaired" so to see your build ... Promise it's taken me 3 yrs to get mine to look as pretty as yours ....
Regards
Dave

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks for the coaching, Aceves!

I am motivated to complete the entire structure - but I have discovered that I am an extremely slow brick layer ! (My excuse is that I stare at computer screens for about 50 hours a week)

I made further progress on the structure today. I am aiming for a completion date of July 4th! Still lots to do!

Neil

[aceves]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Hi Neil,

Cool NorCal build. Your oven looks awesome! Great progress! Don't you just love it when the oven goes white hot? Keep up the good work... and don't forget to finish it. We sometimes slow down when the oven is functional and then take a long time to finish it. Just keep going!

Aceves

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Ok, Les, I went full throttle and all went well!

I completely cleared the dome for the first time! Very exciting! (I need to get out more)

I set a thermocouple in the air at the point where the dome hits the inner arch and the temperature there hit 1500 degrees.

The cracks got the largest they have ever been - but still less than 1/8 inch. No smoke was emerging from any crack which I understand is good. I took the opportunity to make a home brew mortar slurry and filled in the cracks that I could see. I am going to insulate soon and stop looking at the cracks from now on.

I think I am ready to cook a pizza - and of course insulate and complete the outer decorative brickwork.

Neil

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks Les

Ok, I will stop holding back and see what happens!

[Les]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

I would think that after 11 fires you should be dry. I say throttle up and enjoy... Good job!

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Success! I almost cleared the dome today. I probably could have raised the heat a bit more but decided to stop. Don't want to unnecessarily risk it.

The outside of the dome at the top also got the hottest it has ever gotten: 210 degrees Fahrenheit. It is still not yet insulated.

[jbruning]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

CLEARING THE DOME...

I am now up to about my 11th curing fire and every day I increase the temperature a bit more. For the last few days my keystone and a few surrounding bricks turned white, and then last night the upper 4 courses "cleared" I've been reading about "clearing the dome" for quite a while now - It's great to see it start to happen!

Tonight I may see if I can clear a few more rows!

Neil

That's awesome Neil. I just started course 9 and have quite a bit to go, but can't wait to get finished.

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

K79

1) I don't know about simply using mortar to hold the vent plate to the chimney. I might need to use a long length of chimney pipe so I wanted to make sure it was securely fastened on there. I suppose if there aren't going to be too many lateral forces (not much wind for instance) mortar would probably be OK? I did also put some high-temperature sealant between the plate and the chimney before I bolted it down.
2) For the curing fires I went a bit slower than the FB schedule called for. I knew I had a lot of time before I would start cooking pizza (I still have to complete the base and facade and insulation etc) so I figured cooler fires over a longer period of time sure couldn't hurt. I have also learn't a lot about how fires work in my oven and the best way to start them and how the smoke travels, etc. So I don't regret going a bit slower.

[K79]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

I noticed some threads on here call for 8 days of curing fires like your doing (I'm going that route too). But I noticed the FB plans say this:

Day 1. Maintain a fire temperature of 300?F throughout the
day and as long as possible into the evening. If you cannot
continually run a 300?F for at least six hours, repeat step 1
for a second day before moving on to Day 2.
Day 2. Repeat at 350?F.
Important Note. While it is difficult to maintain consistent,
low temperature fires, it is critical for proper curing that you
do not go above these temperatures during the first two
days, or a total of 16 hours.
Day 3. Repeat at 400?F.
Day 4. Repeat at 450?F.
Day 5. Repeat at 500?F.
Close the oven door every evening to preserve dryness and
heat.

Did you follow this at all?