32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

[K79]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Looking real good Neil. Nice work!

ditto... keep up the great work.

[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.....

[Les]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Neil - I hear what you are saying, it get's old. What I hated was never being able to stand up. The majority of my brick I was stooped over. I think vertically challenged masons get top dollar

It's looking great!

[stonecutter]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Your bonding looks good, and you did very good with the arches and corners. For the counter you might be able to get a good price on remnant granite or soapstone at a fabrication shop...it doesn't look like you have more than 15 sqft. If you get flagging, try to find a sawn stone instead of natural cleft..it will be smoother.

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks all for the kind compliments!!

Stonecutter, thanks for the suggestion on granite or soapstone - you are correct the surfaces are not that big. I do have some extra Arizona Flagstone ("Rosa" color) - but it is extremely absorbent so it would need to be well sealed... Also not sure what I would do on the edges if I used flagstone....

[stonecutter]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

If the stone you have isn't layered, and is more homogenous, you can pitch the face to create what is referred to as 'rock facing'. I'm guessing that Arizona Flagging is some kind of sandstone, so unless it contains a lot of iron oxide and is very hard, you should be able to do this with a sharp cold chisel.

Another thing you can do is a brushed finish. Use a wire wheel on a drill or angle grinder and soften the edges with it...creates a nice, worn look. Finish with fine grit wet sandpaper.

Finally, if you want a more clean look, get a dry cut blade for your circular saw, set straight edge so you can run your fence along, and put a crisp flat face on there. You can also angle your saw and shave off 1/8" - 3/4" ( there's those darn imperial numbers again) or just relieve the edge with sandpaper ( wet )

Just some ways you can finish stone with common tools most people have at home.

[cobblerdave]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Gudday
.......brick?
Regards dave

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

If the stone you have isn't layered, and is more homogenous, you can pitch the face to create what is referred to as 'rock facing'. I'm guessing that Arizona Flagging is some kind of sandstone, so unless it contains a lot of iron oxide and is very hard, you should be able to do this with a sharp cold chisel.

Another thing you can do is a brushed finish. Use a wire wheel on a drill or angle grinder and soften the edges with it...creates a nice, worn look. Finish with fine grit wet sandpaper.

Finally, if you want a more clean look, get a dry cut blade for your circular saw, set straight edge so you can run your fence along, and put a crisp flat face on there. You can also angle your saw and shave off 1/8" - 3/4" ( there's those darn imperial numbers again) or just relieve the edge with sandpaper ( wet )

Just some ways you can finish stone with common tools most people have at home.

Thanks for the great suggestions on the flagstone. Yes, it is definitely some kind of sandstone and is not very hard at all. If I use this stone I think I would prefer to start with a clean edge and then relieve the edge as you suggested. I was looking at it and I think I could make a jig for my 10" HF tile/brick saw that would work.... I will look more closely as the weekend gets closer!

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Gudday
.......brick?
Regards dave

Are you suggesting I make the table surfaces out of brick? I thought of that but I am getting to the point that if I have to pick up another brick I think I might throw it at something!

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Insulated and covered dome

I built the enclosure walls out of Hardibacker. Then insulated the dome with 4 inches of Ceramic Fiber blanket. Final insulation step was filling in all remaining spaces with Vermiculite.

Then put the roof piece on and mortared all the joints.

I will finish the enclosure with stucco mix and paint it to keep the moisture out. This enclosure will not be visible from the front so I am not too worried how it looks.

Tonight I fired the dome and I was extremely pleased to see that after 3 hours the difference in temperature between the middle of the roof (directly above the dome) and the ambient temperature was a mere 5 degrees! Happy!

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

FIRST PIZZA!!

So I can finally report that after several dough experiments I finally made a real pizza! And we ate it for dinner - so that definitely makes it real (there was no backup meal on standby!)

I think I need to work on dough recipes next!

Neil

[Les]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Nice!! That should serve you well...

[cobblerdave]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Gudday
I like the comment about no backup meal avaliable
With any pizza dough recipes ... Just flour water salt and yeast at the temps of the pizza oven any adds such as milk or oil just burn.
I just use the forno recipe 325 water 500gm strong flour (Measure by weight) a tsp instant yeast 1/2 tsp salt. You'll get 4 x 200gm balls out of this.
Regards davec

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Thanks Dave!

I will try the FB recipe. I agree - pretty simple recipe formula that hasn't changed in several thousand years. A lot of people still seem to have their own 'secret' pizza dough recipes however!

Neil

[boerwarrior]

Re: 32 Inch Pompeii in Northern California

Insulation makes a difference!

I still have no door on my oven (that's almost made to the top of the list now!). However, 14 hours after firing the interior temperature was still over 250 degrees - which is a night and day improvement over the non-insulated oven! Now I wonder what will happen when I put a a door on it...?