A New Journey

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Thanks John. Yeah. I think I'll just start embedding them from my G+ album so the flow is a little better and people can just scroll through them.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

I do have one question that I have been thinking about. Do I have enough distance from the front of the hearth to where my inner arch will be? I have about 1' from the very edge to the outside of the inner arch. I think that should be plenty for my mounting plate and the outside arch. Or should I re-lay my floor another 6"-12" back? My thoughts were that the back of the oven would be 4'6" and anything further than say 5' would be more difficult to get at. Any other thoughts? Should I just leave it as is?

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: A New Journey

Loren,

A 42" oven requires an 8" flue, and an 8" sloping flue gallery is recommended, but many builders have gone with less (read: didn't think ahead). 4" for front entryway arch, another 2" (approx) for decorative arch and cladding. Any plans for a small landing counter to match the kitchen?

You have the room to back your oven up so go ahead and make whatever adjustments you need to get the look and finish you want. A few more inches of depth are not critical to working the fire/pots/pizza. (Just think of your buddy's behemoth) You also gain the benefit of a wind break and larger warming/holding area with a deeper entryway.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Thanks John. I was looking over your initial sketch up of your dimensions and I think I'm going to move it back about 8-10" I've got only about an 1 1/2" from the end of the 8" SS flue plate to the front of the oven so I definitely need a bit more. Should only take about a half hour to move the whole thing back a bit but will be better in the long run. Thanks for the quick response.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

So I moved the floor back 8" today and attempted to get working on the arch...

I got a inner arch template from Russell but he used a different size of brick and I'm not certain I will be able to make them the same size. I do however have the standard size left but how should I go about making the taper. The 10" HF saw I have wont cut deep enough on one pass making it quite difficult to make the taper on the brick. Can I get away with no taper to the inner arch bricks?



I did a home brew mortar using the fire clay from the cuts I've already made. What should the mortar consistency be? I read that for the 3:1:1:1 that you use about 2 parts water. That wasn't quite enough for me it seemed to dry so I added about 2 1/2 parts. It was a workable consistency not too dry and not soupy. Definitely seemed like I needed to apply it pretty quick though as it would dry fairly quick.





As you can see I am using some Behemoth bricks. The first two courses I'm using these larger bricks and then I'll begin using the standard size.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Russell came over yesterday and helped me out with some questions I had about the inner arch and some other tips. Thanks for the suggestion to move the oven back I am ssooooooooo glad that I moved it back.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Well. I got all my inner arch bricks tapered yesterday and then today I cut the inside dome portion of the inner arch bricks as well as where the top blocks will be sitting. I then began placing and making sure they would fit nicely.



Things looked good and that center brick was a pain to cut because it was one of the behemoth bricks that are super high strength and very very hard!

After mortar the big brick didn't even work so I ended up actually shaving down one of the normal size bricks and I think the front looks pretty decent.



The back isn't quite as clean. Will it really matter though during dome construction?





Let me know what you guys think but I think things will be just fine. I ended up floating the interior arch on top of the floor not mortaring it to the floor. Let me know what you guys think. Suggestions for corrections or tips for the next steps. Thanks!

... Only allowed to attach 4 photos... thats lame!

[texman]

Re: A New Journey

Doc

Nice arch! the imperfections won't really matter as your dome joins the arch. If you have a 4" grinder (or bigger) you can smooth it some if you want, but not required. I built mine with the same technique (arch complete) as you and i think it is the best way. The dome comes right on up and you have tricky cuts where the dome meets the arch, but other than that, it goes smooth. Just watch the margins and keep the joints staggered. Good job.

Tell Russell that Texman says hey.

Texman

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Thanks Tex. I've been trying to remember to keep the joints staggered. so far I've only noticed one spot where they came pretty close but now that I'll be concentrating on the dome I'll try to make a better effort to keep them staggered. Thanks for the advice!

[texman]

Re: A New Journey

i am glad that you moved it back. i think i see what you mean. It looks like you are in the same situation that i had with my corner build. It looks like the area in front of the inner arch is about 13" i am guessing. So you have to get the vent and landing contained in that space, right?

i struggled with the joints a bit. it was my fault though. i started each course next to vent and kept having to use chips (small bricks) to make it come out. I was too focused on using a full half brick next to the arch. i should have measured and made it right. oh well it worked though. just not the perfection that we all envision for these ovens. But thankfully perfection is not required.

keep up the good work.

Texman

[rand18m]

Re: A New Journey

It should work fine! I ended up with more stacked bonds ,or close, than I wanted but never more than one course. Of the mortar cracks that have come up it's where bonds were too close together but small. Nothing leaking smoke so far so maybe ok. When you tie in your courses to your dome you won't notice the back of the arch. You can cut and fit all of your pieces, it'll be fine.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Thanks Rand. Looks like we'll have very poopy weather till Friday so in the mean time I've just been tinkering with design and renderings of the final product. I may have gone a little overboard and I haven't included the lighting yet but so far this is what I have.





I am going to have a ton of firebrick left over I think so I have been toying with the idea of a fireplace but we'll see how much I can actually do with what I have left when finished.

[Sharkey]

Re: A New Journey

It looks like you have plenty of work ahead of you. Take your time and enjoy the project.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

So I have continued my build I've found it to be a slight annoyance that my bricks are completely tapered and I am taking one block and cutting it in to 4 pieces. Oh well though. I paid about $50 bucks for all the firebrick so it isn't that bad.

So I finally completed the course just above the dome but as I completed I noticed that It is drooping about 1 3/4" when compared to the back. I think since it is on the front and will literally only be seen if someone was able to get their entire head in there and have a light... that I will just fill the gap with mortar. The other option would be to cut a few smaller bricks and lay them in here to cover the gap area.

What do you guys think? What should I do?

[DavidApp]

Re: A New Journey

Hello Loren

I struggled to keep my brick chains level over the arch. Found that adding a temporary leg to the IT I could stay on track.

David