Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Not exactly tomorrow, more like today.

It has not exactly been the merriest of times since i last posted. While the weather up until recently has been sunny and warm enough to continue with the build of the oven (10?C today, !7?C some days ago) i'm all too busy cause i have a lot of other things to take in consideration before i can move on whit the construction. I'm in the middle of a renovation in my old flat, and there's still a lot of unpacking and work with the new one.

When i'm finished with all of this i'm gonna take a vacation and go visit my relatives i the northern of Sweden to relax and talk with my cousin who considers to build one of his own. He already had some plans of building an old traditional wood-fired oven for indoor use, the one you use to make "tunnbr?d" in, the Swedish version of flatbread. Also i'm gonna try to visit one of these bakery cabins. When he saw my plans of the Pompeii oven when he was on a visit here, he was more then interested.

So now i have to postpone the construction of the oven for some time to come.

P.S I haven't peeked under the tarp since early oktober, so i'm kind of nervous to see if the oven's still standing.

Have a lovely day (or evening/night)

Karl.

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Hello dear followers,

This week has been really busy.
And while temperatures has gone down below 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit at night.
I have to put this project on hold, for now, have to await spring before i can proceed. But i have had the time to draw and modeling the new outer arch with the "chimney bricks" that i found. New design that I think will work quite well.

Also the question remains, do you think i can put this chamotte dust to any use ? I have put water on it, so it wont dry out. I estimate it's about 3-5 kg with the water in it.

I might drop in tomorrow, to say a few words.

Regards Donald

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

There's a few tv shows now in the UK about scandinavian cooking now too.
Its an area of the world i've always loved, and wanted to visit. Plenty of space!

Space is always nice, i'm actually gonna celebrate my birthday at Ekstedt in a few week, if tables are available. I can report on this further on.

#1: The barnum or call it party tent has given ground because of the heavy rain lately.

#2: Poor quality.

#3 and #4: The vermicrete had cured well and was set firm and nice. It is a very brittle material and i managed to break one corner. I just put on some refractory mortar and pushed it back in place. I have these 3 points where there will be minimum insulation, the doom will start on the floor. Thereupon when it rises, I'm gonna go with sufficient insulation. Probably 4 inches of vermicrete.

#5: One day after work i wen't down lakeside to the Bolinder factory that i have mentioned before. They made castings and cast iron products when it came to pass. It's really close to where i work. I like this place, kinda reminds me of Newcastle or some other Brittish coastal town. I dates back to the beginning of the last century.

6: Nice round archway or what you would call it.

On monday or tuesday im gonna use a primer and then plaster the stand, need more strucual on the vermicrete and for the upcoming weather.

[Bookemdanno]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

There's a few tv shows now in the UK about scandinavian cooking now too.
Its an area of the world i've always loved, and wanted to visit. Plenty of space!

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Now I'm even more psyched to finish my oven.

I will post more progress tomorrow. The weather hasn't really been on my side. But there are some minor updates.

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

There is to much cooking shows airing on tv these days, but this is one i will watch for shure.

Niklas is one of the more promising new shooting stars in the swedish food scene. He uses a lot of firewood. You can read about it here: About us ? Ekstedt

I must point out that i don't know him, nor do i work for him, and i don't even make cutting boards for his restaurants. Maybe something i should look up.

The reason i wan't to share this video is because of it's contents. It's because of the mad guy that's mastering the WFO. I to have some respect for him.

Niklas is not much of a viking

I hope this video will work, first time ever uploading a video on youtube.

YouTube

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

To mrchipster and thickstrings, thanks for the information. That clarified some of my reflections.

Balsam is a type of fir tree { christmas tree} that they are making the turpentine from....Cast iron isn't going to absorb it any way, at least not enough to form a lasting protection with heat and outside conditions. Get back down to the iron and paint it with high temp...

I'm afraid you are right, just as I also touched on the topic. When outside and exposed to extreme heat this maybe isn't the right solution, when using linseed oil. The only thing I know is that it's been practiced on ironworks and hinges, maybe for hundreds of years. The linseed was burned in. That or tar, it gave the iron a good protection against rust. Something i learned from the blacksmith that i practiced by. The stove polish contains natural waxes which makes it water repellent. But thats probably more suited for indoor use.

Here's a good survey on the subject: Restoring Your Antique Wood Stove-Polish Or Paint? | eBay

I always thought that cast iron was microporous or at least porous, and that it at least had pretty good absorbency. But now i have taken a closer look on the subject, and it apears that it may be a casting defect.

This link is also interesting: Linseed oil finish? - SmokStak

The only thing i'm worried about is "Once it's on there it's hard to get off (for painting, for example)"
Because, i think i'm gonna go with the heat resistant spray paint. And then maybe put some stove polish on the oudside of the door, just to get that graphite look, carefully so that i won't stain the bricks. As i mentioned, there will be a tarp put over the stove in the worst rain periods and in the winter, something my father has stated that he want to have.

...If one were to mix turpentine/linseed oil/ and parrafin and heat it carefully till uniform it makes a decent finish for wooden gun stocks. This type of finish was used on military weapons in WW2. Venetian balsam is used as a fixative, generally is the perfume industry, and I think it comes from a different plant.

You always learn something new every day, thanks.
As a cabinet maker, we use both linseed oil and parrafine oil and also turpentine, a lot. Linseed oil with a dash of turpentine to penetrate and saturate the wood, for furnitures and countertops. Then finish it whit a hard wax or hard wax oil. I perfer this over varnish although this requires higher maintenance. If one would practice this, don't forget to throw the rags in a safe place because of the chances of spontaneous combustion.

Parafine oil for cutting boards, because of the odor and tasteless properties. Also it's harmless for humans, but i wouldn't drink it.

We use boiled linseed oil, it will harden faster. But i've heard that raw linseed oil has smaller particles, this will make it penetrate deeper into the wood.

Another thing i've heard but not practiced myself is that if you would put a piece of wood (don't know about lenght), with the end grains in the linseed oil. The next day the linseed oil would have soaked the whole piece of wood.

Just season it like a cast iron pan, with Lard and heat?

This is good for seasoning cast iron kitchenware. I also read that flaxseed oil could be used for this, and like linseed oil, they both derive from the same plant. I don't know about a cast iron door for outside use though.

Pardon my french, or at least my english.

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

They look like Class B Engineering bricks to me, well, that's what they are in UK.
If they are similar, they'd be fine for any part of a Wood fired oven and have been used by oven builders over here. There are also Class A bricks which are usually dark blue or black in colour due to being fired to higher temperatures.
Super hard, very dense, highly resistant to frost and don't take up too much water.

Should be fine for an outer arch and chimney, as that's what they say they are for!

Can mortar stain quite easily though, so you need to be a bit more careful and clean with the bricklaying and even having a small sponge and bucket of water can be helpful.

Good Luck!

This is shit good!, as we say in Sweden, now i don't have to worry about being short on firebricks.

[Bookemdanno]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Just season it like a cast iron pan, with Lard and heat?

[thickstrings]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Balsam is a type of fir tree { christmas tree} that they are making the turpentine from....Cast iron isn't going to absorb it any way, at least not enough to form a lasting protection with heat and outside conditions. Get back down to the iron and paint it with high temp. If one were to mix turpentine/linseed oil/ and parrafin and heat it carefully till uniform it makes a decent finish for wooden gun stocks. This type of finish was used on military weapons in WW2. Venetian balsam is used as a fixative, generally is the perfume industry, and I think it comes from a different plant.

[mrchipster]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

I'm just about to put a last layer of stove polish on the outer iron cast door. I have been experimenting a little, i read somewhere on a swedish web site that you could use raw linseed oil mixed with turpentine ("balsam terpentin" in swedish) I don't really know what the "balsam" stands for. If anyone may know what this means, and the correct word in English, i would be glad to hear it.

Anyway, the mixture was 5 raw linseed oil : 1 balsam terpentin. The cast iron will absorb this and become saturated. Preferably one shall heat up the iron before doing this. I did miss this step, read about it afterwards.

linseed, venetian balsam and turpentine are mixed together to form a protective varnish. My guess is that you are being sold a solution of venetian balsam and turpentine.

[Bookemdanno]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

They look like Class B Engineering bricks to me, well, that's what they are in UK.
If they are similar, they'd be fine for any part of a Wood fired oven and have been used by oven builders over here. There are also Class A bricks which are usually dark blue or black in colour due to being fired to higher temperatures.
Super hard, very dense, highly resistant to frost and don't take up too much water.

Should be fine for an outer arch and chimney, as that's what they say they are for!

Can mortar stain quite easily though, so you need to be a bit more careful and clean with the bricklaying and even having a small sponge and bucket of water can be helpful.

Good Luck!

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Now im off to work, but before that i have a quesstion.
I found these "chimney bricks" as they were called at the DIY store.

While short on refractory bricks, i found these very timely.

They are solid and have a pretty rough surface.

My question to you is:

Will these do the job as the outer arch and flue beginning ?

Regards
Karl

[Southboom]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Love the door.. Are you planning to include an insulated door inside of this?

Chris

Im in love with it to.
Yes, there will also be an inulating door. I'm thinking of putting a wood panel on the outside of it, so it must be well insulated. When I have come thus far, i will ask you questions about it.

I'm just about to put a last layer of stove polish on the outer iron cast door. I have been experimenting a little, i read somewhere on a swedish web site that you could use raw linseed oil mixed with turpentine ("balsam terpentin" in swedish) I don't really know what the "balsam" stands for. If anyone may know what this means, and the correct word in English, i would be glad to hear it.

Anyway, the mixture was 5 raw linseed oil : 1 balsam terpentin. The cast iron will absorb this and become saturated. Preferably one shall heat up the iron before doing this. I did miss this step, read about it afterwards.

The door was of course thoroughly cleaned before this.

Then i put on the stove polish and used a fan heater to make it dry faster.
The door became relatively hot and the polish dried pretty fast and leaved a matte finish. So i thought, hey! why not put a layer of raw linseed oil and heat it with a propane torch (something I'd learned when practicing as a blacksmith). It all went really well.
Today i will put on the last layer of stove polish and let it dry one day before polishing it to get that graphite look.

All this is as i mentioned kinda experimetal. I had noticed that the door had began to rust just by leaving it in the garage after putting only one layer of stove polish on it. The air has been very humidified, the dog days of summer.
And now we are in a period with lot's of rain.

The stove polish is quite water resistant. For a period of time.
I know that this may be in vain. That the stove polish may be washed away by the rain after some time. But i'm willing to give it a try. Love to practice the old methods. Also my father want to have a tarp on the stove in the worst weather conditions, and winter.

If this still fails, I contemplate to base prime and paint the door with both heat resistant spray paint.

August 11

#1: The traces of rust, evil rust.

#2: Raw linseed oil and turpentine

August 14

#3: Stove polish

[SCChris]

Re: Somewhere in the slumering suburbs of Stockholm

Love the door.. Are you planning to include an insulated door inside of this?

Chris