Ockenfels 36" Pompeii in Iowa, USA

[Ockenfels]

We are building a 36" Pompeii. The foundation will be 71inches x 80 inches.

I'm trying to determine the size of the of block stand for a walled enclosure. p. 67 of the Pompeii Instructions suggests 63 x70. I want the block stand to be big enough but not oversized.

Width
Oven Interior 36"
Oven exterior 9"
Insulation (Ceramic Blanket) 6"
Enclosure Wall 8"
TOTAL 59"

Depth
Oven Interior 36"
Oven Exterior 9"
Enclosure Wall 4"
Insulation (Ceramic Blanket) 3"
Page 13 of the plans recommends Vent Landing 6"
and Oven Landing 12"
TOTAL 70"

Height of Oven floor
5 courses cinder blocks 7.625 x 5 = 38.125
Concrete Hearth 3.5"
FB Ceramic Board 2"
Firebrick 2.5"
TOTAL (approximately) 46.125"

Oven Opening
19" wide x 12 " High (Arched, 12" in the middle)

Questions
1) Would you plan on a 6" Vent Landing length? I would like this flared? Does it need to be more than 6"?

2) Does the oven landing sit completely outside the oven? Do I include the outer brick arch that forms the entry into the oven for this measurement? Since I want my oven floor about 46", I don't want the landing to be too long if someone shorter is the chef!! Do you use your "Oven Landing" area? What is the minimum size this should be?

What are your thoughts/recommendations on Vent Landing length, Oven landing length, and therefore block stand size?

Pam

[Xene]

Re: Ockenfels 36" Pompeii in Iowa, USA

Hi Pam, I've been looking at the plans, trying to figure out what the vent landing was different from the oven landing, because in my mind, they were one in the same. I don't have an oven landing. I only have a vent landing and it is 12 inches. I have counters to the right and left of my oven so I don't need that space to set anything. I am very short, only 5' 1", so reaching past an oven landing would be difficult for me (I never make pizza alone though, my husband always does the baking, I do the assembly.)

I'm sure that doesn't help your planning much, but lots of the fellows on here have a counter that protrudes beyond the base as a landing, so you wouldn't need to include it on the base anyway.

I made my stand too small and had to do a structural arch below the opening to support the chimney, it looked great in the end, but it gave me heart palpitations at the time thinking I had messed it up. My measurements were 62.5" x 59" along the backside, with my oven stand sitting on the angle and the two short side measuring 42" and 43" with an opening off the one corner of 28". I would build the base differently if I were to do it again as that 28" shrunk to about 19 by the time I got it all built up to support the chimney and it is nearly worthless for wood storage with that little opening. Small inconvenience though, as it does look pretty good.

Best of luck to you!

[hubert_s]

Re: Ockenfels 36" Pompeii in Iowa, USA

Hi, Pam!

There are different ways to build the oven that require more or less depth. You can gain or lose a few inches in depth depending on how far the inner arch protrudes from the dome. I have attached a sketch I made when I laid out my oven. This is for a 36" oven with an 8" wall thickness and shows a top view of the dome. If you tie the arch in like most everybody seems to do these days, you can save a few inches here. The FB depth calculation does not account for this, they use inner diameter + 2x wall thickness.

To answer your first question, I think you should plan for more than 6" of vent landing. Just to be clear, by vent landing I mean the space in front of the oven required to build the vent. I have seen many different ways to build the vent and flue transition here on the forum, and again, the space requirements vary quite a bit depending on how you build it. For the least amount of space, a stainless steel vent is probably the way to go. Building out of brick takes more space.

Not sure I can answer your second set of questions. My oven is not complete. I decided against a separate landing in front of the oven to make it easier to get things into and out of the oven. I guess a lot of this is personal choice.

I would recommend to make a drawing of the oven. Figure out how you want to build the inner arch and construction method for the vent. Then, add the thickness of whatever decorative material you want to put on the front and you should be ok.

If you just want to wing it and just start building, use at least 12" for the vent landing and you will be ok.