Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

I decided to cover the dome with the blanket. I have 3" of insulation. I lit another fire last night and it seemed to hold temps well. Got it up to about 400 degrees. Soon I will be up to the temps I need to bake a pizza.

[George_M]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

Pics from before of slab and block walls.

Hi,
Can you tell me please the size of your foundation?
Thanks

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

Guys,

Haven't posted in a while. Here is my update with Pics to follow soon.

Dome has been completed and finished my 3rd curing fire. The temps don't seem that high yet. My IR thermometer was reading about 300 F at most during the firing and that was towards the top of the dome. Oven floor seemed to only get towards the 130 F - 150 F range depending on how close to the fire I was pointing the IR therm. at.

Couple of questions.

When firing the oven, do you close off the entrance with a door so that heat builds up? I have been doing this for the first few fires.

When I do this, the chamber fills with a lot of smoke which lets me see small voids where smoke seeps out. Is this normal, or did I just build my dome poorly? Should I worry about patching these spots up with homebrew mortar?

I have not covered the dome yet with insulation. Better to do that now?

[cobblerdave]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

G'day
You don't need the fireclay really you'll just find the mortar a bit stiffer and harder to work. That's all the fireclay does provide workability . A teaspoon of dishwashing liquid will help to make the mortar a bit more plastic.
Regards dave

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

I will try. I have probably 75 - 100 of those "potato chips" left. I will put on my mostly worn out diamond blade, and try to cultivate some. I only have 1 more course and a keystone to go. But then again, I will need more to do the chimney arch. Is regular Portland mortar without fireclay OK to use for that, or does it still get too hot? I'm guessing it is NOT OK to use regular mortar for that.

[deejayoh]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

Cut a few more bricks and you'll have more. Buying fire clay and/or HS isn't worth it!

[Tonyp]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42" Build in NJ

Oh ;<

Hmm well if you have some small brick cut off bits you could turn them into dust with the wet saw!

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

Do you mean the 10lb premixed pail? It might take a couple of them to do that much..

Why not just use the muck at the bottom of your HF wet saw tray for the fireclay?

I've been washing it out every day, so no dice. Didn't bother saving it.

[Tonyp]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

Do you mean the 10lb premixed pail? It might take a couple of them to do that much..

Why not just use the muck at the bottom of your HF wet saw tray for the fireclay?

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

I have just about run out of fire clay and the source where I bought my first bag won't have it until next week. I have about 1 and a half courses left and the keystone. I may switch to Heatstop to do the last little bit. I can get a 12 lb bag for $30 which isn't bad.

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

Starting to think about what to use for a chimney. I just posted a separate thread posing a couple of questions.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f44/chimney-flue-considerations-21248.html#post180810

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

I found that if you put the pump in a 5 gallon bucket of clean water then you don't get all the sediment in the pump.

I actually took that advice and had the pump in a separate 5 gallon bucket.

I was able to get it to work again. I took off the cover and saw that the mechanism under the filter was trying to start to spin but couldn't. I got a thin screwdriver and gave it a few nudges and it began to spin. Back in business.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

I found that if you put the pump in a 5 gallon bucket of clean water then you don't get all the sediment in the pump.

[deejayoh]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

Oh no. Bad news. My HF saw's pump motor seemed to die. It's not pumping. Has this happened to anyone else?

My never died but it did plug up quite a bit. You can get a new one for about 8 bucks.
158 GPH Miniature Submersible Fountain Pump

[spiderrinaldi]

Re: Out of work Pizza Man's 42&quot; Build in NJ

Oh no. Bad news. My HF saw's pump motor seemed to die. It's not pumping. Has this happened to anyone else?