36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Picture #1 - The top 5 bricks on each side were cut into two pieces.... one approx 3" long, one approx 6" long. The mortar joint between the small brick and the larger brick makes up any difference in length and for the material removed by the saw kerf. They were dry stacked in place to make sure they would work!!

Picture #2 - arch brick dimensions = 2 3/8" wide side, 1 11/16" narrow side. 10 at 9" long, 10 at 6" long, 9 at 3" long. 2 base bricks complete the vent arch. Vent bricks (6" long ones) are installed with the wide side in, the others are installed with the wide side out.

Picture #3 - The bricks you see in the back were laid with the wide side facing in. This forms an S shaped curve to form the vent opening. The wooden part of the form for the vent was made by attaching the wood that was cut off from making the arch form and attaching them so that the S curve was formed. These "wings" support the back set of bricks and the middle wooden arch and the front wooden arch supports the front arch bricks. More about the arch form in the jigs and forms part of our build.

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Picture #1 - Looking at the left side, this picture shows the base brick on the floor (the blue tape is holding brown paper to cover the floor), the the next 5 bricks are wedge shaped full length bricks. Then 3 vent arch bricks (6" long and installed with wide side in), and 2 of the front arch bricks installed. The right side is the same, but view blocked by the ladder. We alternated sides when installing to help keep everything even.

Picture #2 - Here is the vent arch prior to adding additional bricks to level and close the front and back of the vent.

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Picture #1 - We used the foam board template cut off to help mark the cuts on the leveling bricks. We traced the curve onto two bricks that were spaced a mortar width apart (yes, we used balsa wood again!)

Picture #2 - Then used the saw to make a series of perpendicular cuts. Used a screwdriver to break away these cuts.

Picture #3 - Then the angle grinder to smooth out the curve.

Picture #4 - Check for fit and level.

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Picture #1 - Cut two for the front and two for the back (inner arch form was used for back ones).

Picture #2 - Leveled them and heat stop 50 in place.

Picture #3 - After allowing time to dry, we removed the vent arch form. Still had more leveling to do, but since the back wings had to be cut off with the roto zip, wanted as much access as possible, but put the first set of leveling block on to give the vent arch more support. It was not easy to rotozip off the back set of wings, but it wasn't terribly difficult. We did not put the screws in so that they could be removed from the front because we wanted the recessed heads of the screws to be what would be against the inner arch. We did not want any screw end sticking out that might rub against the inner arch. It was also going to be difficult to remove screws from that last set of wings, so we decided to do the cut them out version when we made the template. more details about the vent arch can be found here http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...rms-21566.html post #6.

Picture #4 - Cut additional firebricks to size to finish leveling off the vent.

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Picture #1 - Used the angle grinder to make the square to round transition in one of the 12"x12" firebrick like used for the floor.

Picture #2 - Marked the holes for the anchor plate. Put Uni-extreme high temp sealer on anchor plate and fastened with Tapcon SS concrete anchors 1/4" x 1 3/4".

Picture #3 - With anchor plate mounted to the 12x12 tile, we heat stop 50 in place, taking care to level in all directions.

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

used 2 boxes, 8# Inswool HP blanket 1"x24"x25' at $65.00 per box from Larkin. Saved enough to put 2" thick in door, all remaining went on oven. 3 layers on entire oven, with the exception of the vent arch (two layers) and on the bottom of the oven, we put the first layer all the way to the base (covering the 3" of floor insulation). Layer #2 started 3" up in order to stagger the seams and the first 3" is insulation, not firebrick. We also used string and bungee cords to help hold things in place between placing the layers.

The inside edge of the 4"x8"x16" cinderblock is placed 5" off the edge of the oven base at each of the back walls (you can see in picture #2) to allow for the cinder block enclosure that will be built around the oven. The 1" allows room for the Econolite layer that will go over the blanket insulation (and a bit extra since the blocks are not actually 4").

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Econolite - used 4 bags.

Picture #2 - Put over the insulation blanket & over the edges of the 3" of insulation board exposed on the outside of the dome, so that it didn't get torn up with shoes and tools hitting the insulation board. 3" high to cover the insulation board edge, used 3 pounds.

Pictures #3 & #4 - Used the remaining amount to cover the insulation blanket once the oven was done. At first we used garden edging to form a layer because we were having difficulty getting it to stick to the blanket. After forming two bands at the bottom, we went back to putting it on with a trowel. Found that if it was a little on the wet side and didn't try to do too much at a time and to get it too smooth, we could get it to stick. Put on as much as we could, then let it dry and put more on.

Mixed 1 3/4 cup water with 1 pound Econolite. Mixed in 1 pound batches for coating the insulation board edges. Mixed in 5 pound batches for over the blanket (did a couple bigger batches 7-8 pound, but found 5 worked pretty good for us). Mixed the 5 pound batches in a 5 gal bucket with a garden shovel. Used a plastic cup marked at 1 3/4 cup and filled with water by dipping out of a bucket. Put in 4 parts of the water, stirred, then added the 5th (and sometimes more or less) until consistency wanted. We felt that the Econolite was easier to apply when mixed on the slightly wetter side, rather than on the dry side. I calculated the 1 3/4 cup water to one pound by using 16 cups water to gallon, 2.7 gal water to 25 pound Econolite, so 1 pound Econolite would use 1.728 cups of water. We did 1 3/4 plus or minus to the consistency we wanted, but gave us a target to know where to start.

Our part is done!! The contractor came back to do the finishing work.

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Here is what the finished oven looks like!

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

And a close up of our sign! It is engraved in the same granite as the counters. The granite guys cut the piece and finished the piece. The engraving was done by:

Brick and Stone Graphics.
10310 Plano Rd. Suite B
Dallas, TX 75238
t) 214.343.0573
Brick and Stone Graphics:: Home of the Engraved Brick Fundraiser Program
Ask for Penny - she is awesome!

(I am not associated with them at all... we just found them and they did a fantastic job)

[vertigopilot]

Re: 36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Beautiful work! I especially enjoyed seeing your approach to building the vent transition. Very elegant!

[Texas]

36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

And with furniture!

To the left of the oven is a landing counter for when the hot pizza (or other dishes) come out of the oven.

Under that counter is a tilt out trash can.

Under the oven is the wood storage area.

To the right of the oven is a counter for pizza prep. Under the counter is an outlet and an open area that we put a metal rack - when making pizzas, I put the dough balls on the shelf (in a covered plastic tray), a plastic tub of soapy water, and extra utensils and such. There is also room under the counter, beside the rack, for a small cooler..... if it is a hot day and I've taken out extra toppings, I store them there. The ones on the counter are in containers over ice.

To the right of the counter area is a 36" built in grill with double doors below it. To the right of the grill is a double side burner with double drawers under it.

The switches for the lights and another outlet is at the end of the grill/side burner area.

On the curved seating area center post, is another outlet.

[vertigopilot]

Re: 36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Fabulous! All it needs now is grapevines winding along the rafters.

[Greenman]

Re: 36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

What an excellent outdoor set-up. It looks great and I am sure that many happy times will be had there. Congratulations.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Magnificent oven, masterfully executed. Love the hemispherical arches and beautiful setting for family and friends. Nice job!

[Gulf]

Re: 36" in DFW Area - Building the Oven!

Texas,

You have a very beautiful oven and entertainment area. A lot of great brick work and planning went in to it.

The only things that concern me are: The curve of your transition and the size of your flu opening.

The reverse curve of your flu transition, and that there is no locking courses front and back (they appear to run by) go against my limited understanding of brick work. My early training was that any and all brick must pass a "dry stack" test. That is, if it will stand (without mortar) then it is okay to proceed. I am not too sure that yours will. But, then you may not be interested in your work surviving your lifetime. My real point is for future builders. You may be okay with what you have. But, I stress that anyone who wants to take the flu brick higher (more weight) needs to beware.

Your flu transition "square to round" looks to be about 4" to 4.5". That is pretty close for a 36" oven. You may have to increase the heighth of your chimney to compensate.