George's Pompeii progress

[oventhusiast]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Hey George,
I like the floor pattern. It's a combination of Herringbone and a Running Bond. Sort of a 'Herring Bond'! Very unique! Keep up the great work!
Rick

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Thanks Rick. Hopefully it will stay in place after the first hard frost. I guess I should have looked closer at the herringbone pattern pic. Oh well, no going back now.

Carlo. No idea what that black rubber piece is.

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Here's pics from 2 days ago.

I used a string and pen to mark the diameter of the oven's interior. I lined up the first course of brick and just for the hell of it, threw a tape measure across. It turned out to be 37 inches vs. the 36 I had planned. It seemed to fit OK as it was so I decided to go ahead and leave it at 37.

This was my first time ever laying brick but I had seen a thousand shows on TV like Rock Solid etc. I had a pretty good idea what I needed to do.

I was still undecided on the transition to the oven opening so left the first course a brick short on each end. I played with a stack of bricks for a couple of hours yesterday before I finally committed to a plan. I'm not sure it was a good plan, but it's a plan, if nothing else.

I've pretty much given up on trying to scrub down all the bricks to make it look pretty for the pics. This will probably be a pretty rustic oven when all is said and done.

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Yesterday was more another day of figuring out how to do things. I needed shims but had no idea of a good way to cut a bunch of them at once. Plus, what angle should they be???

I laid out bricks on the deck in the shape of the dome. Figuring 180 degrees, or half a circle, I counted the spaces between the bricks (20) and ended up with 9 degrees for each space. My neighbor, Walt has a full wood shop and he showed me how to cut the shims. I made sure that the angles were correct on my template and decided to try to lay the next row.


I bought a grout bag, thinking that I could inject the mortar around the shims. It was a pain! I ended up buttering the bricks by hand and setting them. We ended up throwing the shims out and using this little angle finder device. I'd just tamp down the bricks till they were 9 degrees and move on.

This work was definitely harder than the day before. Having the oven raised up on the patio means that I need to use a step ladder while working on the outside half. BTW, I'm still not ready to get up and stand on the oven floor. Maybe another week or so.....

It was pretty late when we finished so I did a quick clean up, mostly on the inside of the oven, took a couple of pics, and covered it all up with a tarp.
I've got a 100 watt bulb burning down below the hearth, which will hopefully keep everything warm enough that the first few freezes won't affect things much. It will probably help cure the concrete and mortars a little faster as well.

More later!

[Gentcpa]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Answer to question on the saw.

The square rubber piece attaches to the back of the guard. It helps stop some of the spray.

[asudavew]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Looking really good George!

I like the angle finder... wish I would of had one of those.

And talk about rustic...that would be the outside of my dome!
Yours looks great!!

Keep it up. I am enjoying watching your progress.

It's kind of fun to look at pictures of ovens and finding your own way.

It appears you are doing well on your own path.

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Ahhh, great answer to the misterious black rubber piece. I am using a piece of aluminum foil. That spray goes everywhere and coats everthing with brick dust.

BTW, I went out this AM. It was 45ish degrees outside. The concrete slab was warm to the touch from the lightbulb underneath the stand. The floor of the oven was stone cold. The insulation hearth works in both directions I guess ;o)

[sarah h]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

George,

So the fun (the dome) has begun - things are looking great! Bet it feels good to finally move beyond the hearth stage. I hope the rains hold off so you can keep moving ahead. I'll look forward to more progress pics.

Sarah

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Thanks for all your help Sara, Dave, Les et al. I set the third course of brick yesterday and will do number four today. I'll probably post more pics tomorrow as they all start to look the same after awhile. It certainly is gratifying to see a dome rise from the ashes on top of what was just a pipe dream a few months ago. That first time you set up those bricks outlining the circumfrence of the dome is really a special moment. You can just sit there and stare at them and dream.......

I'm going to use an angle iron (somehow) to close the top of the oven opening. I've looked and looked at brick arch/dome transition pics. They make my head hurt just thinking about trying to make those bricks lock into place. I keep looking at Sara's. That looks hard too! I'm just going to keep working on it in my head, and playing with my man-size leggo.

Anybody know if using an angle iron causes structural problems when heating the oven? I'm assuming different coefficients of expansion between brick, iron and mortar would create a situation in which the iron would eventually be basically floating, or only held in place by the weight of the arch above/around it. (Now that I sit here and think about it, that's probably the case with the entire structure).

Back to work! Have a great day all.

[Frances]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

I would think that the angle iron should work without problems, since its in building plans for these ovens. I'm sure James wouldn't have recommended that solution if it didn't work... Although having a bit of metal in the dome does feel a bit weird.

You know, I'm really glad that you say the top of the oven door makes your head hurt. I thought I was just being really dense. Still, it works out in the end...

[Frances]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Oh, and what I really wanted to say: Why not post the idea with the angle finder under tools, tips and techniques? Its such a good idea!

[sarah h]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

I'm going to use an angle iron (somehow) to close the top of the oven opening. I've looked and looked at brick arch/dome transition pics. They make my head hurt just thinking about trying to make those bricks lock into place. I keep looking at Sara's. That looks hard too!

Hi George,

The transition was the part I dreaded and it gave me some major headaches trying to figure it out ahead of time. My advice? Other than the decision of whether to do an arch or a straight transition, don't waste time trying to figure it out too much ahead of time. It will fall into place. It's finicky and slows you down a bit, but it's not difficult - simply a matter of adjust, adjust, & adjust some more - till it works.

These pics show my progression, faults and all (like the too-long brick on the left and the fact that my round dome is just a bit flat-fronted). We just cut a wedge off the first row of bricks to try to match the angle we would need for the next row, then used those pieces to wedge up the next row. Then it was a matter of cutting some other pieces to fill the gaps and using mortar to fill and smooth things out. Rows 6 and 7 were a bit if a juggle to try to take the now-closed top from flat-fronted to round - that's the adjustment part - manageable by a total novice - just can't be rushed though.

Hope this helps, whichever way you decide to go. You'll get there!

Sarah

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Thanks Sara, I didn't see that side view before of your bricks on the iron. I am considering putting a second iron inside the dome. I cannot tell if you did that, but I don't see any other way to support those bricks on the interior of the oven.

Frances, consider it done. Good idea! It's really easy to use and if I get within a half a degree of my angle, I call it good.
George

[sarah h]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

I am considering putting a second iron inside the dome. I cannot tell if you did that, but I don't see any other way to support those bricks on the interior of the oven.

I did use another angle iron on the inside, figuring like you, that it was needed for support. Instructions I saw seemed to refer only to one piece but that just didn't make sense. I figured that if the metal shouldn't be on the inside, it shouldn't be there at all since the heat transfers through.

Frances, how did you do this?
Anybody, comments??

Sarah

[Frances]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Ah well... with difficulty.

I figured that as the angle iron listed in the materials list is twice as long as the oven entry, the idea was to cut it in half and use one for each side of the bricks. I'm still not sure if this is what is meant, but as I was also was unable to locate an angle iron bigger than 3/4 of an inch wide, it was pretty much a given. I have seen other pictures in the meantime which seem to do it with only the one iron, but it still beats me how that is supposed to work

My mistake was making the bricks for the entry reveal too small, so that I was unable to balance both angle irons on them and had to place the inner one on the bricks of the dome... maybe not the most brilliant construction solution, but hey... it all works out somehow.

BTW one comment which helped me enormously was someone mentioning "gobs of mortar" to fill in the gaps. And I had the flat bit over the arch to deal with afterwards, like Sarah. Anyway, here are some pics. Check out my thread too, maybe, for the explanations I got. I found them very helpful...