Sarah's Progress Photos

[gjbingham]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

I'm trhowing a tarp over mine as well. Do you have heavy condensation on the inside of the tarp in the morning? I sure do.
G.

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Thanks George and Frances,

I've just nipped home at noon to whisk the tarp off my oven - it's just too cold in the mornings now - and let some air circulate. The inside is lovely and warm to the touch so I figure my night-time heating job is doing the trick.
While the earliest day I could light that first fire is next Tuesday evening, if I am going strictly by the one-week rule, I may try to hold off a few extra days ... IF I can STAND it!!

Sarah

[Frances]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah, I think keeping the moisture in for the first week is good, as it lets the cement component harden better. After that I would try to get as much moisture out as fast as you can (while of course not rushing things either ) because once the dome is dry it should be able to stand the low temperatures better... At least that's the way I thought it works.

Bit of a catch 22 situation isn't it? I'm covering my oven every night for fear of rain or freezing, so the dome doesn't dry out as fast as it should, so its more likely to get caught by the frost before its ready for it.

Hey, a multi functuional door! Now that is cool!

[gjbingham]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah,
Though I just finished mine two days ago, and it is well above freezing, it will rain for the next week or so. I'm using an electric heater in mine for periods of 20 - 30 minutes at first with the oven wide open.

Today, I finally blocked off the opening with fire brick and ran the heater for about a half hour. It gets up to around 100 degrees/37 C and I can see greater changes in the interior mortar joints and exterior cladding with every warming.

I'm waiting a week or so to officially put fire in this thing and just keeping temps like a hot day in August. I figure that is safe enough and will make the curing fires safer down the road, when the temps may easily be much colder.

George

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Frances,

My understanding is that I'll likely end up using it in both places - back more, as you point out, behind the chimney, to hold in the heat for longer baking times, but also when there is still a fire (or coals), to adjust air flow and control sparks if the wind is coming from a bad direction. My door will fit in both ... once the sides are sanded or ground down just a hair - it ended up too tight a fit, but fixable.

It was really cold last night (-5C) but I seem to have been successful so far at preventing the dome from freezing and it's supposed to warm up again. Only problem is that all that covering is preventing moisture from escaping so I'm sure it's not drying as much as it should. My guess is that I should perhaps delay the start of firing a bit beyond a week . If anyone has any comments on this, let me know!

Sarah

[Frances]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sounds as if you've got your time management totally under control
But Sarah, doesn't the door go further back, so it shuts off the dome completely, even from the chimney? Or does your door push further back if necessary? Or did I get something totally wrong here?

[gjbingham]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Who knows Sarah. It doesn't matter anyway. Your oven turned out really nice and it's done except for the insulation and finish. Kudos to you and your husband. Great teamwork!

I look forward to the first fire pics.

George

[sarah h]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Thanks everyone!

Wow, it feels good to be done but I almost don't know what to do with myself now ... almost. Dave, I see what you mean about the sad/happy thing.

I cannot take all the credit though - my husband and I worked as a team through it all ... and are still speaking to each other ! When we got to the dome, he did almost all the brick cutting, while I did most of the brick placement. And every one of those brick was cut freehand with a 25-year-old 7" circular saw (Craftsman - CDN brand) that never quit and is still going strong. While most cuts were just straight across, I think that his skill in shaping that keystone was quite a feat!

George, I don't know how you think I beat you - didn't your keystone go in first?

Frances, the solution to waiting to fire it is simple - I'm taking a day trip to Toronto tomorrow (university campus tour for my daughter), back on Friday but stuck at work, then out of town again till Monday evening. Then by Tuesday, it's fire time (if the travelling doesn't finish me off first)!

Here are a few more photos.

Sarah

[Dutchoven]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Really nice work...cheers to you too...now you can carry on the help to the new oven builders with your most ingenious methods that are now either tried and TRUE or tried and need rethinking
Best
Dutch

[Frances]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah, congratulations! You've built a lovely dome, and it's been a joy watching it grow!! Now I look forward to seeing what happens next.

So, a week until the first curing fire... are you going to make it? Do what I did and start building the chimney while you're waiting

[gjbingham]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

OK, I tried to catch up, but you beat me. I loose.

The inside of the dome is awesome. Job well done! Thanks for sharing and giving me hints.

George

[christo]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Very nice!!! And Congratulations on your bouncing baby pizza oven!!!

Christo

[dusty]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah,
I haven't talked to you much, but I've been watching you. I must say... Congrads! Your work is marvelous! I want to be just like you in about a month. I like to set high standards.

dusty

[Acoma]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

Sarah, are you going to do the Ken silo for the top or key option?
Never mind, I should have looked at the photos first. Details to the end.

[Ken524]

Re: Sarah's Progress Photos

NICE keystone! Fantastic work.