Elizabeth's oven

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

We had one guy who worked for a cabinet company who had quite possibly the worst case of plumber's crack I've ever had the misfortune to witness. Unfortunately, he also had a big scar on the exposed area, and I always wanted to ask how he got it.... He's been gone several years, and I still don't know.

I'll have to tell my husband about the caulk. He'll get a kick out of that one.

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

I finally got to work on it again! I'm going to clean up my area some in a minute and then work some more today- I'm hoping to get it closed in before we go on vacation next Saturday. Then it can dry out for a week without me having to watch it dry....

So far-
tying into the arch hasn't been too bad. Good thing I got an angle grinder to help with that, though. The gaps (inverted V's) haven't been too bad so far, but I can see that I'm going to have to go to cutting the bricks into thirds at some point soon. Keeping it round is not too bad yet, using the amazing string.

At what point did you all decide to go to 3rds on the bricks? When the inverted V size offended your sense of propriety? When it got too hard to deal with placing the half bricks? Or will I know it's time when I get there?

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

And some more pictures...

I have some internal odd looking bits where it hits the arch- from using odd shaped pieces that weren't quite long enough, I think. I'm not that worried about how they look, since no one can see them when I'm finished unless I'm cooking them...

One of the disadvantages of having a small saw is the sharp edges left when you break the brick the rest of the way through. My right knee is covered with scrapes and scratches from rubbing up against those sharp edges as I work my way around the dome, standing on the ledge... I guess I'll have to switch to long pants today and just deal with the sweat.

And before anyone says anything, yes, those are my feet, and no, I never wear sandals while I work!

[asudavew]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

At what point did you all decide to go to 3rds on the bricks? When the inverted V size offended your sense of propriety? When it got too hard to deal with placing the half bricks? Or will I know it's time when I get there?

I would say you will be using thirds in 2 or 3 courses.
When you get tired of looking at the bigger V size......

Looks great.

Good luck getting it done before vacation! It will make it easier to leave it alone if you are gone.

[christo]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

Looking super! The brick transistion to arch looks fine!

Christo

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

I just ordered my blanket from the FB store.

I know I've seen people cure their oven before the blanket goes on, but if you're using vermicrete outside, don't you have to put that on over the blanket, let THAT dry a week and THEN cure? Otherwise it'll be soggy again after you put on the vermicrete, won't it? And then you'd have to cure it again?

Or have all the people doing curing before the blanket is set been making little houses around their ovens, and not using the vermicrete at all?

Ok, back to cutting bricks (now in the handy dandy 1/3 size!) and making another row!

But first, some more sunscreen.

[Ken524]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

Elizabeth,

I put my blankets on, did the curing sequence, then enjoyed our first pizza. This way, if I had any catastrophic failures, I could take the blankets off and make repairs.

After I put on the wet vermiculite/cement, I let it all sit for about a week to let the vermicucrete cure and dry as much as possible on its own. Then I did a couple of hot fires to drive out any remaining moisture before ramping up to nuclear. No problems.

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

ok. So I can cure when I get back from vacation- if I get finished before we leave, that is. I did get 2 courses done today- my back is not happy but it's good to feel like I'm catching up from the rain delay!

It makes sense to see if you're going to have failure before getting it too involved. I know there's more likelihood of mine doing that than yours, though- mine is much less tidy and exacting.

I'm not happy with the V I have at the arch now- I'm going to have to figure out a way around that tomorrow. I'm sure it will involve grinding, earplugs and dust mask.

My pile of bricks is dwindling fast, I hope I have enough!

[Les]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

It's looking great - and I love the shade of your blue bricks It's funny about the "V" at the arch. I think everyone of us has hit the same wall. I saw it coming about one course before closure and was able to compensate a little. At the end of the dome it will be gone - don't fret it.
Vacation??? You have an oven to build Babe...

PS Where is Wilson?

Les...

[George T]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

Elizabeth,

I had that same V. I just went with it. In some ways I felt it kinda made the finalization of my dome easier. More of a straight line vs the circle. Check out the picture of the squirrel tail oven on the following web page.

The Brick Bake Oven Page

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

Les,
Wilson has apparently been taking pictures of me while I am standing on my head inside the oven! I still had my earplugs in and never heard a thing....

I think I can make a couple of wedges to round the oven back out. It looks like that's what Ken did. If I had used the smaller bricks there instead of the halves, I probably could have lessened the V a bit. Oh well- live and learn. And go back and fix.

George- I have looked at the masonry heating page before- I think what they do looks really cool. It's enough to make me want to put one in my next house...

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

I'm nearly there.

The bricks are nearly vertical, the hole is almost round again, the transition to the arch looks ok- not beautiful, but it's hanging on ok and seems pretty firm. I have a little pointing to do inside in a couple of places, and a lot of cleaning off to do. I've been brushing it with water when I'm done, but I think it's still a little cruddier than I am happy with. Then next question is, can I fit in there to clean up? I may have to rent a kid to climb in it!

I just opened my last bag of heatstop, so I have enough to finish, I think, but not enough to coat the outside without homebrew. I've been collecting the clay from my cutting- I hope I have enough to clad the outside with homebrew and what's left of the heatstop50. When I have it closed up, I will also go around and grind off some of the worst of the 'sticker-outers' of my half bricks outside.

We ate at a friend's house last night- she showed me a catalog with a "beehive oven on wheels" for a mere $2000 plus $200 shipping... the outside diameter is 36, the arch is too high, the vault looks too high, and I don't think there's enough mass to really do a good job if you want retained heat cooking. 5 months ago I would have thought it was the bee's knees, but it's amazing what you learn here!

I'm hoping to get another round done this evening- the push is on to get ready to go to the beach as well as finish this up. And there's the small matter of what looks to be a bushel of beans in my fridge- I have to get those put up too!

[egalecki]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

next question- how big is the plate for the duravent 6" pipe? I know the 8" is 12 " square. I think I will be using the 6" chimney since that's the size the plans call for in a 36" oven. I'm looking at a 36" length, with a cap, and I'm still undecided as to the final finish- I like the way it looks with stucco over it, but it looks as though there may be a problem later if I need to replace a piece.

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

I had to google that "beehive oven on wheels" for a mere $2000 plus $200 shipping

Williams-Sonoma | Beehive Pizza Oven

It even has a video on the page...lol

Drake

[christo]

Re: Elizabeth's oven

Elizabeth - Really nice job.

Was going to put my flame retardant suit on and say that's really nice job for a g*rl, but it wouldn't be true - it's truely a nice job for anyone.

I'm not sure I'd grind down any points on the outside - you'll cover it up with heatstop/homemade stuff and insulation soon enough. I winced the entire time I ground on my archway to clean up a few misfit joints in order to make the smoke transistion through the archway as cleanly as possible.

I kept mentally seening the whole thing fall down (kinda like seeing my fingers leaving my hand shortly before using my table saw... creepy - yeah - tmi)
but that kept the grinding to a minimum.

I think maintaining a perfect circlular opening at the top is awesome and really shows off your workpersonship, but I don't think I've looked at the top of my oven since I crawled inside to do the final pointing and sponge down of the interior.

I can't wait to see how you finish the outside. Thanks for sharing!

Christo