Building The Dixie Darling

[UtahBeehiver]

Dan,

You do need a solid substrate under the copper, I had 2" of 8 to 1 pcrete topped with 1/2" stucco but I think 1.5-2" of refractory is plenty strong. I used 1.25" SS screws that I predrilled into pcrete/stucco for the single clips. Caveat emptor, even the price of sheet copper will give you sticker price shock. I found mine at a surplus store and paid scrap metal price, the material cost alone was $800 back in 2012. I used 4.5 sheets of 3'X10'.

[WarEagle90]

Its been a few weeks since the last update. Believe it or not I have been working on the oven. With temps in the mid to upper 90's and almost 100% humidity, its tough to stay out there very long even with the temporary top providing shade and a fan running. But, the work must go on. I topped the chimney out on Saturday. Currently I have a little over 32 inches of 8" x 8" vent sitting on top of about 30" of vent transition. I may add a few more courses once I move the temporary cover but that won't happen until I get the permanent top built. I'm within one course of touching the top now and I've already raised the canopy once, so it will have to wait. Once I know the oven draws well, I will build a top on the chimney itself with some screening to serve as a spark arrestor. I'll get the vent floor installed this weekend and start the arduous task of installing the ceramic blanket insulation. Not looking forward to all the PPE that must be worn when working with that stuff. As if it weren't hot enough in shorts and a t-shirt . Now, some of the photos below make it look like the oven is leaning but its not. The problem is between the ground and the camera ..... me . I left the brick going around the arch ragged because it will all be covered by a decorative brick facade, one day. Let me know if anyone sees anything that causes concern. Thanks for following along.

[WarEagle90]

More photos .....

[UtahBeehiver]

Dan,

Nice work, coming along great. I moan here in Utah when the humidity hits 30% so I can't imagine 100%. I guess the boy starts his first year at Auburn here shortly. I am not sure you need full Tyvex overalls with installing the CaSi blanket. But do use a Noish 95 dust mask. I have seen some builder buy those inexpensive paint/insulation coveralls at the big box stores then chuck em when done.

[Gulf]

It's looking great, Dan. I see that you did your flue liner out of stretchers. The flue may take a little more time to preheat but, I'm sure that it will draw just fine.

When working with the insulation, orient your fan to blow the fibers away from you and your work space. Also, make note of the wind direction so that the fibers don't drift back on to you.

Have you tried a water mister for your fan. They do help a bunch this time of year imo.

[WarEagle90]

Thanks, Russell and Joe. The humidity here is generally 60-80%, which is bad enough, but with all the rain we've had the last few weeks, its been in the upper 90's with afternoon temps 95-100. I have a full face respirator that I bought years ago when I was blowing insulation in our attic. It is a 3M product with replaceable canisters that allow you to match the filter to the job at hand. I used it when I was cutting the calsil board. I plan to wear some old painters overalls I have and as you suggested, just throw them away when done. The boy will begin his college life in less than 2 weeks. We move him into his apartment next week. He's pumped, but he will get a dose of reality once he has that first mid-term .

Joe, I hope I have done your oven concept justice. I chose to continue to use stretchers simply due to my comfort level with them versus the shiners. I had some frustrations with the couple of courses where I used shiners in the transition. I did not consider the added thermal mass of the stretchers. Oh, well, I'll just have to have another beer or twelve while the vent comes up to temp. Darn .

[rwiegand]

Looking great! I can taste the pizza now!

As to copper, just the flashing I used on my roof was shockingly expensive. The flashing was twice the price of the slate shingles. Wonderful stuff, but ouch!

[WarEagle90]

The copper is expensive but I can get it at cost through my wife's business. I think she quoted me $150.00 per 3x10 sheet of 22 or 24 gauge. Probably will need 3-4 sheets. There was a post a few days ago where someone had essentially used pennies to cover the oven. I thought it looked quite nice and certainly unique. Based on my math it would take around $50.00 in pennies but I would probably pull what little hair I have left out before I glued on 5000 of them. End the end, I'll probably settle on some sort of stone or brick veneer.

[Gulf]

Dan,

Actually, you did the chimney the way it is supposed to be done. That is, with stretchers. It won't take but a few minutes to heat it up. Fireplaces with 8" masonry don't take very long to heat up.by normal means. I built a Rumford design outdoor frireplace with 8" thick chimney walls. About 1 minute with my gas weed burner or 1 full lump charcoal chimney starter is all it takes. The chimney on my oven was designed to save brick and overall thickness. I saved only 4" on the overall width, but I saved a lot of brick .