Building The Dixie Darling

[Gulf]

Dan,

It's looking great! That's a solid built entry and smoke chamber.

[rwiegand]

Very handsome!

[WarEagle90]

Depth and width of vent is now 8". Its all straight up from here, whew . I am glad to be done with angled cuts. Plan to go up 36" with the 8x8 vent and top her off then start curing with a heat lamp while I install the insulation. I think I have spent more time on the vent than I did the dome and I still have lots to do. Patience, Dan, patience

[WarEagle90]

Just a quick update. The width and depth of the arch are now the same at 11" x 11". I started the two vertical courses late this afternoon and hopefully will be at 8" x 8" by EOD tomorrow.

[WarEagle90]

The pictures below do not portray a whole lot of progress, but I've only had 2 or 3 days to work on the oven over the last couple of weeks. I've been slowly bringing the sides of the vent in to match the 11" depth. Once I complete the last course shown in the photos, I'll have a 11"x11" vent. I'll then lay 3 courses with vertical sidewalls before I start the step in to 8x8. It will take less than 2 courses to get to 8" if I keep the 22 1/2 degree angle I am using currently. I may simply adjust the angle to make it work out to exactly 2 courses. That will be easier and more pleasing to the eye than splitting bricks horizontally. Thanks for following along.

[Gulf]

Dan, I think that you are golden with your plan. With my last post I was conserned about my suggestion in post #118. I was getting my oven miixed up with my "bassackards" outdoor fireplace . The depth for it slopes from the arch in. But, there is a lot more meat in it's construction. The step-in on it is layed as stretchers. It is only beveled to 22 1/2 degerees on the inside. The old masons did not have brick saws. So, they kept the smoke chamber smooth by parging the step -ins. In the pic below you can see where I switched from $1 reclaimed firebrick brick to 6 bit clay pavers. I put them through sevearal test in my oven. They are fine for a liner imo.

[WarEagle90]

Joe, my plan to go vertical for a few courses between the 11 x 11 step in and the 8 x 8 step in is simply architectural. Just wanted to give the impression to the casual onlooker that there was some thought that went into the design. Thanks for all your input. It’s quite comforting to know that I have the vast sea of knowledge found on this site available whenever I need it.

[Gulf]

I was planning to bring the width in to match the 11" depth then go vertical a couple courses and then bring all four sides in together to get to the 8" x 8" final dimension.

What you are describing is about what I did to accomodate room for the damper. In my case it works pretty well. It is just not necessary for a build without a damper. But, your plan will work imo.

I assume when you say don't exceed 22 1/2 degrees you are talking about 22 1/2 from vertical???

Correct. Look at the pic below. You can draw a line through the the head joints and get a feel for the thrust presure placed on the brick outside the double arches. Any flatter would require buttresing.imo.

When you got to the 8x8 dimension, you changed to shiners. Was that for a specific reason? i.e. save brick, match outside edge, etc.?

Actually, all of my brick above the arch are shiners.There is some waiste to this method. When you cut the angles for the step in, you will have to cut the shiner to match in order to interlock the corners. Once you go totally vertical, you can have full width shiners.

[WarEagle90]

Thanks for the feedback, Joe. Where you measured 26" on yours, I'm at 27.75". I believe the difference is that my arches are elliptical so they stay wider longer than a constant radius arch. I was planning to bring the width in to match the 11" depth then go vertical a couple courses and then bring all four sides in together to get to the 8" x 8" final dimension. I assume when you say don't exceed 22 1/2 degrees you are talking about 22 1/2 from vertical??? When you got to the 8x8 dimension, you changed to shiners. Was that for a specific reason? i.e. save brick, match outside edge, etc.?

[Gulf]

I should have went back for a refresher on my own build before commenting. The depth of my opening is 11" as yours is. I'm not sure what you ended up with, but my opening width at that point is 26" I started stepping in for the width immediately from that point. I did not start stepping in for the depth until just before the damper. I then stepped in the rest of the way to 8" after clearing the damper. So, if you don't include that unnecessary thing, you could end up with a much better shaped smoke chamber than I did. I'm withdrawing my suggestion about stepping in for the depth near the bottom. Do that at the top of the smoke chamber where the width is narrower and subsequently much stronger. If you wait until the witdth is the same as the depth, you can step them both in and arrive at the finished id at the same time.

I only have about 32" of 8"X8" above where I finished stepping in from the damper. Had it not been for the damper, I would have a course or two over 36" of 8"X8" at the finsihed height that I am above my roof line. i don't have a rool of thumb for the height. From reading a lot of smoke problems folks were having with the ovens, I was worried that I did not have enough height. I'm sure that you saw the 8" ss nipple that I installed at the top. It was for a length of ss single wall that I had on standby, if needed. Five years later and it is still gathering dust in my shop.

EDIT: The only rule of thumb (that I can think of that I don't think came out in my build thread) is on the slope for stepping in. That is, don't exceed 22 1/2 degrees.

[WarEagle90]

Thanks, Joe. As I have stated previously, your oven has been my inspiration. I have read most every build thread posted here and have learned something on each and every one (some what to do's and some what not to do's), so everyone has contributed to my build in some manner and I could not have gotten this far without all the great knowledge here. But I keep coming back to yours and its the twin vent arches and masonry chimney that makes the entire oven look so graceful.

I am building an all masonry chimney. Thanks for pointing out that 11 x 11 is too big. I think what I will do is step in to the 11 x 11 then go vertical for 2 or 3 courses and then step in to the 8 x 8. Do you see any issues with that thought process? Is there a good rule of thumb on high I need to go above the 8 x 8?

[Gulf]

It's looking real good Dan. I am glad that someone is willing to give it a try. I'm guessing that you are going to stay with an all masonry chimney. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished smoke chamber. If you mean that you are going with an !!" id flue to keep things simple, I think that is a little large. I ended up with closer to 64" for the ID of my square chimney liner. It has served me very well. I know that it has been said that you can't over flue an oven but, I think differently. 121" square inches is definately over flued imo. It would take a lot of height to make it draw effectively and would also take a considerable amount of preheating. . If it were me I would stay with an 8" id. flue even for your larger oven. I definately would not go over over 9". That wouild be 81 square inches.

To keep things simple you can use the same angle that you are using on the sides to step in from the 11" to the finished ID for the depth. That will make all the bevel cuts the same. Leave the back vertical and step in from the front until you get to where you want to be. It wont take but two or three courses. From there, you will be straight up front and back and stepping in only on the sides.





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[UtahBeehiver]

I am pretty sure that Joe will take it as a compliment that you copied his arch style. Looking very nice. I am sure with you humidity right now that your work hours are reduced.

[WarEagle90]

Here are some photos with the outer arch form removed. If it hasn't been obvious before, you should certainly see the resemblance to Gulf's build now. I liked his vent the first time I looked at it and have more or less replicated it with a few minor deviations. I hope you don't mind Gulf . Unfortunately, my brick work won't be as artistic as his from this point on up.

[WarEagle90]

We do love Saturdays in the fall, Russell. Great photo. I've been tailgaiting at Aubrun since I was old enough to walk and I guess I'll continue till I die. G started when he was 3 and fell in love with the campus and has never wavered on his desire to attend Auburn, so I guess now his dreams are coming true.