Building The Dixie Darling

[UtahBeehiver]

Dave,

I forgot how nice the mosiac was on the front this oven was. Very nice craftsman work who ever did it. Was this one of your cast products?

[david s]

Yes it is, but I didn't do the stand or the mosaic.

[WarEagle90]

Finally back working on the WFO. Made a trip to Lithonia (Atlanta), Ga today to get enough brick to get the oven and vent built. I bought my supplies from Larkin Refractory. Great folks. Very knowledgeable and gladly answered every question I threw at them. I will be using 12" x 12" x 3" high duty tiles for the floor and standard medium duty straights for the dome.



Here are the tiles.



I also got a few 3" straights to use to set the vent arch on so I could bring it up to the level of the dome floor.



I've also started working on my IT. I am using a caster frame, a turnbuckle, all thread, a few bolts, nuts and bearings and brick supports made from wood. I have assembled the floor end as shown below. My plan is to place the center of one of the tiles in the dead center of the oven floor and then remove it and replace it with a wooden "tile". The wooden replacement will only be 1 1/2" thick bringing the pivot point down almost even with the finished floor. I show a test piece in the photo below. The caster frame I am using is from a fixed caster, no swivel. I removed the caster, drilled a 5/16" hole in the center of the frame bottom, inserted a 5/16" bolt and secured it with a nut. I then placed a skate board bearing, which fits a 5/16" bolt perfectly, and follwed the bearing up with another nut and then another bearing and nut. I bored an appropriately sized hole for the bearing in a scrap piece of wood and inserted the caster frame.



The last picture shows how I attached the left handed thread end of the turnbuckle to the caster frame. I designed and 3D printed a teardrop shaped bushing that fit the opening in the end of the screw and attached with a 1/4" bolt. I haven't built the brick attachments for the other end yet. I will do that this weekend. I'll post a drawing with the current oven layout with dimensions later. I hope to get the layout completed tomorrow, weather permitting and maybe even get the insulation board down and cut along with the floor tiles. Ambitious I know but have to set lofty goals sometimes to get anywhere. Thanks for riding along. Its been a long slow journey but will get kicked in high gear now that all the materials are on site. More later.

[UtahBeehiver]

Looks like you are ready to go. Can see the engineer in you. Looking forward to seeing you do the build.

[WarEagle90]

Thanks, Russell. Sometimes the engineer gets in the way of getting things accomplished . Got the plywood template cut and oriented on the hearth today. Also cut a template for the vent area just to get a feel of the width and depth. Built the form for the inner arch and set it on the templates to see how the opening will look. Expecting rain tomorrow, so probably won't get much accomplished other than assembling the brick support for the IT.

[UtahBeehiver]

Couple items, be sure to split the internal plywood template so you can get it our the front door when the dome is done. Also save the inner arch form, it will become the template for your door. I think I see a 2x4 under the form, I am assuming this will be your release to remove the arch form once the arch is complete.

[WarEagle90]

Glad you mentioned getting the plywood out the door. I would like to think I wouldn't have forgotten that, but probably would have had the oven half built and realized It wasn't cut. Thanks. You are correct about the 2x4's. The arch is still about a 1/4" short of its final location. I will place shims between it and the 2x4 to get it dead on. In fact, I may end up rebuilding the arch. I've been playing around in CAD and I think I like an elliptical arch better. What do you think about the one shown below?

Oh, BTW, I started this build planning to build a 45" oven, but have reduced it to the more common 42" variety.

[WarEagle90]

Below are the current layout dimensions for the oven and the inner arch placement. As I've mentioned in the beginning, I'm building a brick chimney and more or less stealing .... I mean borrowing Joe's (Gulf) design on the vent arch(s). I played around today with the long reach and I see no issues.

[UtahBeehiver]

As far as arch shape, your choice, be sure to factor in mortar joint size in you CAD work.

[Gulf]

I can't help but ask. If you are going to use a wood tile for the anchor point for the IT, why are you using a plywood template? If it is for protecting the floor tile from mortar, cardboard or loose sand will do that.

Just a little something else to think about: It has more to do with folks cooking pizza and breads directly on the floor. Low duty firebrick are what is recommended by many for the floor brick. I can't really say for sure. I have low duty on my floor, but I mostly cook in pots and on pans.

[WarEagle90]

Joe, I am using the plywood template simply to get a feel for the dimensions of the oven and to help with its placement on the hearth. Will also use it for marking the insulation and tile for cutting. I want to use wood in place of the center tile during construction to attach the IT to and since I am using 3" thick tile I can make the wooden "tile" 1 1/2" thick which will lower the pivot point of the IT closer to the oven floor. I'll have to give some thought to the issue of low duty brick vs the tile. You bring up a good point.

[WarEagle90]

More progress. Got all the insulation and floor tile cut today. I built the wooden tile to replace the center tile during construction and attached the IT. I am using 2 layers of insulation (4" total) under the floor and was wondering if there is any need to seal the joints between the CF boards with a refractory caulk/sealant or something similar before placing the tiles on top? I have staggered the joints between the two layers so there is no direct path to the hearth except where two joints cross. Tomorrow I will mix up fire clay and sand paste to level the insulation and then repeat for the tiles. One other question, I am using a HF 10" wet saw to do all my cutting but it is not large enough to make the required 4.5" cuts on the inner arch brick, at least not in one pass. How have others accomplished this task?

[UtahBeehiver]

Right or wrong, I did not seal any of my CaSi or FoamGlas seams. You are correct on needing to make multiple passes for the arch bricks. I did cuts from both sides then touch up middle or rough spots with a diamond cup wheel on an angle grinder.

[WarEagle90]

Thanks, Russell. I did not recall anyone sealing the seams but thought I would ask.

[UtahBeehiver]

One more thing, I remember a builder who chamfered all the edges of his floor bricks (4 x 9), very slightly, maybe 1/32 or less to minimize catching a peels. Kind of thought it was a lot of work for regular fire bricks at the time but with these large tiles it may be worth looking at.