Finally getting to building WFO in Calgary, Canada

[SableSprings]

As noted before by others, your build is looking great. As David S pointed out in post #106, the fairly large temperature differential is not good...and it along with the difficulty keeping a fire going is a strong indication that you've still got significant moisture in the lower section. Again, as noted before, this is the time that creates the most stress on your brick work. The larger the temperature difference, the more likely two sections may crack at the "line" between them. This is a really good time to use the charcoal briquette method in your curing. I know you said you don't use them normally, but they are pretty inexpensive and have some really significant advantages for curing. Light up some briquettes and spread them around the perimeter inside. The lower (literally) and pretty consistent heat will "work" on moving that moisture out of that area much more effectively without producing as big a differential between the dome top and lower areas.

After you've had a briquette perimeter fire going for a couple hours, take a temp reading in the middle of the cooking floor. The "heat beads" are really good for working on the floor's wet spots. Think about keeping the entire interior of the oven as evenly heated as possible...it's going to be well worth the patience & the wait.

Relax and enjoy doing the curing low and slow

(and yes, normally loading peels are made of wood and the banjo peel is used for turning & working the pizza in the oven...and it does get HOT ...so yes the banjo peel is made of metal and is smaller).

[shanxk8]

Loading peel = wood
banjo peel = metal (& smaller)

Have i got it right?

[UtahBeehiver]

Garden hoe is what I use to pull the ash out into a square nose shovel, nothing fancy. Two things to be thinking about though, a loading peel and a banjo peel (for turning pizzas).

[shanxk8]

Will be trying for a more consistent fire tonight. I don't have a nice charcoal chimney like that (only bought the bag for this purpose, never use charcoal otherwise).
I think i'll try to put a narrow BBQ grill in the oven, raised up on some fire brick remnants to get more air into my fire. May try some more charcoal too, but it didn't seem to get hot enough to get over 250-300 at the top, let alone the bottom brick course.

I also need to find or fashion myself some oven tools. The ash and charred wood bits are really building up now and its difficult to get them all out of the oven. (i saw some nice looking DIY tools in the Show us your Door thread, that i'd like to replicate one day).
Any suggestions for quick interim tools? (using a shovel right now from indoor fireplace set)

[david s]

Your temperature readings show just what a difference in temp there is between the top and the bottom. This also means a big difference in expansion which leads to stress and in extremes cracking. As the top will dry out first it’s temperature will get even higher making the difference even more. Try not to allow flame impingement on the dome. Also allowing the oven to cool back down brings the temperatures back to even and allows some moisture to migrate back to the drier parts. Just when the oven begins to fire well is usually when the temp will start to rocket up and is also when yo’re likely to get some cracks, so take it slow, cook a chicken or two.

[shanxk8]

Thanks for the nice comments and encouragement. It is definitely a fun part, but I quite enjoyed building the oven too.

Tonight was getting this between 400 to 450°F at top and 210 to 230°F at the bottom course. I found that my fires were kinda hard to keep consistent, too big then spread it out and the flame died. I think I will try for another day of fires at this temp range as the bottom brick temperature didn't increase much.
Also, this was the first day the inside of the dome really started to go black.

I will patiently not make any dough yet, then I won't be tempted to put the oven up to high temperature too fast to cook pizza.

[Gulf]

I'm also having fun watching your progress and entusiasm. This is the fun stage. But, take your time. It is real easy to get too much wood on the fire at this stage which can lead to uneven heating of damp bricks and insulation. Here is another use for the charcoal. It gets hotter because it gets more o2 for combustion. A blast door or partially blocking the entry helps a bunch with this method.

[WarEagle90]

Oven turned out real nice, David. That certainly was a great photo with the kids, oven and the rainbow. Can't wait to start curing my oven, but I'm still a long way away from that point. In the meantime, I will sit back and enjoy your progress.

[agrasyuk]

Time to kneed some dough )

[shanxk8]

Last night we had the first actual fire with kindling and small branches, getting the oven up to 350°F to 360°F at the top of the dome and 180°F to 200°F at the bottom course of bricks.

It was really relaxing (my wife described as mesmerizing) to sit out by the oven and watch the fire. Hopefully we can setup and enjoy a fire each night this week to keep the curing progressing.

[shanxk8]

Over the weekend transitioned from the work lamp to some lump charcoal to begin really curing the oven. After the rain let up, we got started and had a really nice photo op with the kids right as we were getting started
Got the oven up into the 260 or 270°F at the top of the dome.

[shanxk8]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I guess I'll do 4" and then see where I sit. I'll have enough left for a dozen insulated doors!

[SableSprings]

Got one box of CF blanket installed this evening. It was 50 sq ft 1" thick, and I managed to get 2 layers over the oven.
I bought 3 boxes (150 sqft), so it looks that I can do 5" thick CF blanket, it maybe even 6" thick.
(I must have done something wrong with my math last year when calculating the amount needed)

I had only planned for 3" of CF blanket (hearth size limit), but find that the CF blanket is compressible . Could I compress the layers to make more blanket fit in the same thickness, or is the air within the blanket part of what provides the insulation?

David, certainly a major portion of the insulation rating for ceramic batting is for the air spaces within the material. It's just like fiberglass insulation for a house...if you cram a piece of 6" thick insulation into a 2x4 framed wall space, the R value is diminished. Having 5" to 6" of insulation will be much more thermally effective than cramming/compressing the same amount material into a thinner layer. The better insulated your oven is, the quicker it will heat up and the longer it will retain heat. At least put in another layer getting you to the planned 3" thickness. I'd definitely go at least 4" of uncompressed blanket over your dome if you have it and can figure out the hearth problem you inferred. Five or six inches is probably on the side of diminishing returns (IMHO). You mention hearth size limits, but I strongly suspect you/we can figure out a way to accommodate the extra inches around the perimeter

Put aside excess batting for an insulated door or let other builders in the forum know you've got some extra for sale/barter. Again, since you've got it...use it as intended--uncompressed.

[shanxk8]

Got to 220°F at top and 130°F at the bottom row. I'm amazed that the lamp got the top to those temps.
gonna wait to at least tomorrow night to switch to briquettes

[UtahBeehiver]

As far as compressing the blanket and effects, above my pay grade.