36" WF Pompeii Oven in Maryland

[david s]

Looks great, exciting times for you!
I normally just use a short piece of copper pipe for the vent and seal it over once the oven is cured.
I think some form of insulated door is a good idea especially if you want to cook the next day.

I think there is merit in designing a vent that allows the release of moisture but not allowing water entry. After going to the trouble of installing one it seems counterintuitive and counter-productive to seal it up again. Depending on your weather conditions and if you have roof over the oven, but torrential downpours and prolonged humidity do result in moisture in the highly absorbent insulation layer. The vent not only helps as a safety valve to remove excess steam pressure, but also assists in removing moisture faster. Regarding the oven curing, I believe it is far safer to drive out the water after the insulation has been applied, but before doing the final render, if building an igloo style. For a dog kennel style, which is rarely totally sealed, there will probably be many gaps in the roof so a vent is unnecessary.

[fox]

Looks great, exciting times for you!
I normally just use a short piece of copper pipe for the vent and seal it over once the oven is cured.
I think some form of insulated door is a good idea especially if you want to cook the next day.

[Chach]

Very nice work...Looks like your enjoying it the right way with a bunch of delicious food

[bentedesco]

A lot has happened since my last post- I was able to do a number of curing fires and I built my door. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to throw some sourdough in the oven and put my initial coat of stucco on. Also, I found some really nice copper vents that I think I'm going to use to help any steam escape: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[bentedesco]

A lot's been happening over the past 2 weeks. I built the hearth and yesterday insulated the dome with 2, 2" rolls of insulating blanket. I was pleasantly surprised that the blankets had some stiffness so they could be shaped. The most annoying part really was securing the mesh over top of the insulation. Last night I ran sterno cans for 6 hours and had ~115 degree fires. Today I plan to run my remaining sterno cans 2 at a time- this should bring a constant low 200 degree heat (a friend gave me a dozen cans for free so I figured I might as well use them). Tomorrow I plan to use some lump charcoal from my smoker in a cast Iron pot to get a 300 degree fire, then I'll start using wood on Tuesday.

Hopefully next week I can then stucco the dome with quikwall. I'm planning 2 coats of stucco; 1 scratch coat + fortifier, 1 top coat with fortifier and crushed stained glass that I'm going to polish.

I must say, it's quite rewarding to be this close to the finish-line, I'm already looking around for a few stacks wood to start cooking with!

[UtahBeehiver]

Kinda spendy with both a check valve and plug, you can get by with this and 1/2" pvc bushing. Then rain will not ingress in. Can find and most car part stores for 5-6 bucks.

[bentedesco]

OH! Thank you, for differentiating the insulation but not stucco before the cure.

Also, I saw you mention adding a breather vent for steam, is it ok to just use a plastic vent for this?

I was thinking of using a 1/2" Brass Swing Check Valve capped off with a 1/2" Brass Pneumatic Air Breather Vent Silencer



UPDATE: I think I'm going to use a copper soffit vent like this one, slightly $$ but I think it will lol great in the end.
4" Round Louvered Copper Insert Vent with Screen https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKMNZYG..._sw7ZCbDDHPNQE

[UtahBeehiver]

In the Forno Bravo plans there is curing out line in section 17. But a couple newer innovations, start with a halogen light, gets you around 150-75 F. Then a couple firings of charcoal briquettes gets you around 200 F (cook something dutch oven while your at it), then really "small" kindling fires, "don't" throw that extra log on, it can really spike the temp quickly,
then follow FB curing guide. You are looking at about a week. Also current best practice is to insulate but not stucco before curing, David S advocates placing plastic over the oven, if you see condensate form then oven is still wet, if you see steam, going too fast or hot.

[bentedesco]

Finally finished my dome!

This weekend, I'm hoping I can clean up the inside and then I'm a bit confused as to what my next task should be, right now I'm planning the following order:

1. Construct the entry arch/flue
2. Lay Ceramic Blanket & seal (As I have 2 boxes of ceramic blanket, I plan to insulate the entry arch)
3. Cure the dome (I think it was recently decided that its now best to insulate the dome before curing?) If there is a sticky related to this, I would really appreciate someone dropping a link for me

[bentedesco]

Long time no post... I've been waiting to continue construction due to the cold winter we've had up north, however, we're finally into spring and have just a few nights left around 30 degrees. As I am using Heat Stop 50 to mortar my courses, do I need to wait for a full week of above freezing temperatures? I've been worried that if I get 1 night below freezing it could shatter my fresh mortar and I'd loose structural integrity... am I being overly paranoid?


Also, over the fall I got the opportunity to go to Adelaide, AU and visit Maggie Beer's Farm Shop in the Barossa valley. I was able to talk with the chef who built/uses the pizza oven there- what a great guy! He was extremely helpful and encouraging as I was talking about my build and all the great folks here on the the forum. Here are a few pictures of Maggie Beer's pizza oven:

[mk e]

Ah, I see what you mean. Would there be any issue with instead just trimming the angle on the top block if its too high?

The only down side is cosmetic...the 1 row will be thinner when you look in. Nothing functional or structural I can think of.

I think its a bit awkward to do if you've already set the bricks, but if you mark it well you could cut as you've shown in place.

[UtahBeehiver]

The anglelizer program calculates the tapering of brick so the mortar joints and taper shape of the brick are consistent. I am not sure what you mean by trimming the angle of the top brick, can't seen the pic, it is too small.

[bentedesco]

Close enough for government work..............

Updated

I did notice that the 7.5" dimension may be without joints factored in, assuming brick thickness is 2.5". This may throw your opening ratio off enough to be a concern putting the ratio in the 70s. If this is the case you may have to reduce the 4.5" dimension and arch will be a little flatter. The flatter the arch the more sideward pressure there is and depending on chimney type may require some buttressing.

Ah, I see what you mean. Would there be any issue with instead just trimming the angle on the top block if its too high?

[UtahBeehiver]

Close enough for government work..............

Updated

I did notice that the 7.5" dimension may be without joints factored in, assuming brick thickness is 2.5". This may throw your opening ratio off enough to be a concern putting the ratio in the 70s. If this is the case you may have to reduce the 4.5" dimension and arch will be a little flatter. The flatter the arch the more sideward pressure there is and depending on chimney type may require some buttressing.

[bentedesco]

I take it you are taking about the entry arch not the dome.because I can see from the pics the dome courses are using the IT alignment. The arch with vertical walls will be what is called an Ax Arch. There was a recent post where the program for General Tools "angleizer" was posted (it is no longer available from General Tools directly). It will calculate the Ax Arch based on brick size, radius, width, height. Remember the opening arch height needs to be around 63-65% of the dome height. I've used this program several times and it is spot on.

I found the link,

https://web.archive.org/web/20160201...Angel-Izer.zip

Thank You!! Yes, it will be an Ax Arch. Right now I'm thinking the arch will be 12" tall (18" dome), is 66% within an acceptable margin of error?