Massive Error - What options do I have?

[Julison]

The weather has turned cold so I had to take a weekend off and build a shelter around the oven. That done, I have resumed building the oven. Managed to get the first course above the arch complete. All good so far.

[Julison]

Although winter has arrived, I am still moving forward with finishing the dome of my 36” Pompei oven. I can see the finish line. Once I get the dome completed would it be harmful doing the curing fires in subzero temperatures or should I wait for spring? I used Heat Stop 50 as a mortar. Thanks in advance.

[Julison]

Dome and entrance done, chimney next.
Looking forward to getting some curing fires going and seeing how it holds up given the modified dome design (aka: Dunrobin Dome).

[SableSprings]

Looks good! Just remember to go very slow on the curing process. Don't forget that the best practice "we" now recommend is to put on the insulation batting before starting the cure. Keeps the temps more stable, reducing the stresses experienced by the oven during the cure. (Also, think about keeping the area above the chimney area clear (or well spaced) so you don't put a cinder/spark burn hole in any temporary plastic cover. )

[Julison]

Thanks Mike,

yeah, I will wrap the oven for the curing and then remove it to assess for cracks. I will also remove the “Pizza Hut” from over the oven for the cure. Looking forward to starting the long slow cure.

[Julison]

I am starting to build the chimney for my 36” inch Wfo.
The flue opening is 15” inches X 5” inches but it will narrow as I taper into the SS 6” inch ID chimney anchor plate.
I am using a Selkirk 6” inch” ID chimney with 2” inch “(each side - 10”” inch OD) of insulation but I am struggling to make that fit over the flue / entrance which has a depth from front arch to dome of ~ 12” inches. The brick chimney I had planned would have been 16” inches square. I will have to redesign and see how it looks. The brick chimney was to be 16”” inch tall and the Selkirk chimney needs to be 8’ feet tall to meet local code. If someone has put on a similar chimney with such a small entrance please send me a link to your build for more ideas. Thanks in advance all.

[SableSprings]

Take a look at JRPizza's build. He did a nice job of documenting the smoke chamber/chimney transition. Lots of other examples in the forum, but this is one I'd tagged. I've put the link to page 13 of his thread where the chimney transition begins.

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...r-build/page13

[Julison]

Thanks Mike, JRs thread was very useful.
Dry fit of the chimney done.
Need some spring like weather to mortar in place.

[SableSprings]

Glad JR's thread helped. In looking at your dry stack, I'm a little concerned about the arch pressing down and out with the extra weight. I put some brick buttressing (with pieces of rebar mortared in the aligned holes of the common bricks) on the outside of my arch(es) to counteract that outward pressure. I've attached your photo with the red force lines and position of suggested buttressing. The top brick(s) with the dot would be optional.

I positioned my bricks so they had the maximum buttressing angle and strength to my perspective...but then I am a fisheries biologist by training . You can see what I did in Posts # 14 and 15 on my build thread for the Dragonfly Den.

[Julison]

Yeah, it does look top heavy.
I have some buttressing in place ( see attached) that I had thought should hold it but after dry stacking it looks SO heavy. I could remove one layer of chimney brick and still meet code with the stainless chimney sections that I had planned to use. Adding more bracing would be easy at this point. Thanks for your help. I find it challenging to get my little shelter warm enough to curing the mortar.

[SableSprings]

The pictures in your last post are not showing. Each one of the four looks like a single letter (tiny) instead of a photo. Remember that all of your remaining mortar/rock work can be done later. I'm not sure it's worth continuing to work in sub-zero conditions...I'd hate to see your mortar work having to be repaired/repeated because you are pushing to finish. At this point, keeping the dome from freezing up until the mortar has cured and dried out is more important than the final chimney rock work facade & buttressing (IMHO). You can do all that this spring with the curing & building the final enclosure work. It's been a common story here that many projects "extend" through several seasons before they get the final outside "cosmetic" work completed...actually using the insulated & cured oven takes over priorities for a while for the majority of builders. (Nothing wrong with that! Call it the Rule of Pizza Priority.)

[Julison]

Waiting for the temperature to climb back up above 32 degrees (currently near zero). In the mean time I tried dry fitting the chimney with one layer of bricks removed. I think it looks more balanced now.

[JRPizza]

Yes, looks like it fits much better!

[Julison]

Well, finally got back to the oven. I mortared the chimney, made a door and started my first mini fire. The door is a poured three ply 3” door. The inner ply is ~3/4 of Heat stop, the middle is ~ 1.75” vermicrete (5:1) and the out 1/2 in is regular cement. I’ll get a work out using this, the whole thing weighs ~ 25lbs!

[Julison]

First fire.