42" build in Michoacan, Mexico

[towersurf]

Its been about 3 weeks since I last posted due to a trip we had to make back to the states. Total round trip driving miles was just over 5,000 and we were gone for a total of 15 days. The goods news is we were able to bring back some supplies that we just could'nt source here in Mexico. The most critical thing we brought back was SS double wall pipe for the chimney so Im now able to contunue moving forward with the build.
This project has been evolving since day one. What I thought was going to be a simple wood fire oven turned into an outdoor kitchen. I was worried about the summer tropical storms penitrating the dome so I decided to encase the oven within a cement board housing. One thing led to another and in the end I decided to also build an awning over the whole outdoor kitchen. Hopefully its not going to evolve much more because my wife is just about ready to check me into an insane asylum.
One of the first things I did when i got back was install the ceramic blanket and start the curing process. I added 3" of blanket on the dome and then added another 2" on the top third of the dome. I still have blanket left and will figure out where to put it once Im ready to hang the cement board. My first curing fire was with briquetts. The dome only got to 200F. The next day I built a small wood fire that got the dome up to 300F. Today was my third fire and the dome briefly hit 450F but pretty much stayed between 350 and low 400"s F for a few hours. Now that I got the two 48" sections of SS pipe installed Im excited to see how it draws with the next curing fire.
I plan on building a chase for the first 36 inches on SS pipe but ran out of metal studs so Ill have to wait until next week to get more metal studs and finish the enclosure. Here are a few pics of the progress over the last few days.

[Mongo]

Well done. Looks great! I suggest slowing down on the curing fires. Do a few more at 400 before making the next jump.
is your pipe fixed to the roof? I'm planning my roof and concerned about a "seismic event".

Your entire installation looks awsome. Very inviting.

[towersurf]

Thats good advice on doing a few more at 400F, Im going to do that.
The pipe is not fixed to the roof although it is held in place by the silicon flashing.

[Chach]

Very Nice..pretty soon you will close the whole thing like with screening or something or even better walls and windows with air conditioning and you may just stay in there..LOL. Your wife thinks your nuts now...just wait LOL....Looks very good you should be proud.

[towersurf]

[QUOTE=Chach;n424451]Very Nice..pretty soon you will close the whole thing like with screening or something or even better walls and windows with air conditioning and you may just stay in there..LOL. Your wife thinks your nuts now...just wait LOL....Looks very good you should be proud.

Too funny! Thats exactly what my wife said.

[towersurf]

While reading through a few threads over the last few days I started to wonder if I should add some type of buttress to my inner and out arch. I used a half circle type of arch so I always felt that the force would be directed strait down but after getting this far in the build and with a bit more weight on the outer arch then I had planned I started to get nervous. What I ended up doing was added 5:1 Vcrtete between the arch and the steel framing for the cement board. I added left over plywood across the steel framing joist so that the Vcrete pushes against the steel framing and not the cement board. The Vcrete should also help insulate the outer arch. I still plan on adding left over ceramic blanket above the Vcrete and up the chimney to the top of the cement board. The only thing I dont like is that I only have a half an inch between the front of the chimney and the cement board so this part cant be insulated. I might try to fill this small gap with perlite but it probably wont help much.

[towersurf]

I followed Mongo's excellent advise and did a few more firings at 400F. I could definitely see a difference in how the oven is reacting. The last firing I did at 400F came up much quicker then the first one at 400F. I can also see more consistent temperature across the dome now then before. Getting Excited! Today I got the dome up to 600F fairly easly with a fire that wasnt much bigget then before. Today I also started adding cement board to the steel framing. This went fairly quickly but Im hesitand to close it all up until I finish the curing process.

[towersurf]

Here are a few follow up photos to my build. Still have some work to do but we are really enjoying the outdoor cooking area. Thanks to everyone on the forum who helped me. I couldnt have done it without this excellent resource.

[UtahBeehiver]

What of view from your kitchen.