Pizza History in the Hammer Continues

[david s]

I think your plan is sound except for the use of the high temp silicone in that position. It will not stand up to any direct flame impingement so if it’s at the top of your flue gallery I’d expect it to fail. I use it higher up and it works ok, although last year my wife killed it when she fired the oven and allowed flame to go up the flue. My oven has been working well for over 10 years. Not to difficult to redo in my case, but yours will be covered presumably and difficult to get at. I should think the mortar holding the bricks in position should be sufficient.

[Baza]

Hello Forno Friends

Busy weekend! Hope you are enjoying it - some are building - others are cooking - but we are all bonded in this madness! HA!

So - as I move toward the chimney assembly - I pulled out my materials to start doing measurements only to notice I was delivered the WRONG FLANGE PLATE!!!
ARG!! The one I have is meant for the SIDE of a roof - not the peak (which I asked for - but it may have been lost in the translation).
Heart drops.

So - I called Elvis at Alphatherm where I got the chimney assembly (locals around Toronto here will know him - mentioned here by other Cdn builders) and he was ON IT!
Amazing chap looking to make it right - hopefully he can help out!
Heart lifts.

NEXT STEP:

• UtahBeehiver and Mikie (@modified9v) took the approach I'm adopting as I'm running out of brick or might have gone with Mongo's 12 brick in a form base!
• In this approach - I'm going to build a base of 4 brick, carve out the thickness of the chimney baseplate, cut out the 8" diameter chimney throat and set on top of the levelling bricks above the arch throat
• Plan to set the chimney baseplate in the bricks with red silicone THEN mortar on top and 1/2 bricks length-wise (1 3/4" thick cut on the saw) to seal the plate.

QUESTION(S):

• DOES THIS MAKE SENSE??
• I know much has been discussed on mortaring this piece, using silicone, screwing it down/not doing so - fear of expansion/nah, it doesn't expand that much ... arg!
• Is there inherent danger to this approach of high-heat silicone first layer; base plate on top; mortar on top of the plate; brick to seal it in?

Open to feedback!

Thanks friends!
Barry

[Baza]

Hello Forno Friends

Another milestone - finished the Vent Arch today!
I'm happy with the outcome despite the slightly out-of-whack alignment in some places and such - but for the most part - seems true.

• I have a 1.5" reveal for the door.
• Heat-break (that may have gone a little too close to the oven face brick - but laid a bead of red silicone between them and hope it helps!
• Back filled the heat break with more rope then sealed the back of it.
• Ground out the throat of the vent/chimney opening to 10" square (thanks Mongo for the idea) and still have to close the sides of the throat opening at the top (it is 10" wide and 8" deep - the next set of brick to level the platform for the chimney assembly will hopefully remedy this - I have some ideas).

I have the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach about he strength of the arch to hold the double-walled stainless steel chimney!!
I feel like the structure is solid - but that is one heavy chimney!!! I lifted it about today ... woah!
I will buttress the sides of this vent with a concrete block on either side and angled cut brick mortared to the hearth. Fingers crossed!

More "igloo-like" today - feeling things moving along - excited about this again - out of hibernation and all!

Barry

[MarkJerling]

Hey Forno Friends!

Something wonderful happened today to honour the Pizza History piece of this build!!
In the photos - you'll see a matchbook - it is original from Valerio's Pizzeria - First in our city - this matchbook is from 1965, year before my birth!
The image is a rendering of a fountain in L'Aquila, Italy and was the image of Valerio's in the city ... he used it again (life-size) when he opened his Banquet Hall.

I took the matchbook image to a stone works establishment and they took on the job of replicating it ... and they did!!! Beautifully.
It is carved into black granite, painted gold like the matchbook.

This 18x12 plaque will be affixed to cedar wood above the mouth of the oven.
I'm delighted.

Valerio's 88'th Birthday will be June 10 ... I'll present it to him then - can't wait to place it on the oven!

What a neat story! And a lovely homage to Valerio.

[Baza]

mongota - you are a rock star!! HAHA! Awesome - thanks for the enthusiasm!
Yeah - I'm really happy this labour is coming together to bring a structure with meaning to the home.
It means a great deal to have your support - no question I - and many others on this forum - would not near completion with as much confidence without your support!

Cheers Mongo!
Barry

[mongota]

Hey Forno Friends!

Something wonderful happened today to honour the Pizza History piece of this build!!
In the photos - you'll see a matchbook - it is original from Valerio's Pizzeria - First in our city - this matchbook is from 1965, year before my birth!
The image is a rendering of a fountain in L'Aquila, Italy and was the image of Valerio's in the city ... he used it again (life-size) when he opened his Banquet Hall.

I took the matchbook image to a stone works establishment and they took on the job of replicating it ... and they did!!! Beautifully.
It is carved into black granite, painted gold like the matchbook.

This 18x12 plaque will be affixed to cedar wood above the mouth of the oven.
I'm delighted.

Valerio's 88'th Birthday will be June 10 ... I'll present it to him then - can't wait to place it on the oven!

BARRY!
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!

Yes, it is all caps, and yes, I am cyber-yelling. I'm actually double-yelling because the font is all caps and it's bold as well!
I love that you are connecting your oven to your historical past.
Exceptional!

[Baza]

P3 Stoaker! it is great to hear from you and thank you for the encouragements! I feel like the enjoyment you indicate you felt shaping the flue bricks is going to take me on! I have really enjoyed the intricate cuts and shaping of the bricks and am looking forward to getting something good out of setting direction for the smoke! Hoping my sealing efforts turn out as great as your own!

MarkJerling you have always been a great supporter of builders here - thank you for your kind words! Still moving ahead with thinking through the buttressing you shared and hoping the learning from your work with the temps will soon be a factor in my cooking with this thing!!
Barry

[MarkJerling]

You're making a beautiful job of it Barry! Very, very tidy!

[P3 Stoaker]

G'day Barry,
Maaate, its looking terrific, and you have, like I did taken a lot from Mongota's build when positioning/joining the vent arch to inner arch, thanks Mongota.
I wasn't at all worried about the vent size at that stage, other than it was large enough. From there it was fairly straight forward to cut a series of bricks so as to form a flat top then you can go as high as you like. I did cut each one individually by using a piece of cardboard to get the shape. At the same time you can begin to funnel towards a round shape, or I guess matching shape if not having round flue.
I really enjoyed shaping the flue bricks and because there are not many it didn't take long at all.
It's a great method to seal between the inner and outer arches and during my curing fires I had no smoke escaping.
Looking great
Regards
Greg

[Baza]

Hey Forno Friends!

Something wonderful happened today to honour the Pizza History piece of this build!!
In the photos - you'll see a matchbook - it is original from Valerio's Pizzeria - First in our city - this matchbook is from 1965, year before my birth!
The image is a rendering of a fountain in L'Aquila, Italy and was the image of Valerio's in the city ... he used it again (life-size) when he opened his Banquet Hall.

I took the matchbook image to a stone works establishment and they took on the job of replicating it ... and they did!!! Beautifully.
It is carved into black granite, painted gold like the matchbook.

This 18x12 plaque will be affixed to cedar wood above the mouth of the oven.
I'm delighted.

Valerio's 88'th Birthday will be June 10 ... I'll present it to him then - can't wait to place it on the oven!

[Baza]

Well - dry-laid the vent arch - generally pleased with the outcome.
I'm hoping to mortar it all down tomorrow as I have a 1/2 day at work only!

Chimney throat opening seems a bit wider than it does long ... 8" from front to back (good); side to side it is about 10" at the top ... don't know if this is a thing.
Then again - once mortared it may close up a bit more (I will round out the bottoms to create more of a flow for smoke) ...
mongota 's build is very much present here!

Excited to be at this point!
Barry

[Baza]

Hello Forno Friends!

Been a while and finally got some space and time to work on the vent arch
Got some RTV instead of the caulk-mortar (black stuff) and finished surrounding the oven arch for the heat break. Laid the vertical sides and worked out the lip of the structure.mongota should see significant similarities here! Thanks mate!

Happy to be building again!
Barry

[CapePizza]

I don't see the vent structure moving. The perlcrete that's "stuffed" into the gap may (or may not) crack, or otherwise deteriorate somewhat over time, but I haven't noticed anything like that so far.
I pushed the rope in far enough so it was kind of centered in the vent structure. Then filled the gap, on the inside of the vent and the outside of the vent with the perlcrete mix.

[Baza]

Barry, fwiw, I filled the gap created for the heat break with perlcrete mix. Did not use caulk. I remember making the gap around 3/8 inch and stuffing the gap with 1/2 inch ceramic rope. Forced the rope into the gap with a steel bar and hammer. see attached. Worked well.
John

CapePizza - yes! I saw that and it looked great! Gave me a better sense of the gap for sure!
My wondering was around the separate structure piece given the oven itself expands/moves and if the vent structure was "tied" with percrete or some other means to it - it would impact the vent structure.
You say you don't see an appreciable issue: either in the pains of movement OR the loss of heat (given it is an insulated mortar)

Ok - something to think about ... I'm still keen on making the two structures separate - but my skills may collapse in a mess (as has been the case!) and I'll have to think of something altogether new!

Thank you for sharing John!
Barry

[CapePizza]

Barry, fwiw, I filled the gap created for the heat break with perlcrete mix. Did not use caulk. I remember making the gap around 3/8 inch and stuffing the gap with 1/2 inch ceramic rope. Forced the rope into the gap with a steel bar and hammer. see attached. Worked well.
John