New Door

[Jed]

Today I finished the door for my oven....

My two design criteria were:

1) Keep the heat in
2) Use available materials

I had scrounged a bit of copper some time ago that was setting around, there was some left over vermiculite, there are always bits of wood around here..., I had most of the screws and rivet's on the shelf; and my purchases were limited to the sheet metal ($4.00 at a local recycle store), and a couple screws to attach the handle to the door frame.

So the pictures show the result... I am happy with the way it looks, and more important, the Mrs. is happy with the way it looks..

The one picture shows the insides of the door, how the wood parts are put together, how the metal attaches to the wood frame, and the vermiculite going into the door. The metal on the front and the back of the door do not touch; both the front and the back connect to the wood, but not to each other. The other pictures are of the completed door, one in the oven and one on the ground. I am not real happy with the way the edge of the thing looks.. Oh well...

Initial test indicate the heat on the inside of the oven does not make it to the outside of the door...

Full testing to follow!

JED

[Les]

Re: New Door

Looks great - the copper is a nice touch. Did you fabricate the handle?

Les...

[SpringJim]

Re: New Door

I like it a lot too....something to copy!

you may want some sort of feet to hold it in place....CJ has a similar one and uses a hatchet to secure it otherwise you may get some gapping....

[Jed]

Re: New Door

Looks great - the copper is a nice touch. Did you fabricate the handle?

Les...

Hi Les,

The handle is a scrap of steel bent with a big hammer and a vise, and the wood bits are scrap maple whittled to shape...

It was fun to build, and so far works pretty good!

JED

[Jed]

Re: New Door

I like it a lot too....something to copy!

you may want some sort of feet to hold it in place....CJ has a similar one and uses a hatchet to secure it otherwise you may get some gapping....

Morning Jim,

I used the door last night to cook the first meal.. (slow cook pork shoulder, turned out great!), and the door is deep enough that it holds itself tight to the opening just fine. As I was fabricating the thing, I made an effort for the copper cover to hang down below the other door parts on the bottom surface of the door, this makes the door lean into the oven opening. (it is just a whisker longer but it doesn't take much to get the door to 'lean')

I'll post a picture of the slow pork over in the Gallery.

JED

[nissanneill]

Re: New Door

H Jed,
it is a pity that you cut the copper to wrap it around the top arch of your door.
Copper is very easy to beat (albeit slowly) so that you have a nice smooth almost rolled edge rather than those cut folded sections.
I beat the stainless steel door seal for Hendos oven and that is much harder but the effect is much better. Try it next time, slowly hammer the edge over a hardwood or curved steel dolly, similar to whay a panel beater uses for knocking out dents in metal panels. Copper is much more malliable and works well.
I have attached the rope seal picture that I put onto Hendos oven for comparison. View at:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/h...nues-3902.html

Neill

[CajunKnight]

Re: New Door

Nice job, I like the look a lot.

[Jed]

Re: New Door

H Jed,

Copper is very easy to beat (albeit slowly) so that you have a nice smooth almost rolled edge rather than those cut folded sections.


Neill

Neill,

This is a great idea, I'm sorry I didn't think about it. The look of the edge is the part of the door that I don't like, and a formed copper bit would look a lot better. Good idea!

JED

[Peter O'Brien]

Re: New Door

hi,
I have this idea for an oven door.with a lug welded on either side of the door half way up and a half cup on the doorframe to suit you could swing the bottom of the door in to the oven to create a draft whilst the top would swing back to exhaust up the chimney.it would be adjustable depending on how far you swing the door.this door could lift in and out as required.to seal the oven closed I envisage a seal on bottom half of the door on the outside and the top half of the door on the inside.the seal possibly of the square type in light chanel would close up to the brick work built to accomodate the seal when closed.I havent decided on the door but i quess it could be steel
framed with insulation between two sides also steel.
Has anybody else tried this as i could with some feedback.
Regards the baker

[nissanneill]

Re: New Door

Hi Peter,
you have me a little lost with your explanation of a tilting door that I assume the bottom edge opens onto the oven for a draft leaving the top half opening out into the chimney void to exhaust the hot air/smoke. A diagram or illustration would help.
I have found that with my door open, the oven breathes nicely and doesn't need any help for a draft control. I do intend building a 12v variable speed fan/blower connected to a curved perforated pipe which would be inserted into the oven and lay on the floor around either the lhs or rhs on fire lighting to improve the catch rate of the wood. I personally don't have a problem when lighting the fire but everything can be improved, especially if you want to extend a low fire to reheat the oven if needed.
I still have to insulate my cast aluminium doors but I guess they will get done when the needs arises.

Neill

[christo]

Re: New Door

When I read Neill's post about the blower - I got just a bit excited.

I thought he was going to use the blower to convert the oven to use as a forge also.

Are you thinking of a door that pivots horizontally on a center axis? Could you share a sketch?

Christo

[nissanneill]

Re: New Door

Hey Christo,
Gee, you are easy to get excited! It makes me wonder what a determined woman could do.
the only thing that I'm interested in melting in my oven is cheese!!!!!!
I tend to let a fire run down and a blower (not a hurricane but a simple low volume fan) will help the initial fire and restoring a low fire. The leaf blower is a lot over the top and I have to crank it up. stand back and hold it.
I am currently drawing up the plans for the new cupboards and the framework for the kitchen.

Neill

[david s]

Re: New Door

Neill,
Try an old hair dryer. It will blow about the right volume and rate and makes the temp rocket up very quickly. I've tried it quite successfully a couple of times, but find it really too much bother, a length of 1/2" copper pipe is far more convenient.

[nissanneill]

Re: New Door

David,
I have plans for a 12v car heater blower running through a controller to vary the speed and hence efficiency.
What I envisage are 2 semi circular metal pipes with holes aimed parallel to the hearth and directed to the bottom of the fire running around the inner perimeter of the oven fed from a Y piece at the end of the blower. A variable rheostat to control the air flow.
However, I need to use the oven more, but with the new venture seem to be working up to 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Neill

[david s]

Re: New Door

I understand your idea and I'm sure it will work, but there is an additional problem in that forcing oxygen in will give your oven too fast a rate of temp increase which will cause much more stress on your refractory materials, expect some cracking. The industry standard for rate of increase is 100/Hr for safety. We exceed this by heaps already. The thick walls need time forth heat to soak through. If you want to use forced air only use it near the top ofvthe firing where the heat loss is greater and the rate of temp climb is naturally lower.
Dave