What's new in Pompeii oven building?

[rsandler]

I built a 36" Pompeii oven back in 2012 with lots of help from the folks on this forum (https://community.fornobravo.com/for...-pompeii-in-dc) but I drifted away from the forum after the build was done. We are moving cross-country in a couple months, and of course I need to build a new oven at the new house.

I'll start a new thread for the new build once I get going for real, but in the meantime, I was wondering what, if anything, is out there in the way of conventional wisdom for oven-building that has percolated on the forum in the last 10 years. For instance, the Indispensable Tool (IT) is not mentioned (circa 2009) official Pompeii plans v2.0 available from FB--I used one in my previous build based on the wisdom of the forum. Are there other innovations, big or small, that are commonplace on the forum now, but weren't in 2012-2013?

[NCMan]

None comes to mind at the moment. But, best of luck on your new build.

[rwiegand]

Once technology has matured for a couple thousand years improvements come slowly. At some point I saw a picture of the IT in use a hundred years ago. I'll bet it's way older than that!

[Sixto]

I dont know about others, but my takeaway of recent builds convinced me to go the following route:

1) 4.5" firebrick dome, under 4" of ceramic fiber insulation, 2" perlcrete and 1" keeps the inside hot, and the outside cool. The dome came through un-scathed (no visible chips or cracks on the outside) after its first Minnesota winter without any tarp or weather covering...of course - that also meant no WFO pizza from November through April.

2) Thermal break between dome and flue/gallery keeps heat in the dome also, that seems like a recent development

3) For those cutting bricks to fit, the tricky transition between dome and arch is an art form. Cutting every brick at an (ever-so-slightly) different angle has been explained very clearly in a few recent builds, and does an excellent job of transfering the dome pressures around the arch opening, plus providing a smooth interior surface for the fire to follow.

Next time I won't mess with cutting 300 bricks, and will probably buy a refractive cement shell kit - save about 2 months in build-time.
I also learned something about dome size, fuel amount, and prep time... Its just not worth the effort to fire up the WFO for 2 people, I use it only for family weekend get-togethers or other larger social gatherings. If I want one or two pies, my gas oven does a fine enough job. 4 pies is my minimum to fire up the oven, 6 is ideal.

Enjoy! - Six.

[david s]

1. Weep holes in the supporting slab to eliminate underfloor moisture easier.
2. Homebrew cast ovens.
3. Vent (for igloo style ovens) in the outer shell to remove moisture and to relieve steam pressure build up in the insulation layers.
4. Expansion joint between the flue pipe and outer shell for single flue pipe igloo ovens.
5. AR fibreglass, basalt, stainless steel needle nano fibre reinforcing for strengthening.
6. Polypropylene burnout fibres to reduce steam spalling.
7. Foamcrete as an addition or replacement of perl or vermicrete.
8. Elastomeric weatherproof outer coating.

[Squirt Reynolds]

1. Weep holes in the supporting slab to eliminate underfloor moisture easier.
2. Homebrew cast ovens.
3. Vent (for igloo style ovens) in the outer shell to remove moisture and to relieve steam pressure build up in the insulation layers.
4. Expansion joint between the flue pipe and outer shell for single flue pipe igloo ovens.
5. AR fibreglass, basalt, stainless steel needle nano fibre reinforcing for strengthening.
6. Polypropylene burnout fibres to reduce steam spalling.
7. Foamcrete as an addition or replacement of perl or vermicrete.
8. Elastomeric weatherproof outer coating.

Are you still active? i have a couple questions please…
like what do yo7 mean vent for igloo for outer moisture?

[UtahBeehiver]

David is still active but I will answer question.. A vent if placed at the apex of the dome or in David's build , he makes custom ceramic vents that go around the chimney. These vents are to relieve pressure between the dome and render. Water will find its way in and when it sublimates to vapor the volume increases by a factor of 1500 plus thus possible building up enough pressure to crack the render. Do a search on dome vents and you will find many examples.

[rsandler]

I did a (probably much simpler than David's) vent in my first build, for a quick example: https://community.fornobravo.com/for...462#post224462