Ready for the cure

[Breven]

I'm going to be working on my enclosure for a while, but I thought I would start the curing process. Lit my first fire (just newspaper) last night. This morning, I was reading about the crack problems Ken had- and I guess cracks are pretty normal. I thought I had better prepare for it now. I was wondering if anyone thinks it would be smart to support the sides of my arches and what the best way to do that is? Once the enclosure is sealed up, I won't be able to get to it.

[asudavew]

Re: Ready for the cure

I'm going to be working on my enclosure for a while, but I thought I would start the curing process. Lit my first fire (just newspaper) last night. This morning, I was reading about the crack problems Ken had- and I guess cracks are pretty normal. I thought I had better prepare for it now. I was wondering if anyone thinks it would be smart to support the sides of my arches and what the best way to do that is? Once the enclosure is sealed up, I won't be able to get to it.

Congrats!

I didn't do anything to my arch.. buttressing I think they call it. But it would probably be a good idea if your are enclosing it.

Check out Ken's thread, he did it.

Take your time on the curing and don't rush it.

7 days!

Dave

[james]

Re: Ready for the cure

That is sooooo nice looking.

Congratulations -- and yes, just go slow on the cure. Bake all the water out slowly. :-)

James

[Ken524]

Re: Ready for the cure

I love the curved blocks... Bravo!

I wouldn't sweat my crack problem (ummm... that doesn't sound good!). The cracking was caused by using crappy insulation board under my oven. The board I used tends to disintegrate when it gets wet.

Ken

[Breven]

Re: Ready for the cure

Thanks guys! I'm going to let you all take the credit for anything that looks right, since I pretty much copied everyone here. Anything wrong, I'll have to blame that on my wife for constantly letting the beer run out before I was done working for the day!

I think I will stick a couple of blobs of concrete next to the arch sides- I happen to have 2 bags left over. Better to support it now while I can access it.

I'm going to do a full 7 day cure, just to be sure, but I really don't think I need to. It's about 105 degrees outside and absolutley zero moisture in the air (I live in a desert) and it's been this way for a month or so. Might have been one of the reasons I didn't get a whole lot of bricks slipping and sliding when I was doing the dome- they were totally dry in just a couple of hours.

James- BTY a big thanks for including instructions on how to make dough with the flour you sell. That will save me time trying to figure out how to make dough! Just got my tomatoes and flour last week. Soon as I finish the cure, I'm going to start burning- I mean cooking, while I finish the encolsure.

[Breven]

Re: Ready for the cure

By the way Ken, the curved blocks was sort of out of necessity. I wanted the back of the oven to flow smoothly with the counter top bar from the attached outdoor kitchen. Only way to do that was to bring it back quite a bit. BUT...my elevated Spa is in the way. A square would have left me only a little room to walk by- rounding it gave me a full 3 feet. That being said, I'm happy i did it. Shoul;d look great covered in stacked stone veneer. The roof is going to be a little bit of a challenge though...

[christo]

Re: Ready for the cure

That's what I did to butress my arch - I had 2 80 lb bags of concrete left over.

In hindsight - If I had any isoboard left - I would have put that next to the entryway and filled in the concrete behind that. As it is, with concrete right up against my entry way - I don't see significant heat wicking away. My oven seems to retain heat really well.

Christo