BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

If I haven't told all of you before how much I hate this time of year let me tell you again... I hate it when it is dark when I get home! I did manage to get the next row cut along with the next level of entry bricks. Tomorrow night I'll mortar them in and then get back to it on Friday night.

Is it normal for areas of mortar to have what it appears to be shrink cracks? It's very minor and only where I filled in some areas of the back bricks. The areas were larger than what the Mfg says it will fill with out shrinking... Sounds like an obvious answer but with my recent mortar issue I am going to play it safe and ask, ask, ask!

Thanks everyone!

[mannextdoor]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

It looks like your doing a great job. When I had spoken with Bob, (owner of HS50) He told me that there are two manufacturing facilities for HS50. One bagged in brown bags, the other in white. He assured me that the contents where the same. He also said that his product was not hydraulic and did not cure. It air dried. After one day of dry time the mortar was ready for fire. The reason we cure the oven is to drive the moisture out of the bricks slowly. Bob also told me if you are getting hair line cracks when it dried, you are mixing your mortar to wet. Soak your bricks for a little while, so the brick doesn?t pull water out of your mortar. But mix the mortar a little drier. Good luck and enjoy the ride. Looking forward to following your build.

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thanks,

Thats weird that he stated that it air dried and didn't cure. This definitely kicked off , appeared to get a little warm, and then started to get hard. Like I said before, as long as it stays together I'm good. The consistency is like peanut butter; Bob confirmed that this was correct. I also soaked the bricks until the bubbles stopped... I was thinking that there was too much water in the bricks and it was not allowing the mortar to absorb.

Either way I hope it stays together and cooks great pizzas!

Thanks again,

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

11-8-08

After a very long but successful business trip On Saturday I managed to get the second and third row set in no time . It helps a lot when you cut them first; well at least it did for me. I had to shave off a little here and there but for the most part it went up rather quickly.

Second and third row set

Arch entry ready for the rest of the bricks

Sitting area shot

Blimp shot

Another angle

Ready for the next row!

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

11-9-08

Today, along with a major job site cleaning that included a pressure washing, I was able to get the forth course set!

So far so good. Everything is going smoothly at this point.

Pizza entry shot

Sitting area shot. So far no supports have been needed. The heat stop-50 has tremendous holding ability. The key is to mix it a little thick like un-stirred peanut butter (but only enough that you will use in four to five bricks). Let it slake for about 5 mins, and them re-mix. Do not add water after initial slake period.

Form for arch

Another shot of the form.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a few more bricks; I think I'm going to need about 25-30 more as I decided to do more brick cutting and use less mortar. So far I have only used one bag and a half of the 50lb Heat stop-50 which includes a nice layer on the back of the bricks as well.

I may be able to get by with just two bags. I may use the tremendous amount of sludge to make more if necessary. I also need to find a place that sells the chimney accessories. Not sure if I'm going the SS Dura-vent, or the clay flu pipe. I cant find either here in Tampa.

More later!

[mfiore]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Looks great! Nice, clean lines. Keep up the great work.

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Very nice and very clean! I recall the 6th course getting my attention. It looks like you are going to tie the dome and arch as you go vertical. Good luck - if that's the case, you have raised the bar...(again) I think you will be the first to do that.

Les...

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Looks great! Nice, clean lines. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Mike, a work in progress for sure.

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Very nice and very clean! I recall the 6th course getting my attention. It looks like you are going to tie the dome and arch as you go vertical. Good luck - if that's the case, you have raised the bar...(again) I think you will be the first to do that.

Les...

Wow, thanks Les!

I'm going to give it a shot. I am attempting to tie them together as I go, or as much as possible I should say. Who knows it may just work .

I picked up a new Rigid 10" wet saw that seems to work better than the old MK 101. It's a shame; the MK is made in the USA, the Rigid is made in China I like the 4 ball bearing roller tray, laser guide, etc that wasn't available on the MK.

Thanks again for the kind words, I took many notes from your build.

I picked up my clay flue pipes today and they only had the 8"X12"X24" and after getting it home it just looks freakin huge. Any thoughts on this one? I don't mind the size as long as it doesn't draw too much or cause something else to not function properly.

Bill

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Bill - I used 2, 12 inch sections, granted, the second one was trimmed a little because of the taper. I think you will be good. Is your Ridged a compound?

Les...

[exceloven]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Les,
The Rigid is a compound, I just got one in preparation for my build. So far I have used it on slate and it is great. The compound was the reason I got it, after seeing the great cuts you made on yours I figured I would need it.

Mark

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thanks Mark! I wished I had a compound. I spent a lot of time in the shop cutting shims to get the angle. When I got to the top, the cuts were so small, I had to go back a course to hold onto them. Your saw is the way to go.

Good luck on the build!

Les...

[mfiore]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

I picked up my clay flue pipes today and they only had the 8"X12"X24" and after getting it home it just looks freakin huge. Any thoughts on this one? I don't mind the size as long as it doesn't draw too much or cause something else to not function properly.

Bill

Bill,

For what ever it's worth, I used the same size flue tile. I agree, when I picked it up, it seemed huge, and was very heavy. I didn't want to go too high with my chimney, so I altered it to taper as it goes up. This is lighter, and should draw better with a shorter stack. You can look at builds from Les or dmun to see similar designs.

Although I haven't finished curing my oven yet, so far it seems to draw wonderfully.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Bill, the oven looks GREAT!!! I keep showing other people the dates on your posts and we're impressed you just started last month. Your build is very encouraging to us.

Also, THANKS for the all the pictures. They really do help. Your recent post about the compound wet saw (show off!) answered my question about tapering top/bottom or also the inverted "v's" on the sides (which I think you are doing).

But my main question here is: Did you do the dome using the "string-method"? I keep going over your pictures and I see that screw with string on it and it looks so good I can't believe it. Could you please confirm exactly how that works?

Great job! and again, thanks for sharing it, -Dino

(P.S.: Dear Santa Clause, I wish for peace on Earth and a 10" compound wet saw for me)

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hi Les,

Thanks for the tip on the pipes. I think I'll taper mine as well.

Yes the new Rigid is a compound miter and it works very well. I was able to use it tonight and while in the dark (still hate when the clocks go back) I managed to cut and mortar the next course in about an hour.

Having the right tools definitely help!

Thanks again,

Bill