Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

[Les]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Congrats Bill! It feels like giving birth but without the pain doesn't it? Fire is good.

Les...

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Thanks Les, yes fire is good. But.... when we talk about the temps for the curing fire, where are we taking the temps from. I have a IR thermometer from a previous wild hair project aside from the oven and I'm not sure where to take this domes temperature. Today was the third curing fire and got some scrap 2X2 afire and checking the top of the dome where I thought the highest ambient temp would be only brought around 200 deg. With heavier wood 270. It then occured to me maybe I should be getting the readings from the hearth. I look to you all for enlightenment.

Also, when I put the door on to help slow the fire (getting ready to take the logs out as I thought I should wait to see what this group says...) there was a lot of smoke. i noticed two places on the exterior of the dome that omitted a tiny wisp of smoke. Not steam - smoke. A look inside didn't show any cracks so I'm wondering if it's a gap between bricks that needs a little mortar or...... I don't know?

I'll await your collective wisdom and thanks in advance.

[Les]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Bill,

I didn't do a cure but I think the temp should be at the dome. That's obviously going to be the hottest point where mortar is a concern. In regard to smoke, you are not insulated yet so you got time to correct it if need be.

Les...

[gjbingham]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

I agree with Les. I think that the dome temps are what you want to monitor during curing. Unless you used mortar on the floor bricks, you don't really need to worry too much about them. You will drive the water out of the floor as you cure the mortar in the dome. I'm thinking that the highest point in the dome would be the best place to measure temps, as that area will heat up the fastest and is most easy to abuse by overloading the fuel.

I'd try to locate exactly where the smoke is exiting the dome and recheck the mortar joint inside. Now is the time to repair any gaps in the mortar.

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Thanks, I circled the spots on the exterior yesterday and slapped some mortar on them. Will climb into the belly of the beast today and see what I can find.

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

I did apply a liberal dose of mortar over the exterior pinholes that had omitted a wiap of smoke.

Yesterday, I built another fire, let it burn for a few minutes, then put the door on the oven. This causes a good deal of smoke and helps to locate any exterior "issues". I found that the re-mortared spots no longer had any smoke and one spot I had missed. With a halogen light on the dome I lightly pumped the door in and out of the opening to create a little positive pressure inside and was amazed to a little air flow in many places around the exterior of the dome. Only when applying positive pressure though - pushing the door onto the reveal. I can now hear you all sigh and say "he's screwed. shoulda used less mortar, better cuts...." I hear you, and I agree! Back to the story...

Since many of the interior bricks just butt up against each other and filling the voids between the bricks will probably leave pockets of air, it's probably not expected that the dome would be "airtight". I do want to be sure to solve any wisp spots on the exterior with extra mortar but I can't see making this airtight under positive pressure.

Sooooo.... My current thinking is to insure that no smoke is filtering up and out, returning to the cure process, crossing fingers, arms and legs, and getting the insulating blanket on quickly to put the whole thing out of sight/mind.

I'm taking any and all opinions!

And thank god it's Friday.....

[Les]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Bill,

It sounds like the cracks are minimal. I wouldn't sweat it. The blanket can correct a multitude of sins.

Les...

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Thanks Les, I have now covered my multitude and moving on!

Two rolls of the blanket more than covered the dome. Be sure to wear gloves and mask. The particles from the blanket are nastey.

Started framing up the walls with metal studs. I need to buy a better pair of tin snips as the ones I have now create more of a wrestling match than I want. Interesting way to frame.

[gjbingham]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

The framing's off to a good start. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

I think your solution/fix for the smoking mortar joints is completely acceptable. Nowhere in the plans does it say the dome should be air tight. I'm sure that would be the ideal situation, but I doubt that it occurs very often. In hindsight (20/20 vision!), a thin layer of mortar cladding on the outside of the dome might be a good solution for other builders dealing with a similar problem.

Keep those pics coming!
George

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Hi Bill, Great pics of your steel stud work. Is this your 1st time working with steel stud framing? Is it pretty straight foreword, just buy the stuff at Home Depot and it works or is there some tricks to it? It looks like I'll be doing something similar to yours in framing a structure around the dome.
Great job, and congratulations on your curing fires. I can't fathom ever being at that point. It feels like cutting bricks and mortaring goes on forever. Dino

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

George, thanks for the kind words. Yes, 20/20 vision would be great though it would take some of the adventure out of this process.

Next time.... I think extra care needs to be taken when working with curing starting from 33 degrees. I doubt the freezing weather has helped make the mortar any stronger. Also, I would take more care making sure every void is filled when backfilling in between bricks, etc. Plus, I've got lots of mortar relative o some you artisans and wet saw samurai.

Next time!

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Hi Dino,

I've never used the steel studs before. I actually had a hard time finding them at Home Depot , Lowes, etc. I did find them at a local builders hardware supplier (Dunn Lumber). I used Google quite a bit to learn anyhting I could. I can see the benefit of a chop saw with a metal cutting blade. Would be much simpler than the tin snips. I learned a lot by looking at some of the other builds that used the steel framing (Breven, etc.) I am definately going to upgrade my tin snips. The walls seem pretty flimsy till I tied the 3 walls together. Should improve more with sheeting. And gloves are a great idea.

I still don't know the finish I'm heading towards but that's not unusual...

Your build looks great and I'm blown away by your sketch ups. Need to try and learn that...

It's an interesting blend of so many materials we get to learn - brick, mortar, ceramic board and blanket, cement, steel studs, veneer stone, etc. Never a dull moment and I think that's half the fun.

Enjoy the process. I can tell already that pizza might be the goal but building the oven is going to be at least half the fun.

[gjbingham]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Bill,
Correct on the cold weather firings. Kind of the same thing after a month or so of non-use during long wet winters (read: Seattle). Cjim pointed out that it is very wise to go gentle with the early firing during these times. Start slow and let the dome adjust to the drastic change in conditions over a half hour to an hour. If I'm not in a hurry, I almost always start my fire a couple of hours prior to P-time. That way, there's no rush and I can gradually build the fire up without worrying about stressing my baby out.

[bbell]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

A little rain, sleet, snow and sun today. I was so confused I moved to the garage to build rafters. I can't say enough about getting a good pair of tin snips when working with the metal studs. Much easier now then when I was using an ancient pair that I've had for decades.

Using ideas from others it was simple to make a template for the rafters. Then it's just a lot of snipping and bending.

[jrparks]

Re: Bill's Northwest Pizza Oven

Good looking steel work Bill. Hopefully you you've managed not to cut your self. I pick up a load of surplus studs this week off a friends construction project and am looking forward to working with them. How is your oven cure working out?
Cheers,