Cypress Build

[Cypress]

As I had promised sorry had to take with my phone. Here is how it currently looks. I am going to pick up the concrete today and will post a pic of label later.

[CajunKnight]

Re: Cypress Build

look great, keep up the good work.

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

I have my fire block and will be going with 4" thick for the base. It might be overkill, but from what I have read there is no such thing as too much insulation. I have been reading and looked like I will go with the dome on the floor. The extra mass might help keep the heat in. I am at a fork in the road and do not know which way to go. It looks like anyone that started cutting all the brick for the dome in the end still has to use a lot of mortar. And it has less to bond. So the question is do I cut them or not. I have a lot of experience with tile and pool construction and would like to use the hand grinder to cut or shave to fit. Is there any drawback to using a hand grinder? Does it matter as long as I keep the mfg side on the inside of the dome? Sorry to be so long-winded but I would like to do it right the first time.
Thanks for your help.

[Les]

Re: Cypress Build

I have been reading and looks like I will go with the dome on the floor. The extra mass might help keep the heat in. Is there any draw back to using a hand grinder? Does it matter as long as I keep the mfg side on the inside of the dome?
Thanks for your help.

I think you have less mass with the dome on the floor. I put mine on the outside so I have an extra row of brick to get it up to floor level. And I don't quite understand what this means "Does it matter as long as I keep the mfg side on the inside of the dome?". The firebrick is made from the same magic mouse milk on the outside as the inside.
Good luck with your build.

Les...

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

Sorry should have been clear. As long as I keep the uncut sides of the brick facing inward. I will cut them in half’s and then thirds on the wet saw then grind off what I need to have a snug fit. I just need to wait one more day for the concrete to cure.
90% humidity and 95 degrees today for the high so much for spring…

[Les]

Re: Cypress Build

Sorry should have been clear. As long as I keep the uncut sides of the brick facing inward.

I don't think that the matters. I preferred to put the cut side facing in because a lot of my bricks were chipped. That gave me a nice clean surface. I contacted the manufacturer a while back and they confirmed there is no harm exposing the cut surface to the heat.

Les...

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

Wow that is something new for me. This opens a lot of doors and ideas. I can now grind the lip out for my door. I am building my new tool tonight. Figured if I cannot buy one from someone on the site I will build. Gives me a reason to go to HF today. Thanks for the help.

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

I got side tracked this weekend my wife wanted an inside kitchen makeover, so I had to install granite and a tile backsplash this weekend. I did get to work some on the oven. I have installed the board and the floor. I am working on cutting the dome and searching for the smoother bricks to replace the rough ones on the floor. I have been looking it over, and it looks like I will need to cast my vent. My questions are ?. Is there a standard size? I know that the vent will be 8? to the chimney but does size matter on the Vent? It looks like I will have about 12? to cast the vent.
Thanks for your help

[wlively]

Re: Cypress Build

Not sure what you mean. If you are talking area of opening, 8" at chimney pipe, then just make sure your vent opening has more area. You want the vent transition to narrow into the chimney.

From my oven experience you want the vent opening as wide as possible, for in the fire starting stage the draw will be lowest and wider makes it easier for the smoke to find its way up.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Cypress Build

Nice looking base you've poured. It's good you've got steel in it. But Wade is right: the larger the area of the vent opening the better. Since you will have an 8" vent pipe (50 sq in) it's "ideal" to have double the area at the wider end or mouth of the vent opening. Lot's of Builds on this site have done close to that with a 5" or 6" by a 15 or 16" opening between the arches & you're close to the size you want, maybe a little shy of it. HOWEVER, you are casting a vent, so you have a really nice, smooth, elegant transition over a 12" height as you've stated. If you can't make a vent opening double the surface area of the final vent pipe, then at least you can cast a good transition from the widest you can do with your landing space you've created. We all want the smoke to go up the vent so we do what we can during the build but sometimes other factors or constraints dictate you design. You're moving along fast. Keep up the good work, Dino

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

Thanks for the response I took some time to look it over and feel that I can move to 15” wide and 14” deep and a smooth transition to the vent. The Odd thing here in a city this big (Houston) and I can not find fire clay. I have had all types of products used to insulate in refineries on the other side of town but no fireclay??? I have been on the fence about how the opening to the oven was going to be built. With the cast vent, I think that I will go with the angle iron. This leaves me with a rectangle opening, and I was thinking for fabricating an arched door out of steel. Is there any benefit to bricking the opening instead of the angle iron?
Thanks for your help.
Best Regards,
Darin

[wlively]

Re: Cypress Build

I don't think there is much difference between the two, it is mostly appearance. What look are you going for? The arch lends itself to "funneling" the exhaust gas a bit better, but probably not significant.

The beauty of casting your vent transition is that it can be any shape you want make it. I went with an expanding arch (outside entry bigger than oven entry) which was not hard to do. I cast my vent in place, so it is perfectly molded to the arch and provides equal weight distribution.

I found that pink foam board glued together (5 layer sandwhich with round piece on top) with 3M spray glue worked great as a plug. Easy to shape and when casting was set I just hammered out the middle piece of foam and then the plug came out.

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

Finished my dome this weekend. I will post pic later. I went the way of just a few cuts. My dome is not a perfect dome it is flat at the top. My last two rows are vertical. They feel solid but want to see if this might be a prob? Thanks for your help

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

Ok here are some pic of the progress

[Cypress]

Re: Cypress Build

Spent the holiday weekend working on my oven. I put some small fires in to start curing process. I have one long crack, but I just have a thin coat of motor on it now. I will put another coat on tonight. Should I worry about the crack? I did not see anything on the inside. I was going just to cover it up with the 2nd coat should I be concerned? After the next coat of motor at about? Inch then I will put two coats of refractory cement each at 1? with SS needles in them to finish the insulation on the dome. I have been working on my stone work till I can get back on the dome?
Best Regards