Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

[sunday]

Hello...

I just started a 42" oven.
What i have so far is an oven stand...
next step is the dome.

One thing different with my oven is that it is built on top of
canadian shield rock. I did not pour a foundation. I search for the
most level part of the rock, then drilled a bunch of holes where i put
rebars. A little tough because it has to be leveled as the concrete blocks
are put on top of each other.

Since this is the start of my journey.... would like to share and maybe ask
guidance from all of you...

take care and will keep on posting pictures as i go along.

arlene

p.s.
my brother and cousin helped me out...

[CajunKnight]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

well i will certainly be keeping my on this. mine is about in the stage. keep up the good work.

[wronguy]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Great to see some more Canadian on the forum, How did you do your foundation? did you dig footers or a trench and if so how deep. This will help me a lot as I will be starting a build soon up north where freezing may be a problem. Thanks

[sunday]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Hello...

we rented a Hilti drill
and drilled on canadian shield rock
basically it would be the existing canadian shield rock as my foundation

it took very little time
then we put some glue type product into the hole
then put the rebars in.... i think we drilled 12 holes

i spoke with some people here and they said it should work

one other thing i am doing different is
i bought a 42" soapstone 1 1/4 inch thick
i will be putting the soapstone on top of firebrick flat

regards
arlene

[tdibratt]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Should definitely work. I built a cottage just south of Parry Sound on Block Piers and they were sitting on bedrock. Same process. Drilled into the bedrock and set rebar. Then the blocks go over the rebar. Essentially you are pinning the blocks so they do not slide laterally. I also built my first WFO there using the same process.

[sunday]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Hello ,

Just want to post an update and some pictures
I got almost all the supplies delivered
but my task this weekend it to cut about 135 firebricks in half
How i did it is by a hammer an a chisel
Was totally shocked how easy and clean it is to do it
it takes me about 2 minutes to do one brick
where i have to tap it from 6 to 9 times
the more the tap the better and smooter the cut
that is why i stopped at 110 bricks
because i was getting tired and was rushing it
causing the cut to not be a straight line

the best thing about it is there are not dust at all

check out my pictures

ARLENE

[dbhansen]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Arlene, thanks for posting those pictures of the hand-cut bricks! As I contemplate hand-cutting some bricks for my exterior, I was curious how clean the cuts could be. Looks like you did a great job! I've read that cutting them on a bed of sand is the best way, but that log seems to do the trick too.

[Calabrese]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Hi Arlene I am very impressed on how straight those cuts on those bricks are. I bet there are very few hand cut ovens in North America. Thanks for posting the pictures and keep us updated PLEASE.

Regards Joe

[james]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

I have always thought that hand breaking bricks for the dome was a great idea! You still have one factory, smooth side to face into the oven, and the break side faces out. Excellent.

You have the cost of diamond blades and all the noise and dust. Way to go Arlene.
James

[Lars]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Arlene,
I, too, was pretty amazed at how cleanly I could cut a brick!

I calculated the angle for various diameters, and cut two wedge shaped pieces that, when fitted together, create an arc... in the case of my 39" (inside diameter) oven, you simply chisel about a 12 degree angle and each piece has a 4" side and a 5" side.

Remarkably, the same shape works almost all the way up the dome! I even used it for the top arches.

Nicer brick chisel from harbor freight, 5 bucks...

I wrote about it and posted a pic in the 'tools tips, techniques' section called 'Tapering bricks with a chisel'... Another thing, if you don't have electricity on the site, I found that most of the high points can be rubbed off against the concrete block wall of the base.

Lars.

[sunday]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Thanks for the replies and advise...
Can't wait for the weekend to continue working on oven...

[sunday]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Hello

since my last post... it has gone downhill from there...
i am even in contemplation right now
is there a point where the job is done so badly
that i have to actually redo the whole dome again

please help...
take a look at them pictures and please tell me
is this so bad that the only option for me is to restart /redo the whole dome

or is this acceptable and will still work?

thanks
arlene

[sunday]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

more pictures to show how messy the job i've done

[jrparks]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Fire it up! It is a taste test not a visual test. If you mortar joints are secure it will work just fine. You have a couple months before snow, get cookin. If you get negative comments on your brick work, tell them you were going for a rustic look and let them go to Dominos for their pizza! I hope it works great for you. Cheers,

[dmun]

Re: Pompeii Oven - in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Here's my opinion, I think it looks great. A little mortar on the surface never hurt anything. Your brick work looks closely fitted, and it looks nicely shaped. Time to start curing.

Here's the thing: Sometimes the good is the enemy of the best, but sometimes the best is the enemy of anything at all. It's called perfectionism, and it's considered a defect for a reason. Let it go.