SC Chris's 42" WFO build

[Neil2]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

"I WAS a bit shocked though by how much of my $$$ Refmix went to fill those gaps."

Just use the straight Refmix on the inside of the joint to a maximum thickness of 1/4 inch. For the wider part of the joint, use a 1:2 mix Fefmix/mortar sand.

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Niel, I know what you mean about the gaps sucking it up.. The soldiers are expensive that way, but with a 10" saw and the limitation of a 3.5" cut, there is no easy way out of it.. I was runnig the numbers on the front arch today and if I go with a 7" gap for smoke the front arch bricks will take 4 cuts to bevel the bricks.. My point is that it seems to be saw blades bricks or mortar. Finding the balance of brick fit, mortar and time, and some areas, like the front entry and chimney, just take time. Oh heck!! the whole oven.. But It's so rewarding to see the progress, I'm really looking forward to cooking, baking, braising, etc...

On a seperate but related note, I found a Bakery next to work, that will dial up their large Hobart mixer for those party loads of dough. It was funny to see her face when I briefly discribed why I needed this much dough and the oven I'm building. She's from Germany and misses a real brick oven for her bread making. I passed the FB site address along..

Chris

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

3 days and most of 4 more rows done.


Chrirs

[mfiore]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

It's looking good, Chris! You can almost smell the pizza!

[christo]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Nice! I can smell the pizza, too.

Christo

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Thanks guys,

With all of the logistics of the chimney, the housing structure, and the oven door, I still seem to be a bit congested. All of that said, I?m starting to pay more attention to bread flour, and braising recipes.


Chris

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

62 Degrees and counting. 3 more courses and the cork.

Chris

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Looks real good Chris. Your craftsmanship shows. Closing it up is a real exciting part. It is fun to look beyond ingredients and recipes for high-heat mortar and switch to cooking mode. It wont be long now. Keep up the great work. -Dino

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Thanks Dino, the complement is much appreciated.

It looks like I was a bit optimistic on the rows need to complete. After measuring the opening and doing the math, I have 4 courses to go and the cork. Maybe I can get these done in the next 2 weekends, my fingers are crossed..

On course 9, I cut the bricks at 3x3" 4"x5" and 4.5"x4.5". The 4" inch seems to be a good width but I just didn't have enough of them on this tier. On the next course I have an estimated 10 bricks to divide up. I'll sacrifice 1 inch on 3 of these to get 6 4" bricks and set the rest at 3" and 4.5", I still have 3 5"ers left over. These 5" are nice to bridge over a 3" brick. I did want to mention that the cuts from a previous course still fit in nicely. As mentioned elsewhere, “Mortar is your friend”.

Chris


Chris

[Bandrasco]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Wow Chris, great job!

Nice workmanship, clean bricks, very nice. Man I miss the build process. I'm trying to convince friends of mine to build one just so I can help.

Keep up the good work and be sure to take a ton of pictures, you'll thank yourself later.

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

One more course and the cork! Yahoo!!

Thanks for the complement Bandrasco. There have been courses where I felt that the rim looked a bit like a LP record that got a bit to much sun, but things like that seem to just clear up with a bit of fussing on the next course. As for the clean outside, I must have wiped each brick 10 or more times. As you get up a couple courses I'd see a hairline crack between bricks that the mortar in my hand was just right for and Id end up cleaning up again. The funny thing is that I know that it'll all be covered up in insulation soon, but what the heck I makes for a pretty picture..

Chris

[3G_]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Great looking dome, gives me something to aim towards.

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Thanks 3G! I think there are better ones out there, or at a minimum builds that articulate the process better. I'm so looking forward to closing the dome. I referenced JCG31's slope and bevel chart, and my dome courses match almost exactly. Where I differ is that my floor is 43" so, in the end, I'll have one more course. At this point I have a 9" diameter on the inside and 10.25" on the top of the dome. I'm at 82 degrees or so right now. If my courses run as expected, they'll close the diameter from 9 to 5.5 to a 1.5 inch keystone.

I have 13 bricks in the last ring, I'm not sure if I'll run 8 in the next ring or 12. I'd like to keep the joints staggered and I'd rather end up with an odd number of bricks cradling the keystone. Somehow it seems like the load would be more distributed with an odd number. I'll be removing the indispensable tool after this next ring.. Thanks Hendo!

Chris

PS Thanks JCG31!

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

It turned out to be one more course of 11 bricks and 3 in the cork!! Now for the front arch and chimney.. Oh yeh and clean and inspect the inside one more time..

Chris

[mfiore]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Very cool keystone(s)! Do you have a shot from the inside?