SC Chris's 42" WFO build

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

I do Mike, but I wanted to give her a full scrub and inspect for voids that need some quick attention. Oh what the heck..

Chris

[mfiore]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Be proud of her, she looks great!

[Lars]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Oh, gee. I wish I had been more careful and made that beautiful dome top like you did!

Imagine, every time I rationalized "who's going to look inside at the top of my oven???", had I only realized, that I, every time I fire it, and ANYONE I AM HAVING PIZZA WITH, will look up at that sloppy brickwork...EVERY TIME THE TOP GOES WHITE...

... but, it cooks, and the outside of my dome is usually cooler than the ambient air temp, so I know the heat is just jamming into those bricks.

Your dome looks fine, though. Good job.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Chris, your dome interior looks awesome. As Lars says, you get to see your great work every time you fire up to pizza temps. Looking at all your brick work, it looks so good, I don't remember if you've done this kind of stuff before but I guess there's not a lot of construction that mimics building a Pompeii dome oven.

So, you've got the outer arch and vent transition to tackle now. It looks like you have a great opportunity to tie the front arch-shoulder bricks somehow into the vent-transition-angle bricks. Are you going smear on any "cladding" or wait to see what you have left over in mortar? I had plenty when I switched to home brew but the 1/4" I put on has worked fine for me and my firings (although I have nothing to compare it to).

Again, great job and congratulations on plugging up the dome! Nice keystone. -Dino

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Some people see the little imperfections and some don't see any at all no matter how big. I tend toward the first group and your feedback helps me to put balance into the project.

Dino, I have no mason background, so for me this has been a stretch. The structure work is something I have a bit of background in, 35 years ago I was a carpenter apprentice, read cheap labor here.. Since then, I’ve renovated this or that around our 40 year old house and call the professionals when I need to, time and money are always factors. Anyway it’s a very cool project and although pride isn’t something that comes easy, I am proud!!

I don’t anticipate that the front arch is going to be a problem, aesthetics aside. I’m wrestling with the cost of the Duravent components. WOW these are priced like gold! This of course defines how the chimney ties in. Would I be better served with SS stove pipe at less than half the price? I don’t yet know.. As for coating the dome with mortar, I don’t know the answer here either. Some other options include a “moldable high temp felt”. This stuff comes in 48” x 36” from ?” to 1” thick sheets and is good to better than 2000 degrees F. If this effectively seals the dome and the minor cracks that I will get, then maybe this is a good base before the 3” of insulation. The product is available from Foundry Service and supply. I don’t know the cost but the description of its use is intriguing.

Thanks again!!

Chris

PS I called the vendor for the moldable high temp felt and it's a bit costly and not really a great help for over the dome. Where this stuff excels is as insulation around somthing. The example is like an exhaust on a boat.

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Step by step the oven gets closer to being done. Yesterday I got the entrance walls ready for the front arch and tightening of the flue area. Today I got the arch and a few bricks closer to getting a flue in place. I have a bit of mortar cleanup to do and tighten flue so a chimney fits tight.


Chris

[paulyboy]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

I bet you're getting quite excited at this point Chris.
It looks like a fair dinkum oven now hey.
Paul

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Paulyboy, at this point I'm counting the days. Even without a formal chimney on top of the brick stack, I should be having pizza and braised lamb shank by the end of the month. Yum!!



Chris

[wayner]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Your dome is ridiculously clean! What did you do to keep it that clean? I've been trying to use a sponge and water as I go, but that seems to be greying up the tan bricks a bit. What's the secret?

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Wayner,

I soak the bricks, set a couple of bricks and wipe / scrub then on to the next group. Also in the entry, the brick faces are cut and don't absorb grout or stain as easily. The biggest plus's are that bricks are wet so they don't grab and suck in the grout, and grout is close to the brick color, so I don't think you see what staining there is.

The biggest secret is to wipe things down right away with clean water and change the water.

Try this:

Take 2 brick fragments, one dry, one wet and and grout these up. Wipe them down with clean water and a clean sponge and look at the difference. If you will, can, take a picture and let us know what you find.


Chris

PS If you look at the interior of the dome, you'll see that it's not nearly as clean as the entry. It's just a function of access and eye sight. One of the downsides of the Indespensable tool is that it does limit access to the interior of the dome until it's removed.

PSS In retrospect I wouldn't want to use anything that I wasn't sure was safe to eat on the bricks, so I edited out a bit.

[pizza_bob]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Chris,
Very nice build! I'm on my 6th course for my 42" oven and can't wait to drop the keystone in! One question...How did you get away with such small loints on the outside of the bricks (in the vertical direction)? I am shooting for a 19" dome height and the gaps from course to course are much larger than yours. How tall did your dome end-up being on the inside?
Good luck with the rest of your build!

Regards,
Bob

[geisen]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Chris
Impressive build. Going up quick and with such clean lines.
Congrats.
Greg

[SCChris]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Thanks Greg and Bob!

Bob, I sliced about 1/2 inch wedge off of the top front side. The 10" saw will only get 3.5 inches toward the back so I was left with about an inch of uncut brick on the top back. Look closely at the top of the bricks showing and you'll see a line an inch in from the outside of the dome. Oh and I ended up at 23" inches max height on the inside. I'm 43 inches in diameter and this should have put me at 21.5 but the indispensable tool was up another inch or so. I don't figure it matters much to me or the pizza in the end.

Happy building!

Chris



Chris

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Hi Chris,
Just wanted to say nice looking build.. Keep up the good work

Cheers
Mark

[wayner]

Re: SC Chris's 42" WFO build

Chris,

Thanks for the advice on cleaning. I was about to try the grout/tile sealer as I had some laying around from a slate tile project. But I was a little wary about the stuff getting soaked into the firebrick too far and not holding onto enough mortar - didn't cross my mind about the food safety aspect...

I guess I'll just need to keep my water cleaner and get a sponge that's not withering away on me.

It would also help if my FB mortar wasn't dark grey.

Anyways, congrats on completing the dome. Hope you celebrated the keystone.

-wayne