OctoForno

[ggoose]

Re: OctoForno

Nicely done!

[Aegis]

Re: OctoForno

Well, I finally got the dome closed up today! It felt good to mortar in the required Octoplug. I feel like the end is finally in sight, although building the enclosure will take some time too.

I know this oven is taking a really long time to complete, but this summer has had the wife and I at (fri-sat-sun) swim meets half the weekends May through August. I'm pleased to report though, that my 16yo daughter has now qualified to swim at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Omaha next June, so whenever the oven gets completed will be soon enough.
John

Beautiful Job John! It is a great feeling to have closed the dome. But it must be even a GREATER Feeling seeing your daughter swim the 2012 Olympic Trials ! WOW! Now that is fantastic!
It is good to go slow and steady and enjoy life while we can!
Congrats on both jobs well done! Wishing your daughter great success and a great swim meet in Omaha!
oh btw Send some tixs for the Olympics!

[SCChris]

Re: OctoForno

First of all, congrats to your whole family for your daughter qualifying for the Olympic trials, it’s huge!
Second, congrats on being another brick closer to your new old style oven, it’s looking great.

Sincerely

Chris

[rodeair]

Re: OctoForno

Congrats John on a beautiful work of art. It's been fun to watch how it's really supposed to be done. I know it had to be alot of work to build a dome such as yours, but the payoff is worth it I bet. It'll be a shame to put a layer of soot on those bricks, but that will mean you are closer to pizza and other fine foods.

Leigh

[gmchm]

Re: OctoForno

Beautiful!

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

I bet that felt fantastic to finish that dome

Thanks Gene, John, Doug, Mike, Chris, Leigh and Gmchm. It was definitely a feeling of accomplishment to mortar the plug in and wipe it clean. I gotta tell you though, watching each of your builds progress helped push me along not to mention drooling as Doug's delictable dishes dance out of his oven for display. Can't wait to get the entryway and flue completed so I can insulate and cure the oven. I'm really curious how much cracking the dome will incur.

As for Trials, yeah, we're really excited about going. We had to get the tickets and hotel a year in advance since it always sells out. Nikki, my daughter, is ranked like 45th in one event and 58th in another, so won't be making any Olympic Team (only the top 2 make the team) but the life experience will be cool. Plus, Nikki (in the picture with Michael) will get to see her boyfriend (just kidding) MP again!

Thanks again, guys. Entryway pics forthcoming.

John

[SCChris]

Re: OctoForno

John,
Re. the cracking, I think long steady burns and insulating when you start to go over 250 can make a difference with cracking. I remember in the research I did during my build that clay flues that were insulated had less cracking than those that didn't. Likewise, I think that with insulation the overall structure heats more evenly and therefore is less stressed while driving the water out. I also believe that the more consensus the build the less cracking. Better mortar, cleaner bricks, better mortaring, stronger dome, less cracking. Less cracking not no cracking..

Enjoy!

Chris

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

Thanks Chris - I've been thinking the same thing: my curing and oven firing approach will be patiently slow and steady with the primary objective of avoiding cracking. I also have to consider the uneven expansion rates of the SS floor and the brick dome.
John

[Sparky005s]

Re: OctoForno

I'm pleased to report though, that my 16yo daughter has now qualified to swim at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Omaha next June, so whenever the oven gets completed will be soon enough.
John

Congrats to you and your daughter on the Olympics trials!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: OctoForno

HI John,
Congradulations on the dome (and kudus to your daughter and the you all in her family that helped her get there!).

I think you and Chris are on the right track about curing. IMHO, the old fashioned way (burning newspaper & twigs) is something to avoid unless done with GREAT care. I know others did it and succeeded, but they did because of circumstances they may not have realized. Anyway, I strongly suggest using a low wattage, fan blown heater on low. If you ARE going old skool, really spread the low fire all around. You have a big dome and if you stick to a small pile of kindle in the middle and increase 100 degrees in the same small area in the middle, by day 5, the big increase might shock the dome into expanding quicker while it still had moisture. Other than that...it's smooth sailing. Don't worry about cracks, small ones almost always happen. The bricks "absorb and reflect the heat" back into the oven. The insulation is your final dome enclosure and no heat escapes that so it's mostly a non-issue.

You're going to really enjoy your oven, I smoked a big package of chix wings, a bunch of thighs and legs, and 2 racks of pork ribs 2 weeks ago for a party (using my cherry, apricot and grape cuttings) and the f-bomb (Fabulous!) doesn't begin to describe it. Can't wait to see your 1st pizza.

Cheers, Dino

[Aegis]

Re: OctoForno

Hi John,
I agree with Dino on the high wattage bulbs/heater idea for inital curing. Although I wound up with a major crack, it wasn't due to the curing process per se. I did go into the oven and pulled out three pieces of firebrick shims I used to keep the plywood/indespensible tool centered in the dome. Totally my fault for not checking and taking them out before the major damage was done. Well it is now a very fond charater feature of the oven.
Good luck on curing and I'm sure you can almost smell that first pie!

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: OctoForno

Sparky - Thank you!

John - There's no question I will be climbing into the oven prior to the first fire and vacuuming the gapo between floor and dome until it's spotless. Thanks for the heads up.

Dino, I hadn't given the curing process much thought other than slow and steady in order to allow the dome to come to temperature slowly. I will follow your advice and start with one of those halogen work lights. I accidently left my single 500-watt light on overnight earlier this week and for fun used my IR thermometer to check the dome temperarture inside. At the top of the now-enclosed dome it was 124F and 108F where the dome meets the floor. It was 104F at the top of the dome on the outside. I'll bet this will work nicely as I can rotate the light around inside the dome over the course of a few days.

Question: We both live in southern california and it's relatively dry here. Do you think after all this time that there's that much moisture in the bricks after last week's heat wave?

John

[Pompeii Nate]

Re: OctoForno

Awesome build John! I am just in my planning phase but your build has become my idol. It is amazing!!! I am anxiously waiting to see how you do your entryway and chimney. Congrats on getting the dome finished and also to you and your daughter for her accomplishment!!

[SCChris]

Re: OctoForno

John,

When I did my curing we had just had a 3 days of very dry Santa Ana winds, and like most of us the dome had been finished for several weeks before the entry and chimney were finished. You still have a lot of water in the bricks and stand that you're going to have to drive out, and I don’t see much advantage to using a lamp for more than a few days considering that you likely won’t be pushing beyond the 212F mark before the entry and chimney are done. When your entry and chimney are done, I'd stick with a modified curing cycle and take several days of gradual warming and I think I’d still start with the lamp, it’s an easy no brainer way to bring the dome up to close to that critical 212F. When using the lamp, put a loose, informal, door on the dome that will allow some air movement, into and out of the interior of the dome, this will contain a great amount of heat. This door should help to create a more even heating than heating without the door. I’m undecided on the optimum time to insulate the dome. I know there is an advantage to have direct air movement over the unclad dome until the majority of the water is out, and this might be a reason to just leave a work light on for a longer time before starting your low fires and insulating. I feel that the insulation will help with even heating and less structure stress and since 212F is such a critical temp, I’m of the opinion that getting the oven wrapped before going to 250F should be better.

Anyway this is just my 2 cents..

Chris

PS Whenever the insulation is applied, heating after this point will result in quicker heating to the desired target temp. I only mention this to point out that the past experince on the oven heating will not be indicative of post insulation performance. In addition as the structure drys, the heating will be more dynamic. In your specific case your floor, the soapstone, is bone dry and this will also affect how quick heating happens during curing. You're going to have to just go slow until you get a feel for how much pedal to give it to get to your target. I was suprised on 2 sucessive burns and ended at a higher temp than I had planned because the oven became more lively as it dryed.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: OctoForno

I agree, you'll be shocked at how much higher your temps will jump with insulation. So be careful after you 1st heat up after you insulate.

Re: the warmth and heatwave: I also felt that A) I started the dome rings so long ago and the only mildly moist bricks would be the keystone area, and B) We are so warm and dry in SoCal that I'd be 'safe' in my curing process. I would not assume either of those things anymore. Then again, an idle completed oven is screaming for a fire, it's hard to resist.

Your heat lamp temps are good. I would keep it on for 2 days and then use a fan blowing heater of some sort to add dry air and push the temps up too.

In hind site, trying to remember what I felt was an issue at the time, I should have taken some hours off from work to 'baby sit' my early fires to hold them in the 250 range for a few hours and to make sure I had those temperatures all around the dome base. That's why I recommend a fan-heater left on overnight. I can distinctly hear in my mind when the twigs flared up to 500 deg and I heard the loud crack and snap when I rushed things on day 5.

So I would stretch the days of the early curing temps by 2 or 3 days each making the whole process a week and a half.

Good luck, Dino