Pizza Bob's 42" Build

[mrgweeto]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Bob,
What I would recomend is to go back and forth. Start and lay your base then go back and forth. What this does is to allow you to level each course. If you lay it out dry and allow for the mortar joint you will know what the size of the keystone should be. We got back from our work week in Phoenix AZ and jumped right into the oven building mode again. We looked at the pictures everyday and I think AZ is sick of hearing about our "new found love". We finished the dome and the arch with the custom cut kestone. It looks really great. I will get some pix out Monday when I am back in the office.
And yes yes yes. We did light one small piece of the front page of the New Haven Register to see how the draw was on the flue. It was beeeeeautiful. The smoke went straight up. When I tell you it was small, I don't think the temp went up to body temp. We did take the front arch and kept the finished arch approx an inch lower than the inside as a smoke ledge. Like the idea of the smoke curling up and around and going straight up the chimney. My fireplace has that and it works to keep the front looking good and figured why not do that on the WFO. It works.
Going to go up with the chimney tomorrow so we can start on the walls and tie it in later on in the week if we get time. Getting close now.
G

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Now how do I keep these mortar joints this size so I don't have to cut a "custom" keystone?? The first tapered arch brick from the left and the one from the right are already mortared in place. I'll mortar the remainder in tomorrow morning and then it's back to the dome and trying to tie the second course in with this arch. I'm psyched that this is finally starting to look like a pizza oven to me!

~Bob

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

I had some time early this morning to mortar the landing walls and reveal in place. I was able to miter two of these courses to tie the walls in with the dome. I am somewhat satisfied with the results of this but wish I had "squared-up" the reveals to be perfectly aligned - they're slightly off.
I'll finish the form for the inner arch later today and get that in tomorrow morning. Should the arch(es) always have the center keystone tapped into place as the final brick? Or, can I build the arch from left to right (or right to left) and tap in the final brick at the base of the arch? Or, am I thinking about this too much??

~Bob

[mrgweeto]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Bob,
We got up to the last course on the dome and then went on to the outer arch. We got inspired and got a real nice piece of natural stone left over from my brothers fireplace. We marked it and cut out a beautiful (handsome) keystone for the front arch. We called it quits until we get back. Did you get the margin trowel? You may find it's the best tool in your bag. You'll get the hang of buttering in no time. I didn't have time to send the pix out but will do it. We figure by next week the dome will be complete as well as the outer arch. It's then time to point up anything on the inside that needs it and then onto the walls.
G

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Dino,
Thanks for the compliment! I ended-up not tapering the soldier course and the pizza will never know the difference.
I had some time yesterday to finish cutting the arch bricks. I'm happy with how they came out. I also started mortaring the flared landing walls. I realized quickly that I have no clue what I am doing when it comes to "buttering" bricks. I end-up putting to much Heatstop on the bricks and then try to make them level to each other and it makes a mess! Then I try again and think that I don't have enough Heatstop because there is nothing oozing out of the joint. Perhpas I should have practiced a little before doing this??
I'll build the form for the inner arch today and try to get that in place.

~Bob

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Nice work Bob!
You've built yourself a great "indispensable tool". And a really like your arch tapers. You'll be able to have really thin mortar joints and it will be really strong arch.
I don't recall reading if anyone answered your 1/2" mortar joint question on the outside of the soldiers but remember, the joint closes quickly over the 4.5" width face of the brick. In all my hairline cracks I got (and you'll get 'em too) none appeared on the soldier joints. I used Refmix down there which is quite strong. So I wouldn't worry about it but if you want to taper the long side of soldiers, it would look great but you'll never see it from the inside, looks the same as without tapering.
Love those Solid Works Drawings too, Take care, Dino

[mrgweeto]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Looking Good. We have 2 more courses left on the dome. We get 6-8 bricks set with supports. We can't see wasting time watching the heatstop set so we layed out the front arch and the brick walls in front. We picked up 150 Heritage S brick at O & G and have the front arch and walls partially done. The brick were approx $.46 each and have a very old world look. Will try and send some updated pix tomorrow. We are still using our $19.95 angle grinder and $86.00 wet saw along with masons hammers and chisels. That Heatstop covers up all the blems on the outside and is great to work with. When we switched over to the masons mortar for the regular brick it felt archaic in comparison. The Heatstop reacts like a thinset.
G

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Made some progress yesterday. I cut and dry stacked the landing arch walls and reveal. The first and third courses of the vertical landing walls are mitered and tie in to the dome and reveal blocks. This should make it more sturdy and it eliminates a continuous mortar joint. I also decided to take some time (waste some time?) tapering the oven opening arch bricks. Really simple to cut on the HF tile saw and they came out really clean. I still have a couple more to cut and then I'll start mortaring them in place. I'm not sure if I'll do this for the other arch bricks but we'll see...

~Bob

[mrgweeto]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Bob,
All those firebrick have blems on them. It would take you longer to hand pick good ones than it would to build the oven. We hop to get another course finished tomorrow which will leave us with 3 left. It is looking good. We don't really have that much waste because we use everything that is over 2+ inches when we want to make sure to try and overlap a joint. It looks very old world when you look inside. Can't wait to see the brick get dark from use MAKING PIZZAS. Does anyone out there know a good source for cookware to be used in the oven ie. gratin/small casserole dish. I know cast iron is good but I also know people cook with terricota but that will break easier.
G

[guerriero75]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Hi all,
Thanks for the help, I will start a new thread

Cheers

[Lars]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Mark,

I think you should start your own thread. You will get lots of responses, but when it comes right down to it, you will still have to decide. My oven hung a bit over the edges of a small base. And, I sacrificed a bit on the insulation around the base of the dome. I insulated more at the top, though. I have only made pizza once, and still don't have an insulated door.

It really depends on what style of oven you want on the outside enclosure. I used a stucco on top of vermiculite, and, honestly, I only ended up with about 3.5" of insulation in some areas. After full firing, I have felt the sides where the least insulation is, and I don't perceive any extra warm areas ( which tells me that it is adequately insulated, perhaps)

My oven is 39" inside, and I show how I cut all my bricks with a chisel in the tips, techniques section... I also cut them all at a taper. Using a 1/2" block of wood to lift the outside edge of each 4.5" firebrick, the dome kind of makes itself.

I would go for as big an oven as you can, then figure out some way to incorporate insulation out over the edge if necessary. ( just my opinion)

Lars.

Start a thread... good luck...

my pics at 'oven cra|ck...AGHH'

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Hi all,
I'm trying to build a pompey oven here in England Uk, material its no problem, the problem that I have its that the floor base will be 1.3 metres by 1.4 metres, could you please help me to calculate what its the best size oven that will fit on top and the angle of the wedges.

Genovese building pompei oven in UK
Mark

Hello Mark,
I'm probably the last person in this forum that you should be asking for advice but...With a 51" (1.3 meter) base I think the largest dome you should go with is a 32" inside diameter. That would leave you 4.5" for dome thickness (times 2 = 9") and then 1" of insulative blanket (times 2 = 2") and then 4" of vermiculite or perlite (times 2 = 8"). So add these up 32"+9"+2"+8" = 51" (1.3 meters). In the front-back direction this will not give you much of a landing...55" - 38" - 4.5" - 1" - 4" = 7.5". I belive a landing this small will be a problem. You might want to start your own thread and ask for more detailed information.
Good luck.

~Bob

[pizza_bob]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Dino,
That sounds like a good way to tie the bricks in. Thank you for the detailed pictures!

I picked-up the rest of my firebricks yesterday and was a little disappointed with the quality of the bricks. I can't believe how chipped the edges/corners are! Are there different grades of firebrick? It seems as if these bricks chip so easily. Perhaps the buff bricks chip easier than red??? Who knows...

This weekend I'll build the form for the inner arch and set-up my "indispensible tool". I ordered parts from McMaster Carr and built an adjustable "indispensible tool". I was planning on a 19" dome height and this should help.

Rain, rain go away!

~Bob

[mrgweeto]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Nice framing job!! We have decided to go the wood root. We are going to have
6" + of vermiculite all around so we aren't concerned about the heat. We are going to use cement board and stucko on top and stone on the bottom. Probably 3 courses of brick between the two and a friend has donated white carrera marble that was left at his house when he bought it. It was left outside and is about 2" thick. It is weathered and looks really nice and the price is right. We are actually going to put a gable vent or ridge vent in because in CT it gets pretty humid and when not in use we want to be able to vent out the moisture. Pizza Bob is a couple of towns over and I have been keeping up with his progress. Everything looks great. Yours especially because you are cooking pizza and drinking wine. Nothing better!!
G

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Pizza Bob's 42" Build

Bob, nice progress and your oven floor and soldier course look great. I had a few wobbly spots on my floor that I thought I would have to sand down but it's true that the harringbone pattern doesn't catch the peel. I only sanded the noticable edges in my landing.
Also, I understand how you feel about tieing in as much as you can. Since you are putting this mutch detail cutting into your project, it really is not any harder to tie in your inner arch to the arch walls. I know it does not directly tie in to the rings but if you tie in to the arch walls that make up the arch, then at the 5th row or so, your ring go over the arch and it all is quite solid.
Attached are pics of my arch and how 2 of the 4 arch side wall bricks (on each side) are actually part of the arch. You'll be fine whichever way you go but I know you (us) engineer types like to review all the options before settling on a solution. Hope this helps and keep up the good work, Dino