Texas 42

[jmhepworth]

Re: Texas 42

It really is fun to put that final keystone in. Congrats. It looks great. Now is the time for patience. Don't rush getting fire into the oven. And go slow and steady with the cures. That may not prevent cracks, but if you rush it you will certainly get cracks. They may not affect the oven performance, but those of us who have cracks all wish we didn't have them (0f course I'm speaking for myself here, but since I wish my oven hadn't cracked, I assume everyone else has the same wish).

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Texas 42

Yaaay! Congratulations on closing your dome, Roadkyng.

The dome looks quite evenly round from the pic looking down. And it looks like you've got a nice vent-wall transition started. Time to move to the next phase.

Good job, Dino

[Millstone Man]

Re: Texas 42

Oven is looking great. I'm North of Dallas and still in the planning phase for my project and still in information overload looking through this forum.

[Roadkyng]

Re: Texas 42

Oven is looking great. I'm North of Dallas and still in the planning phase for my project and still in information overload looking through this forum.

Feel free to contact me for plenty of advice on what NOT to do ;-)
I went with the homebrew mortar until the last 3 chains. Worked well for me. One trick I learned was to take a swimming pool skimmer net and sift the mortar mix prior to mixing with water. Eliminated all the lumps and rock and the resulting mixture was very smooth.

[Millstone Man]

Re: Texas 42

Thanks for the offer and I'll definately be contacting you as I get closer to finalizing my plan.

[Roadkyng]

Re: Texas 42

Set the chimney flue today. It's officially an oven instead of an oven in progress
Now on with the curing fires. will take everyone's advice and go slowly trying to keep the cracks to a minimum.
Need to decide on my insulating layer - vermicrete, rockwool, or the Forno Blanket. Need to find data on the comparative insulating properties (R-factor). Probably go with the vermicrete so I can shape the dome-opening transition easily.

Hope everyone's Turkey Day was Grand and thanks to all those who have been giving me encouragement.

[Roadkyng]

First curing fire

Got Lit today ;-)

Learned how interesting it will be to build fires in this thing. I'm only 5'6" and can't reach the center of the dome floor without a step stool to crawl half-way in. I had to build the fire at the front edge of the dome then push it into the center after it was lit. As I was adding wood I must have had my back too close to the flue opening and killed the draft. Whole thing filled with smoke and choked the fire. Live and learn....

Also need opinions on if I should add another flue tile and make the chimney taller?

[trockyh]

Re: Texas 42

Roadkyng, your oven looks great. I'm new to the forum and haven't seen your build.
It must be so exciting to light the first fire. Looks awesome in the dark. You'll be cooking real soon!

Regards,
Tom

[Millstone Man]

Re: First curing fire

Got Lit today ;-)

Also need opinions on if I should add another flue tile and make the chimney taller?

It looks like you are under a covered porch? How does that affect your draw? You may have to extend through the cover.

Would you still go with the change to Heatstop 50 or stick with the homebrew all the way?

Great looking Oven!

[Roadkyng]

Re: First curing fire

It looks like you are under a covered porch? How does that affect your draw? You may have to extend through the cover.

Would you still go with the change to Heatstop 50 or stick with the homebrew all the way?

Great looking Oven!

The roof is at least 5 foot above the chimney top. Probably does not meet code requirements but I will but a spark arrestor and never leave the oven unattended. I am monitoring how the smoke evacuates the patio cover. Last night it was very still and the smoke lingered a bit at the peak before flowing out. I may run the chimney on through the roof of the cover to ensure it does not soot the bottom of my patio cover which is constructed of cedar.

as far as the Heatstop vs Homebrew - I would not hesitate to build the entire oven out of homebrew. I had intended to build the complete oven out of Heatstop but when I found out how much it is I decided to give the homebrew a try. I used the bag of heatstop I had bought to do the last 3 chains as it gets sticky and hardens fairly quickly. That being said, I noticed it is susceptible to surface crumbling especially in thin layers. The homebrew mortar is not as bad.

[Roadkyng]

Re: Texas 42

one real interesting thing about the igloo. Stick your head into the landing when the fire is going and it sounds like a freight train. A real low rumble that must be the echo effect of the flame dancing around.

[Eric Pfeifer]

Re: Texas 42

Congrats. I wish I were at this point. But hey, more bricks to lay, more brews to imbibe.....

[Roadkyng]

Re: Texas 42

Hello.
Been cooking and not posting! Finally got the insulation layer on it. Now will cook some more until time for the finish coat. Thinking about using a surface bonding cement instead of stucco for the outside coat. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Roadkyng]

Re: Texas 42

I ordered 5 bags of Quikwall Surface Bonding Cement from the local Home Depot. Ordered the white as I think it will be easier to get the color I want with the iron oxide pigments. The spec sheet says to trowel to a thickness of 1/8". Anyone have any experience with this product? I want to know if it can go up to 3/8" think without cracking.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Texas 42

Be careful with the iron oxides in white cement. As a rule, if you are looking a color sheet, it is showing you the color in gray cement, and will give a very different color than the sample. You have to look at the physical pigment to get an idea for what it will actually look like. As an example, Texas Buff buff by Lambert SW gives a nice soft buff color in gray cement, but a bright orange in white.

Dosage levels will also be much smaller, on the order of 1-20% of the amount required for gray.

1/8" is normal, 3/8" isn't a problem.