Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

[jmhepworth]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Ugly on the back won't matter. After you get it enclosed, you can't see the ugly.

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

OK. Hi again. i spent most of yesterday laying out bricks for the cooking floor. So here's the layout of the insulation bricks. I just put some mortar around the outside to hold them in place for now.

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

This is the cooking floor in herringbone layout. You will notice some of the bricks are chipped on the corners. I will choose carefully the bricks for the floor so there aren't any chipped corners.

I traced around the plywood formwork to make my circle. Simple enough!

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Using my 100mm Makita Angle Grinder I started to cut the bricks for the circle shape. This is a real pain with a small grinder. I am going to discs at a rapid rate. Fortunately they only cost $3.00 each, so the cost isn't the issue. The problem is, I have to bolster the brick to finish the cut, and sometimes the brick doesn't break where I have cut. Just ends up in wasting a brick here and there.

I just can't justify buying a larger grinder or a brick saw.

However... when I cut the bricks in the wheelbarrow, it's a great way to collect firebrick dust and chips for making a fireclay bed to lay the cooking floor on. Happy with that!

[Neil2]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

"I am going to discs at a rapid rate. "

Soak the bricks in a bucket for 5 min or so first. This will keep the heat (and dust) down and the disk will last longer.

A 4 inch grinder is about as small a tool as I would use for this type of work. A 5 inch grider has about twice the power and are generally much more robust.

[cabsauv]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Hey Mikey, It's looking good. You are doing a very similar layout to one I'm planning in Adelaide. Tell me what was the dimesions of you corner slab? I'm interested to know if I'm in the ball park with mine.

Russ

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Hiya Russ,

The corner slab is 1800 x 1800. I laid the blocks with a good 10mm joint as they are 390mm long. Some people are laying a bigger slab, but my slab will be buried under paving blocks so I made it flush with the block stand. Heavily reinforced around the edges.

I'm looking at the oven floor now (1000mm diameter) and it just looks small. Too late now... I just hope 1000mm is a good enough size. Everyone seems to think it is. It just looks small to me right now.

All the best mate

Michael.

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

thanks for the grinder input.

I agree with you. I think my old 4inch makita is cute but it really is too small and underpowered.

i'm looking at a variable speed bosch 125mm. It's like 1500 Watts and very tough. I will also start using a diamond blade. With the variable speed I can also use it for buffing, etc. Hopefully not a waste of money!

M

[John K]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Using my 100mm Makita Angle Grinder I started to cut the bricks for the circle shape. This is a real pain with a small grinder. I am going to discs at a rapid rate. Fortunately they only cost $3.00 each, so the cost isn't the issue.

Hi Michael

If you head down to bunnings you can pick up a 4inch diamond blade for about $40.

I also have one on my 4 inch grinder that I am using to cut out the rebates for the brick arch and it cuts like butter and will more than pay itself off

cheers

[dmun]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

That cloud of dust that you get from dry cutting is not good for your lungs. Get yourself a respirator when you pick up your diamond blade. There's also a handy brick-set (bolster) jig that makes somewhat more accurate cuts:

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices



All this stuff can be sold on eBay when you're done with it, for a chunk of what you paid for it. I call it the eBay rental program.

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Hi everyone,

So here's my new approach... I just bought a new bosch GWS 15. 5 inch grinder... 1500 watts power. Diamond blade. Respirator. All good now. Cuts like butter as you say. Love it. The grinder was a bargain. The tool store made an error on the website and had to sell me a grinder that was originally $349 for a reduced $229!!!! Awesome stuff. Variable speed powerful kick-ass grinder.

Thanks for all the advice.

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

I laid out the cooking floor in herringbone. It is sitting on a mixture of fireclay and fine sand. I know the sand my turn to glass if heated enough, but I don't think this will happen.

I took ages with my new grinder (pictured) but the results are good. Not to mention how long it takes to choose the bricks with the least amount of chipped corners!

I did start on the soldier course, but quickly knocked down the work I did. I wasn't happy with it... not straight or level enough. Will try again soon.

I'm not concerned about the front of the cooking surface being not 100% even, as this will be covered by surrounding tiles.

As you can also see, I've been busy with the BBQ area next to the oven. This will contain a marble top for rolling dough and pizza prep, a sink/faucet, BBQ and a gas burner.

More to come soon... I can start picturing the finished oven now, and it's getting exciting!!

[MikeyMann]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Hi all,

It's been a while since my last post, but I have done work on the oven.

Just a disclaimer.... I don't own a brick wet saw, so I am using a bolster to break my bricks in half... so the outside does not look as neat as some other ovens around. I did however use the grinder to take the corner off every brick so they butt up against each other neatly.

I built the archways first, and spend much time considering their size and angles. Everyone says how much work it was... and you're right. Took forever.

I have finished 2 courses of bricks above the soldiers, and plan on the 3rd course being the one that ultimately meets up with the flue arch. I predict much cutting with the diamond blade.

Notice in one photo there appears a small narrow brick acting as a shim. I decided to cut 22 of these to keep a higher content of brick as opposed to mortar. In this particular brick, it happens to be poking it's nose out a little. I will grind this off.

My plan is to run a bed of mortar all over the entire oven when it's done to tidy it up. Almost like render.

When the oven is finished, I will have another arch in front out of nice dark bricks. This will completely conceal the outer arch.

Does anybody think my vent is the wrong shape? I decided to make it as big as I could.

More to come this week...

M

[dmun]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

Does anybody think my vent is the wrong shape? I decided to make it as big as I could.

I think it looks great. I like how you notched your arch into the upright walls of the entry. You did that with a chisel? I'm impressed.

[John K]

Re: Michael's 42in Pompeii Oven, Sydney Australia.

WOW!!

Haven't you been busy!! By the looks of things you will be cooking before me.

Looks great. Love the arch. Those pre shaped arch bricks have come up perfect.

As dmun said the notch at the front is a great idea and looks great at the same time.

Considering you are not using a wet saw I think your internal joint look perfect but will get harder once you get 1 or 2 rows up.

Might be an idea to cover your floor with something to help keep the mortar off

Look forward to seeing the rest