Official - Show off your tools.

[JRPizza]

mpmckenzie , nice tools! Curious about your log holder - I have thought about making one as I'm always looking for welding projects, but not sure how useful it would be. How often do you use yours and under what firing conditions?

[mpmckenzie]

Hmm...the log rest just seems to allow the wood to burn a little faster and I find I don’t have to use bone dry firewood. I think that if your firewood is dry and you don’t live in rainy England, you won’t need one.
Fun project to make though.

[mpmckenzie]

Finished the inner insulating door yesterday. Not pretty but functional. Thermometer off EBay. Have learned that pretty abraded patterns on aluminium may look clean but they are not - welding onto that surface was a nightmare - hence the change in finish appearance. If the handles get too hot I can wrap them with fire rope. Roll on the better weather.

[JRPizza]

Nice door - can you share pictures of the back and sides plus some build details, either here or on the show your door thread linked below? I'm betting those handles are going to get plenty hot. My door is steel with 4" of insulation and the face gets very warm. I am reminded of that every time my knuckles accidentally touch the metal when I grab the wooden handles

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...ur-door-thread

[mpmckenzie]

Hi,
Door is made from a sheet of 3mm aluminium. Insulation thickness is about 2.5". The temperature probe is housed in an aluminium tube welded between the inner and outer doors - that way the probe is exposed to the oven environment but still protected from knocks. Handles are some 5mm aluminium sheet cut and bent to shape then welded on. The insulated portion of the door is a snug but not tight fit in the oven mouth. Don't have any work-in-progress shots of it - I was too busy swearing at my terrible ac tig welding.
Regards,
Mark

[mpmckenzie]

Yep - the handles do get hot! Today I wrapped them with heat-resistant rope. We’ll see how it performs.
Made a pipe with a slightly flattened end and a mouthpiece to blow into on the other end to allow me to get air into the starting fire without getting smoke all over myself.
Dome starting to clear nicely now.

[Gulf]

+1 on the nice door. But, I would nix the "heat resistant rope". I'm sure that it is made of a mineral fiber. It will shed small glass like fibers each time that it is disturbed. I would remove the rope and either use gloves or tweak the original design a bit. You can cut the handles leaving the anchor points in place to attach wooden handles or altered welding chipping hammers. The coil helps discipate the heat. You could also use the heat of your oven to soften some 1/4" ss tubing to make your own coils. There are lot's of alternatives out there.

[JRPizza]

I have another idea for a handle mod that would not involve very much change to your existing design. If you can find some round wood stock of slightly larger diameter than the width of your handles, you could cut it lengthwise and through fasten a piece on either side of each handle, which would have you gripping something other than hot metal when you worked with your door. It would be easy to swap out pieces as they got funky or if you found some better looking wood.

[mpmckenzie]

Hi Everyone,
I appreciate the feedback. Yes - the rope does shed little flakes of dusty blackness.
However, I think I'll keep it on for now and see how it goes.
My thinking is that it is there just for those people who may inadvertently grab the door without thinking it might be hot. I wear thick welding gloves and the door thermometer is a visual warning that it might be hot.
If it fails I can always change the handle design as suggested - maybe with removable handles....... (Oh no - I feel another project coming on...)
Stay safe.
Mark

[UtahBeehiver]

If you like the rope look, use a natural fiber rope such as a sisal fiber or jute (also cheap). Gives enough insulation and food safe.