And so it begins...

[shanesmith80]

And hopefully one day gets finished.

Been browsing the forum for a while and thought I'ld show some progress of my build.
I realise its probably not the best way to go, but like with most things I build I have a rough plan and then just work out the rest as I go.

So I picked an area for the oven, got approval from the boss, and started digging and pulling up pavers. Discovered a drain pipe running from the back yard out to the front so had to build form over that. Over all wasn't too much work. Put down some road base, borrowed a mates compactor, laid down just a little reo and ordered a minimix truck to bring the concrete. Was a bit worried that It would take a while to unload and have to pay exorbitant waiting time fee, but got 12 barrow loads of in 10 minutes. Missus helped shovel it to where it was needed. For first time doing anything other than setting a pole in concrete was fairly happy with result.

Next came the block laying. Was hoping to just dry stack and core fill. Would have probably worked but blocks weren't very even so had a go at laying with mortar. I think I was just trying to lay them with too little mortar wanting to keep the joints close, which was causing frustration with trying to keep them level. Finally got the first coarse down and wasn't too bad from there.

Chopped up some rebar and went back to the wheelbarow and mixed up about 18 loads to do the core fill. Since the last photo have filled the remaining cores with road base because I have heaps on hand.

Will knock up the form for upper slab in the new year, and was going to just mix that myself but am leaning to getting a truck back again.

cheers
shane

Having a bit of trouble with photos, will keep trying,

[dariusk]

Hey there Shane.
Sounds like you've off to a great start! What style of oven are you planning to build, size, materials and any other details you can share?
I'm looking forward to following along.
Cheers
Darius

[SableSprings]

Shane, welcome to the posting side of things. I appreciate that you had concrete delivered...I did 4 bags in a mixer, dumped it into my form and said "This is nuts, I'm calling the concrete delivery truck folks". I think when you consider building and walking the plank (with a loaded wheel barrow) up to the higher level of the upper slab, it's a pretty good value to have mixed concrete delivered and poured where you want it (IMHO). I am in awe of those who have mixed and delivered everything to the forms by hand (and 2-3 bag mixer)...not that I will ever want to aspire to that goal...just saying I'm impressed.

On the photo issue, I suggest using an editing program (a good, free one that I use is FastStone Photo Resizer) to reduce (and optionally rename) the size of your photos. Making them 800x600 pixels will reduce the file size of a photo from 3-4 MB to ~100 K and you get almost a full screen size with all the resolution you need for this site. Reducing your photos is important since there are some file size limits on the site. There is also a limit of 6 (I believe) pics per post. When you are ready to post your pictures, create your post and click on the little camera icon. It will then let you select the photos you want to upload and when you are done, thumbnails are created automatically and placed at the bottom of your post. After posting, the viewer only has to click on one of the thumbnails to see the series of full size pics. After you have posted, it's a little different to add or edit photos...I'd suggest having your "ducks in a row" for a post instead of trying to come back and add or edit pics later.

Hope that helps a bit (or at least makes some sense )

[shanesmith80]

Cheers guys.
Managed to get the photos done, order's a bit mixed up but oh well.

Size and materials???

The goal is for about 900/1000 interior. Should be able to get that easy I think, base is 1500 wide by 1600 deep.
I'm thinking of just going with compressed clay bricks for the dome, but will probably buy some high temp mortar or if I'm feeling adventurous maybe try mix my own. Will definitely get some castable for filling in gaps, which are likely to happen. For the base I'm thinking of just getting some of that Calsil board and laying my floor straight on that with maybe a little sand. I will get fire bricks for the floor though.

Will wrap in with insulation blanket and then figure out what sort of finish from there, most likely some kind of render, although my daughter wants to cover it in shells, we'll see.

Like I said I'm kind of just making it up as I go.

cheers
Shane

[dariusk]

Nice work with stand so far Shane. She looks pretty solid.
I agree getting the ready mix trucks was well worth the minimal extra cost and time saved mixing it yourself..
It's a nice milestone reached just getting the stand finished
Cheers
Darius

[shanesmith80]

Slow progress, but progress none the less.

Decided to finish off paving first to eliminate a few trip hazards.

Done a few with the grinder and diamond blade, not too hard just bloody dusty. Picked up a secondhand brick saw, heaps easier. Should be able to on sell it after oven finished.

Got the formwork up for top slab. Have all the rebar and mesh ready, just need to wire it in. Hope to pour next week sometime.

cheers
Shane

[oasiscdm]

looking good.

[Steady]

Slow progress is better then no progress - going well

[shanesmith80]

Things are actually starting to happen.

So the top slab was prepped and poured, ended up just getting a truck in to deliver the .4 cube. Made a make shift ramp to get the wheelbarrow up, only stalled once and had to carefully back down.

Let that sit for a couple of weeks before I got a chance to start laying bricks.

As with most things I do, plans have changed. I got a pretty good deal on fire bricks, so going that way now. Internal diameter has been stepped up to 1000mm, that way the guy I got the bricks from gave me copy of the templates to due the arch and flue.

Overall was quite happy with how the first few courses are going. Decided to knock up a jig to cut the compound angles needed to get rid of that upside down V and get a slightly less mortar joint.

My mortar work still needs some improvement but I'm getting better. Was scratching the head for a while trying to work out the cuts for the arch but once I got into it it went pretty well.

One thing though, the mortar joint at the peak has a crack running through it. Not big, but enough too annoy me. Is this likely to be a problem or will it likely tighten up when I pull the form out?

cheers
Shane

[shanesmith80]

more photos.

[shanesmith80]

Its actually starting to look like an oven.

Have been managing to get a coarse done every second day or so.

I know see what people are talking about when they mention the 'dip'. Certainly started to show over the arch. But after a few slices on the bricks and a bit of grinding managed to counteract most of it.

Got the sand dome in for the last few coarses. Think may have dropped a little low but hopefully be alright. Am anxious to see what it looks like from underneath. Photo 3 with the dry fit of the second last coarse did not fit anywhere nice as nice as it is there. But with more grinding and some mortar, hopefully be ok.

[shanesmith80]

And the key stone's are cut and ready to go.

Is a fairly snug fit, won't need much mortar. Hopefully keeps it all from falling apart. Will hopefully lock them in place over the weekend.

[UtahBeehiver]

Nice work, great example of a tapered inner arch and also correcting the dreaded droop.

[SableSprings]

Great job Shane! A little oven curing and you'll be headed for the learning curve towards the best pizza & bread of your life!

[shanesmith80]

Question.

I have read that people leave an expansion gap between dome arch and flue arch, especially since they will be 2 seperate constructions and not tied together in any way. Is this necessary?

My plan was to just butt the flue arch straight up to the inner arch with just a little mortar.

cheers