baldywills
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Post by baldywills on Jun 10, 2018 19:45:26 GMT
The weather has been beautiful recently and I have had plenty of other tasks around the place to crack on with. The bricks turned up on saturday morning which I bought from Viticas in Bristol and got my daughter to collect for me.
I must say that I am very disappointed with the quality of the bricks. There are many with lumps of blemishes- like a mini volcano. There are many others with large chips out of them either on the corners of the edges. And to make matters worse there are also a fair few that are not square. They are misshapen.
Have emailed the company and will see what they say tomorrow but I can't afford the time or money to drive 2 hours to swap the defective bricks. I shall see what they have to say.
Anyway - pointing done and made the dome transition into the internal arch.
I often wondered what people were on about when they talked about the "dreaded teardrop". It was only when I stood up and looked at the shape when I had the head slap moment and saw the teardrop! Couldn't have that so I tore the bricks out and started again.
Fitted a new blade to my saw and cut a number of bricks with a bevel so the gap will be smaller than previous courses.
Have taken the week off to try and finish the oven this week as i am now on a deadline for completion.
Question - Once i finish the dome can i start curing fires? Can I start on the ceramic blanket and vermiculite whilst I am curing the oven? I don't want to do curing out of order but I also want to get cooking in 11 days.
cheers
Gary
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Post by oblertone on Jun 10, 2018 20:28:17 GMT
I used my bare dome for a year before adding insulation, a flue and finish coat, so crack on.
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baldywills
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Post by baldywills on Jun 22, 2018 6:07:45 GMT
I have had a light in the oven all day every day this week to start the drying process. Am going to take advantage of the great weather we have at the moment to complete the oven. Tonights job is to finish the flue bricks and fix the anchor plate to them ready for my 8" twin wall flue. Saturdays job is to finish the small amount of internal pointing then to cover the oven with the thermal blanket and start the vermiculite layer. Am hoping to start a little fire on sunday and start to build them up over the next week. Won't be long until pizza time!!
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Post by simonh on Jun 22, 2018 8:16:00 GMT
looking good
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baldywills
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Project finished and enjoying the scran
Posts: 69
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Post by baldywills on Jun 24, 2018 17:45:24 GMT
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baldywills
valid member
Project finished and enjoying the scran
Posts: 69
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Post by baldywills on Jun 30, 2018 7:00:34 GMT
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Post by devontiger on Jun 30, 2018 10:14:45 GMT
BW, Just one little tip to help you to stop burning the edges of the Pizza.
I have an 18inch 2x2 piece of box section steel, I put just inside the door whilst heating up. When ready, I push that back which in turn, pushes all the fire back to the rear. It then protects the Pizza edges whilst cooking. After a while I then pull all the fire back across the floor, to reheat the floor. Then push the fire back with the box section. Making sure to Brush the floor, before placing Pizza. Great looking Oven, Enjoy.
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baldywills
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Post by baldywills on Jul 1, 2018 6:34:56 GMT
Cheer DT, will have a think about what type of fire break I can use. Have contacted a blacksmith to see about making an internal metal door so could also ask him for a solution to protect against the direct heat.
Cheers Gary
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baldywills
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Post by baldywills on Jul 5, 2018 6:12:07 GMT
So i managed to get the fire blanket on last night and secured it with some chicken wire. Am glad to cover up my external brickwork and looking forward to getting the verimcrete and render layers on. Have been doing some research on the vermicrete application and it seems that everyone hates working with the "devils porridge". I just wonder how long it will take to coat the dome. Will I have to do it over several days or will i be able to get it done in a day. Have seen Terrys suggestion about mixing it in a dumpy bag which makes sense and sounds easy enough but how much should i mix at a time? Love the look of the dome covered with the blanket. It finally gives me some clean lines and shape. Cheers Gary
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Post by simonh on Jul 5, 2018 9:10:33 GMT
that looks like a proper chimney!
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Post by downunderdave on Jul 5, 2018 20:29:54 GMT
Hi Gary, I’ve been mixing this stuff for years so here are some things I’ve learnt. 1. If you want the layer to be insulating then it needs to be pretty lean. Unfortunately the leaner it is the harder it is to work the stuff. For over the dome I like to use a 10;1 ratio ie 10 parts vermiculite or perlite to 1 part Portland cement. 2. Using half vermiculite and half perlite makes a more workable mix, I think because you get a greater variation in grain size. I choose medium grade for both vermiculite and perlite but you can use either finer or coarser grades. 3. Correct water addition is crucial. Too much water will wash the cement off the grains, while too little leaves the mix dry and crumbly. 3 parts water for every 10 parts vermiculite or perlite by volume is a good guide or just keep adding until the water just pools a little in the bottom of your barrow. Finer grade requires more water. 3. A little powdered clay, say a handful for every litre of cement helps a lot to make the mix more workable. 4. Start at the bottom of the dome pressing the mix against the blanket with your hand and make a flat ledge on top with the other hand. Proceed in this way all around the oven. I usually do it all in one go, but if you like leave this first level to set for a day. It is easy to carve back and makes building on top of it easier. As you get higher up the dome it starts to lean in and applying the mix becomes easier. 5, Tapping the outer surface with the flat of your trowel at the same time as eyeballing the profile produces a remarkably accurate hemisphere. 6. I find a layer of around 35 mm thick is sufficient to produce a strong enough layer as a substrate for the render as well as taking a reasonable amount of time to dry. A thicker layer will take much longer. If you want it thicker do it in two layers with a week of drying in the sun and wind (weather permitting) between layers. 7. Do not render over the vermicrete layer until it is dry and you have had the drying fires completed. Remember that a third of the volume is water and one litre of water makes 1650 litres of steam. 8. Wear rubber gloves of you’ll regret it. Hope this sees you through. Dave
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baldywills
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Post by baldywills on Jul 6, 2018 5:31:28 GMT
Thanks Dave that has given me enough info to push on. Looks like i am going to get my marigolds back on.
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baldywills
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Posts: 69
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Post by baldywills on Jul 11, 2018 16:17:04 GMT
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Post by truckcab79 on Jul 12, 2018 18:19:41 GMT
Nice work on the door. Still need to build mine. Was going to use 5mm steel. Yours must be good and weighty at 8mm.
Will you wrap the handles? I was thinking to use several layers of thick cord or similar.
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baldywills
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Project finished and enjoying the scran
Posts: 69
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Post by baldywills on Jul 12, 2018 19:35:12 GMT
Nice work on the door. Still need to build mine. Was going to use 5mm steel. Yours must be good and weighty at 8mm. Will you wrap the handles? I was thinking to use several layers of thick cord or similar. Was going to see how it goes and if they get too hot then will either use a thick pair of gloves/gauntlets or cover the handles in a wrap of some sort. I forgot to add that the weight is fine. The two handles help, one would be impossible to use. The bloke who made it was concerned about it warping if it was too thin. May use it this weekend so will post the results. I am still planning on having an external door which will be smart looking show door to plug the external arch. Gary
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