|
|
Post by webbm00 on Feb 13, 2019 21:48:27 GMT
My build thread is linked in my signature line; I used waterproof tile cement as render for the whole dome. It's worked so far. Wow that was quite some build! I'm not sure if tile cement will look ok as a render for the parts where there is no mosaic. Maybe we will have to mosaic the whole dome |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Feb 18, 2019 20:11:08 GMT
Started the 1st drying fire on Saturday  Wasn't seeing any visible drying and the outside of the vermicrete wasn't heating up at all so put a bit more wood on the fire and it all got a bit out of hand  so we toasted a few marshmallows, made some pizza dough and made a few pizzas    I'm a bit worried about the amount of smoke that came out of the oven front when starting the fire. The wood wasn't that good but is it usual for it to smoke a lot at startup? I also wasn't that good with the fire management and let it go to embers a couple of times before feeding it with more wood. Got some readings from the thermocouples  12:30 to 13:30 you can see the controlled drying fire and then onward the why isn't it drying fire. I'm surprised it took 2hrs for the outside of the insulation blanket to start to heat up and ~25degC difference from the outside of the insulation blanket to the outside of the vermicrete. There was visible steam once the oven heated up but the vermicrete only got to 60degC. I think the vermicrete had already dried out a bit as it's outside and undercover and the weathers been a bit warmer the last few days Also got the sensors under the oven  You can see the oven bricks and the calcium silicate board heating up. Not sure what happened to the concrete slab thermocouple. You can see where I moved the fire from over the thermocouple and started cooking just after 4:30pm and the temperature drop until 5pm when we finished and I pulled the remaining embers over the thermocouple again Will try to have a few better controlled fires and see how much drier it gets. The vermicrete is noticeably harder after the first fire |
|
|
|
Post by oblertone on Feb 19, 2019 10:52:58 GMT
Smoke out of the front is inevitable unless you use VERY dry wood; I use just about anything I can burn and accept a little smoke as a consequence. Once up to operating temperature you'll get very little smoke unless you bung on some unseasoned non-deciduous wood.
ps - I'd caution your daughter against wearing a puffa jacket near the oven 'cos they melt and hole very easily.
|
|
|
|
Post by truckcab79 on Feb 19, 2019 17:36:55 GMT
I use kiln dried ash on mine. Smokes for barely a minute or two and as soon as the flames take proper it’s completely smoke free throughout the cook.
Have been tempted by some hardwood I saw in wickes for £5 a bag. Won’t be ash, mixed most likely but seems very dry and I thought I could buy a few bags and leave it to dry further in my indoor wood store just for good measure.
|
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Feb 19, 2019 21:38:53 GMT
Smoke out of the front is inevitable unless you use VERY dry wood; I use just about anything I can burn and accept a little smoke as a consequence. Once up to operating temperature you'll get very little smoke unless you bung on some unseasoned non-deciduous wood. ps - I'd caution your daughter against wearing a puffa jacket near the oven 'cos they melt and hole very easily. Luckily she wasn't that close for long as it was a bit too hot. I tried to explain to her that was the point of it! |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Feb 19, 2019 21:47:49 GMT
I use kiln dried ash on mine. Smokes for barely a minute or two and as soon as the flames take proper it’s completely smoke free throughout the cook. Have been tempted by some hardwood I saw in wickes for £5 a bag. Won’t be ash, mixed most likely but seems very dry and I thought I could buy a few bags and leave it to dry further in my indoor wood store just for good measure. I think I'm going down the kiln dried route for the first few goes to eliminate the dryness of the wood from the variability of my fire management. The wickes bags of kiln dried may not be a bad call until I get the wood store sorted for a pallet full |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Feb 24, 2019 22:51:44 GMT
had a little drying fire tonight with the kiln dried logs from Wickes. Not bad as the logs weren't too big and very dry ~15%  |
|
|
|
Post by oblertone on Feb 25, 2019 9:15:32 GMT
Well I made nough smoke on Saturday to blanket the neighbourhood, but as I live in a very small village and the neighbours were getting fed pizza no-one seemed to mind. During the actual cooking phase there was very little smoke, even using outdoor stored mixed hardwood. It did get hot though!  |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Feb 25, 2019 10:46:01 GMT
Well I made nough smoke on Saturday to blanket the neighbourhood, but as I live in a very small village and the neighbours were getting fed pizza no-one seemed to mind. During the actual cooking phase there was very little smoke, even using outdoor stored mixed hardwood. It did get hot though! That looks more like molten lava than hot coals. How much wood did you use to get so much? |
|
|
|
Post by oblertone on Feb 25, 2019 12:40:36 GMT
Because it hasn't been used since Christmas and the Rugby was on I lit it about 2pm and just kept feeding it until 6pm when I let it settle for cooking at 7ish. As to how much wood, quite a bit but I've plenty to hand. |
|
|
|
Post by downunderdave on Feb 25, 2019 19:10:19 GMT
Well I made nough smoke on Saturday to blanket the neighbourhood, but as I live in a very small village and the neighbours were getting fed pizza no-one seemed to mind. During the actual cooking phase there was very little smoke, even using outdoor stored mixed hardwood. It did get hot though! A new or wet oven will be pretty smoky. In practice it may be difficult to start the fire and keep it going. The remedy is to maintain a gentle, prolonged fire to drive out the moisture slowly. As wet insulation is quite conductive, the outside will probably get hot quite quickly. This is a good indicator. |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Apr 2, 2019 7:46:34 GMT
No progress for a while why I kangoed (not sure if there is a verb to kango?) out the 2' footings on one side of the garage that the pizza hut is built on, put up a fence and laid the block path to the hut but now back on the case. Got all the bits for the concrete worktop and cast a last test piece Added glass and mosaic pieces, some shells and glow stones all held down with spray glue  Cast with a 1:2:3 snowcrete : sharp sand : 10mm washed gravel mix with super plasticiser and glass fibres Vibrated with my random orbital sander with a block of wood cable tied to the side of it. Didn't let the glue dry enough before casting so had a bit of bother getting it out of the mould  But when ground with 50/100/200 grade on the wet grinder looks good and everything stayed where it was glued  Added the slurry coat of snowcrete and super plasticiser to fill the small holes and now waiting for that to dry before polishing Then I can finally cast the oven front and get on with the arch |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Apr 3, 2019 18:51:55 GMT
Slurry coat worked as a process as it filled the gaps and going up to 400 and 800 grit started to polish it up nicely  But need to work out how to colour match the slurry to the rest of the mix. The problem is that if I add the same mix of sharp sand the mix is too grainy to work as a slurry coat but the snowcrete on its own is too white. I wondered if mixing the snowcrete with some OPC would get it nearer the colour as the sand is quite grey or trying to find a similar coloured fine sand like the one used for block paving. Anyone done this before? |
|
|
|
Post by downunderdave on Apr 5, 2019 2:18:49 GMT
I ran into the problem of matching the colour just like you have. Unfortunately, unless you have been meticulous in adding exactly the same proportion of colour by carefully measuring all ingredients, it is impossible to get the exact same tone of the colour you added. Especially as it will be darker in tone when wet compared to dry. I found that even though the tone did not match that once polished it looked fine anyhow. As serendipity often does, it threw me a gift. I now no longer vibrate too much which has a tendency to move some of the stones anyway, lead to separation of the materials in the mix and takes extra time. I now don't worry about any small voids because I fill them with a different colour and it produces a very nice effect. Se attached pic where the yellow has been filled in after removing from the cast. Just need to be careful not to overdo oiling up the mould too much so any voids are oil free, wash the face to be polished well with detergent before filling. Hope this helps, polished concrete is fun.  |
|
|
|
Post by webbm00 on Apr 5, 2019 6:51:56 GMT
I ran into the problem of matching the colour just like you have. Unfortunately, unless you have been meticulous in adding exactly the same proportion of colour by carefully measuring all ingredients, it is impossible to get the exact same tone of the colour you added. Especially as it will be darker in tone when wet compared to dry. I found that even though the tone did not match that once polished it looked fine anyhow. As serendipity often does, it threw me a gift. I now no longer vibrate too much which has a tendency to move some of the stones anyway, lead to separation of the materials in the mix and takes extra time. I now don't worry about any small voids because I fill them with a different colour and it produces a very nice effect. Se attached pic where the yellow has been filled in after removing from the cast. Just need to be careful not to overdo oiling up the mould too much so any voids are oil free, wash the face to be polished well with detergent before filling. Hope this helps, polished concrete is fun. I have been really careful with the quantities but I haven't coloured the mix so for the slurry coat I can't change it to the sandy grey by adding the sharp sand or it doesn't work as a slurry coat I think I'll try just using OPC as well as a mix of OPC and snowcrete on my test piece and see how close it gets. You're right contrasting colours looks good but the white is a bit harsh with the sandy grey on my piece. I love the idea of casting your own surround for the oven. I wondered where you got yours from and just thought it was an Aussie thing |
|
