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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 16, 2019 15:16:46 GMT
Hi Everyone, Just wanted to say hello from Cheshire and post a few pictures of my just-started pompeii oven build. Size will be 900mm internal diameter. Kilnlinings order is stacked in the garage and I've got a lot of brick cutting to do. Picture shows a dry-fit - I'll take all this apart and bed the floor bricks on a sand/fireclay mix. Might as well try to get it as good as I can on the first attempt. Regards, Mark     |
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mm289
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Post by mm289 on Sept 16, 2019 17:00:42 GMT
Looks good, thats gonna be one big oven  Nice cooking area as well, will be able to cater for some big parties there 
Cheers,
MM
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 16, 2019 18:47:13 GMT
Thanks - I've left it a bit late in the year to start but been really busy this year.
The brick area to the left of the oven will have some slate slabs to give me some decent sized all-weather work surfaces.
Have a day of brick cutting tomorrow and Friday - deep joy.
More photos as I make progress - I think the first 5-6 layers will be the hardest as I build the entrance arches and incorporate them into the dome.
Mark
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Post by oblertone on Sept 16, 2019 19:01:44 GMT
Take heart from knowing that your mistakes are just that, Yours; no-one else will shiv a git whilst they're eating your wonderful pizza !
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 18, 2019 8:06:42 GMT
And so the endless brick-cutting begins...  Anyone who uses a stihl saw has my admiration - takes a lot of skill to use accurately. Good job I've got plenty of spare bricks. All these firebricks are to be cut in half then cut again to give trapezoidal faces inside the oven interior - trying to get as small joint lines as possible with staggered joints. |
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Post by truckcab79 on Sept 18, 2019 9:24:58 GMT
Looking forward to seeing this progress. If the build quality is on a par with what you’ve done so far. Then it will be superb. Very nice brickwork and layout.
As far as timing goes I wouldn’t worry. I started mine in February in snow and ice and don’t think I finished until mid Summer. Worth it in the end though.
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 20, 2019 16:07:52 GMT
OK - the endless brick-cutting has begun.... 8 half-bricks clamped together and the required taper drawn on using a template...  Becomes...  MANY hours later.....  This is about 75% of what I'll need in total but should be enough to get me past the first 5 layers. Hopefully more progress tomorrow. Mark |
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mm289
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Posts: 26
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Post by mm289 on Sept 20, 2019 18:34:23 GMT
Wow, makes me glad I bought a kit for the oevn and fire bricks, cutting bricks for the arches was bad enough!
But why so many cuts, isn't it just the round layer on the second course that needs wedging, the base laye just needs edges trimming off?
Cheers,
MM
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 21, 2019 18:31:36 GMT
Hi, I'm doing so many cuts because I'm aiming for the best internal joints that I can do. The cuts should also make the bricks "self-aligning" to a degree. Check back tomorrow as I hope to get at least 2 horizontal rings of the dome laid. Today was a day of setting the floor. I pulled up all the bricks and put a layer of aluminium foil under the calcium silicate boards - seen some other builds do this and thought it couldn't hurt so in it went. Then I spent some time trying a get as flat a floor as possible - easier to clean and less chance of catching a brick edge with pizza peels etc. Getting a flat floor was trickier than it sounds. The bricks are not uniform and so I resorted to a fireclay/sand mix as a levelling material under some of the bricks. Calcium silicate sucks all moisture out of this in a few moments so I had to be quick! Here's a pic of the floor - bit damp after me wiping up the mess made by the fireclay mix (though it did help fill some of the tiny gaps between the bricks). The floor has gone slightly out of level by a few mm but I can live with that.  Then I set out the oven base layer and positioned the arch supports. My arches have a very gentle curve so I need as much mass in the opening brickwork as possible - that's why the sides are a full brick wide. It's very easy for errors to creep into things and I had to take down the sides and re-do them!   Looking to get the next 2 layers on tomorrow. Bye for now, Mark |
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Post by oblertone on Sept 21, 2019 21:00:50 GMT
Excellent progress and a tightly jointed fire brick dome is something of a rarity on this side of the 'pond', although doubtless it'll perform well once built. Keep up the build thread please.
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Post by downunderdave on Sept 22, 2019 0:26:43 GMT
I offer this in relation to tight joints. It comes from Daniel Rhodes, Kilns (generally regarded as the kiln builders bible) Whilst we’re not building kilns but ovens which experience around half the thermal expansion to that of a kiln, the same principles apply.
“In kiln building it is much better to have a loose structure than a tight one. For this reason the amateur may have a slight advantage over the professional mason, because his bricklaying is apt to be somewhat loose and not tightly locked together. I have seen kilns made by professional bricklayers which in use suffered severe cracking and swelling due to overly tight and precise workmanship and the lack of expansion joints.”
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 22, 2019 8:19:19 GMT
Hi Dave,
I agree that uncontrolled expansion/shrinking results in cracking. I think that the key is to try to anticipate the effects of the thermal energy and mitigate it as much as possible.
Cracking in the dome can be reduced by making it as uniform as possible and by reducing areas of weakness by staggering the joints. My dome will have 8 layers - each having 24 pieces (unless interrupted by the entrance arch).
A tricky area is where the dome is interrupted by the entrance arch - my oven might have a compressible fire rope "gasket" here. The next tricky area is where the flue rises from the entrance arches - I've seen lots of cracking here as there might be as much as a 250 degree C difference between the front and back of the flue area. Insulation will help here I think as well as making the transition from the brick arches to the stainless flue one that accommodates movement.
I've been inspired quite a bit by the videos online made by The Melbourne Firebrick Company. The kits they sell have the dome bricks touching with very fine joints.
Ultimately, I think that refractory pre-cast pizza ovens can offer excellent performance if well-designed - but I wanted the challenge of building the brick Pompeii-style oven. Aesthetically I believe they look fantastic as well.
I'll keep updating the build thread and hope you'll find it interesting. I have a background as a building surveyor (about a million years ago) so anticipating problems in the design phase is quite important to me. I want this to last for decades with no problems.
Regards from rainy Cheshire,
Mark
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 22, 2019 18:08:50 GMT
Well, today was a frustrating day. I have come to the realisation that I am rubbish at maths and should work by trial and error in the future. My super-duper template for cutting bricks was a total failure in practice and resulted in ever-enlarging mega-gaps.  Hmm - try as I might I could not work out why this had failed so I had a re-think and tried a second template...New template on the right.  This wasn't right either!! I resorted to cutting 2 bricks by hand and when they were perfect, using those as a master. Finally the first course is looking like I wanted it to.     Have wasted about 20 bricks in my learning process but at least my path is clearer!! More updates as I make progress. Regards, Mark |
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Post by truckcab79 on Sept 23, 2019 7:10:06 GMT
Looks good. I’m sure most of us would have been more than happy with the gaps that you felt were unacceptable.
Great to see that level of detail in a build. Most of it will never be seen, but you’ll know it’s there.
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Post by markmckenzie on Sept 23, 2019 18:25:22 GMT
Another layer on today. Getting a little easier with practice.    |
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