Flaired arch (or whatever it is called)

[jcg31]

I am contemplating the attached approach to the arch and entry way for the oven. I have seen the flaired approach (is that what you call it?) to a number of ovens on the site and like the look, but have not read anything from a functional perspective. Can those in the know provide their thoughts regarding whether a straight arch functions in some way better than the flared . Also would like comments on the dimensions. Mine is a 42 inch oven the opening to the oven is 20 wide with an arch that is 9" at its lowest and 12" in the middle. And 11.5 inches from door to front end of arch. The vent is 4.5" wide.

Thanks,
Jim

[james]

Very nice. I want one of those.
James

[Ken524]

I'm going with a slight flare on my vent arch. You can sort of see the angle on the picture. The first level of angled blocks are cut and in position on both sides of the vent landing:



I love your CAD work up. Looks great! I'm probably going to borrow some of your ideas

[Unofornaio]

I guess technically you could say since its not a full brick it might allow for more air flow but I don't think it would be enough to make any difference in performance. It looks nice though. And yes nice CAD drawing, what is the program?

[dmun]

I used the flared entry for my oven. I like it. it's possible to access almost every inch of the oven floor with your tools. I could be argued that the elongated front arch is slightly weaker, being a wider span, that a straight wall entry, but it's been no problem so far.

By the way, the original idea (36 inch pompeii cad layout) (which is the basis for my avatar) was to make the entry walls radial to the circle dome, and avoid wierd angle cuts at the juncture. In fact, you still need angle cuts at the front of the oven, so six of one...



In the end, my entry walls were angled slightly less than to the radial line, because I needed to allign with the front opening.

[jcg31]

Thanks folks,
Uno, the program I used in this case is 3d Studio Max (which is a bit pricey). Other parts of the project I have done in Blender. If not familiar, Blender is a 3d modeling and animation program that rivals Maya, 3d studio, lightwave etc. the good news is it is a free download (Blender.org), open source and there are a ton of free training including video on the web. Having never done any masonry work these programs have been invaluable in allowing me to make my mistakes on the computer before cutting the angles and bevels on the brick. Again, thanks for the feedback.

[Bacterium]

I guess another good thing with a flared arch is that it improves visibility into the oven. The more things you can do from a standing position (rather than bent over) the better.