Hansen Horno Brick Oven Photos Discuss Hansen Horno in the Good Background Information forums; Thanks for the kind thoughts. The stupid thing is, I put the metal rod into the copper sheath and left ...

[dbhansen]

Thanks for the kind thoughts. The stupid thing is, I put the metal rod into the copper sheath and left it there, sticking up, for no good reason (I was using it to straighten out the copper tube through the hearth). And wearing running shoes instead of work boots might've been my second mistake.

And to think I was only worried about breaking my ankle jumping down from the hearth. I didn't hear about DaveW's injury - I'll have to look that one up!

I'm sure it will heal quickly, and my doc said to take 12 Ibuprofin/day so it's already feeling better! I'll probably break my neck with these crutches, though.

Nice sign, Todd; that's pretty much what I looked like, though I didn't fall off the hearth.

[dbhansen]

Here's a pic with my half-finished 10th course. I think I'll have to go with 1/3 bricks for the next course, because the gaps underneath each brick are getting larger.

[mfiore]

Ooh. Sorry about the injury. We need a photo of you putting in the keystone with crutches!

[dbhansen]

Another good weekend of progress. Here are some pics as I completed the dome. The rod/wire sticking out on the first 2 pics is a thermocouple probe.

Still limping on that foot, but it's getting better! I only needed the crutches for one day.

[dbhansen]

Dome is complete! The first 2 pics are outside, the third is from the inside. A little choppy, but I'm satisfied with it. In hindsight, I should have crafted a better form to help guide the final courses into place, because it was too easy to misplace the bricks. Final inside height is 20.5 inches; 1/2 inch shy of my plan.

[toddj]

Thats amazing! Awsome job!!!

[dbhansen]

And here is my start on the outer arch. Not sure how I'll be completing it yet. I definitely think I'll need some kind of buttressing on the outside of the arch walls. I'm thinking of doubling-up the wall thickness by adding a stack of bricks, or perhaps a perpendicular stack of bricks. Or maybe just a steel "L" bracket of some sort. I'm open to suggestions!

The walls look really thin from this angle, but they're actually a full brick width where they butt up to the inner arch and they taper down a bit at the outside edge.

[dbhansen]

Thanks Todd! Here's an interior view I forgot to post earlier....

[aureole]

That's an absolute beauty - it's going to be a crime to cover it up with insulation! Have you got any pictures of the keystone going in because it looks so damn perfect!

[dbhansen]

Originally Posted by aureole

That's an absolute beauty - it's going to be a crime to cover it up with insulation! Have you got any pictures of the keystone going in because it looks so damn perfect!

Thanks! It is a shame these things have to be covered. Alas, no pictures of the keystone, but it reminded me of this:

I just started with a small square of brick and slowly cut more and more off until it fit!