Making Progress in Montana Brick Oven Photos Discuss Making Progress in Montana in the Good Background Information forums; Finished the dome and opening today! I went with the angle iron framed opening and put in the 1/2" reveal ...

[swripley]

Finished the dome and opening today! I went with the angle iron framed opening and put in the 1/2" reveal for the door stop. Miracle of miracles my opening sides are level! That should make installing the vent easier. Will cast the vent next. Have decided to use 1" rigid polystyrene to make the mold. Will let everyone know how that goes.

Sharon

[El Puaco]

Great looking brickwork on the dome. Looking forward to seeing what comes next. I've finished my dome and vent and am starting to work on the house-thingie that goes on next. Keep 'em coming.

[swripley]

Mike,

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I have been reading your post “Getting Ready for the Final Push”. Have you decided on a roofing material yet? Hope the IT department gets out of the garden soon, would love to see photos. Your project seems to be just ahead of mine. And at this point, I can use all of the motivation I can find.

S

[El Puaco]

Actually I'm still open on the roof idea. A friend, who is a builder, suggested a type of corrugated metal that tarnishes quickly just a thin layer and then doesn't rust or anything after that. I kind of favor a Med look and might use stone on the bottom and stucco on the upper/building area. I don't have much in the way of new photos except for a couple of fire pictures that I took tonight. I'm in the process of making slightly larger fires every day now and should be able to cook something this weekend.

Usually I make a trip to Cody during the summer to see my Uncle but this year we're having to make a shorter trip so I'm going to stay in Western Montana. Flyfishing and making biscuits in the dutch oven. Otherwise I'd angle for a look at your oven.

IT Department is pushing the project now. She wants pizza and some of that bread from Canuck Jim's book. Me too.

[JoeT62]

Great work Sharon!

[JoeT62]

A question - did you use two pieces of iron to "sandwich" the span bricks over the opening?

[swripley]

Mike,

Originally Posted by El Puaco

I'm going to stay in Western Montana. Flyfishing and making biscuits in the dutch oven.

Where in Western MT are you fishing? My husband and I both fly fish - for me an occasional hobby, for him he might consider choosing it over breathing! We've fished quite a bit in Western MT.

Maybe next summer if you’re in the neighborhood of the foothills you can swing by. I would be more than happy to through something in the oven for you. And by then I might have figured out how to work this thing!

Thanks Joe,

Originally Posted by JoeT62

A question - did you use two pieces of iron to "sandwich" the span bricks over the opening?

Yes, that is exactly what I did. I had to cut down the depth a bit and angle the ends in order to fit it on the "columns" I created to form the sides of the openings. This also allowed me to easily create a 1/2" reveal for the door stop. On my original dry fit I planned to cut the height down to equal the iron and make the opening walls equal to this height. But later decided to leave it at full height and drop the walls lower so that the vent will be 1/2" above the iron to create the door stop across the top. The photos show as best as I could capture it.

Question for any who have an opinion. Do I need to worry about the crake that will be created where the cast vent will meet the angle iron? My plan was to fill the gab with the same high heat mortar I used in the dome. It shouldn't be very wide, maybe a 1/8", but I don't want to worry about smoke seeping into my enclosure.

Sharon

[El Puaco]

Hey Sharon

More nice looking pictures. I'd have to guess that you're on the right track about smearing some firebrick mortar on that little gap. I couldn't get my mind around that so I built an arch instead. Probably just traded one problem for another. But it works.

I'll be going South of Missoula. You know flyfishermen, they won't ever tell you exactly where they're going but they might take you there if you swear not to tell (or blindfold you so you just don't know). Mostly Lochsa, Selway and Bitteroot Rivers. I usually spend some time on upper Rock Creek but am changing up my pitches this year. My wife is sort of semi-retired as a flyfisher but I still get wound up about it.

I might take you up on that pizza sometime. Let me know if you get to the coast maybe I can return the favor.

Mike

[swripley]

Casting the vent was interesting to say the least. If I had it to do over again, I would mix the KS-4 a bit wetter. In this case following the directions to the letter wasn’t the best option. Filling the form was challenging as the castable was very thick. And there is a reason they call them stainless steel NEEDLES. Pocked the hell out of my hands even with gloves on. When I unmolded the vent I had a few voids but nothing that would leak smoke so I decided not to sweat it. The firing went without a hitch. My sister and I decided to take it to 1600°. The firing took about 16 hours and we gave it a day and a half to cool. While installing I had a bit extra high heat mortar so I filled any voids. I know they will be covered up with the enclosure but as long as I had the stuff mixed I figure it wouldn’t hurt to use it. Photos below show the filled form and installed vent. I put the chimney anchor plate in before mortaring the vent in place. Thought it would be easier to line up while it was on the floor instead of above me head. It may not be the prettiest oven/vent but I am remarkably proud of it.

Moving on to insulation next. I have decided to insulate first and cure later. I am going with 2” of blanket insulation because I got heck of a deal on it locally. Will add another 3-4” of vermiculite as well after the enclosure is done. May start curing before this however. Will keep posting photos as I go.

Sharon

[DrakeRemoray]

That vent looks great!
Drake