Mannextdoor WFO Brick Oven Photos Discuss Mannextdoor WFO in the Good Background Information forums; Awesome! Vent size sounds perfect. I don't think that there is a "too large" (draw wise) for the vent opening. ...

[dusty]

Awesome!

Vent size sounds perfect. I don't think that there is a "too large" (draw wise) for the vent opening.

Congrads!

dusty

[mfiore]

Originally Posted by mannextdoor

For a guy that has never laid a brick, I don't think it looks to bad.
Mannextdoor

On the contrary, it looks like you've been doing this your whole life. Looks great. Congratulations. Interesting info on the HeatStop cure time.

[Frances]

Congratulations, what a lovely dome! Beautiful brickwork, too, it looks very professionally done from where I'm sitting.

Good call on getting the info on the mortar, I look forward to seeing your first curing fires really soon....

[mannextdoor]

I think I have finished the brick work for the oven project. I have about 80 hours in it. I am looking at the 8” dura-vent for the stack. When you are looking down the throat of the chimney opening, you see part of the front arch. Do you think I could get away with taking a grinder to the front arch a little bit? The front arch is 3.5” thick now. If I could open it up a little bit, it would give me some more draw, with a smoother air flow.

[egalecki]

Hm. I don't know whether it will improve it enough to make it worth it. It's pretty big there now. Maybe just a bit on the underside of the edge to smooth it off and encourage the smoke to go up? I did that on the oven side of the vent, but not on the outside. I do get a bit of smoke out the front on startup, but not much, and my oven's throat isn't as big as yours. And my chimney is 6", but my oven's a 36. I think the 8 is recommended for a 42.

Your oven's looking really good. You're almost there!

[mannextdoor]

My oven is a 42”. I just checked on the chimney parts a few minutes ago. He is out at the moment. They are already on order and should be in on Monday.

[mannextdoor]

Well Monday came and went. My chimney is back ordered until next Monday. Do you think it would be OK to start the curing fires without the chimney in place? I thought that I read some where in the forum that the insulation blankets should be on the oven before the cure. Is that a hard fast rule, or would it matter to fire without the insulation as well?

[Les]

MND,

You can absolutely start your fire before a chimney is in place. The only down side I see, is that any soot that may build up, may compromise the mortar joint as you continue. In regard to the insulation, I brought up the fires from hell with out it. I looked at the cracks - very small - made another fire, not quite as hot. Nothing got worse, so I wrapped the puppy up. Just my experience.

Les...

[mannextdoor]

Thanks les

What do you mean about the soot that may build up, may compromise the mortar joint as you continue? All your curing fires were before you insulated?

[Les]

The fires will create soot - I don't think the mortar would adhere to it as well as clean brick / mortar. May be a non issue, just my thinking. I didn't have any curing fires - the first one I made, I went nuclear. My use of mortar on the oven was basically a shim. In the hot Nevada summer, with low humidity, it was pretty much cured in a week without any fire.

Les...