Michigan WFO Brick Oven Photos Discuss Michigan WFO in the Good Background Information forums; I Love your arch, can't wait to start my oven, not far away now!!...

[Tim M]

I Love your arch, can't wait to start my oven, not far away now!!

[mfiore]

Working nights this week, so I was able to take advantage of a nice day (sleep is over rated!)

I worked out some framing for the enclosure. I've never worked with steel studs before. I actually like them quite a bit. I used Tapcon screws to secure the track. I found 20 g steel studs locally, not much more money, so I decided to use them for the supports. The steel seems to be very forgiving. At first, seemed a little flimsy. As the walls tied into each other, it became quite sturdy. Each stud brought everything in real plumb and square. Nice to work with. I've been luck, no stitches (yet).

I don't own a chop saw, so I cut everything with a pair of Aviation snips. It's a little tough with the thicker steel, but I couldn't justify another purchase.

[Les]

Mike - I didn't go this route, but I think you got it on the run. I'm going to enjoy watching your "wrap". I wanted to go that way but the wife didn't want me to block her view of the yard

[mfiore]

Very funny. I wanted to go the "igloo" route, but my wife wanted me to block the view of the fence!!!

[mfiore]

I may have made a mistake. Over the winter, the chimney flue liner got knocked with the tarp. I took it off this spring to reset it.

I framed the oven with steel studs for the enclosure. When I went to put the flue back in, I realized it was bigger than I planned. It touches against the steel framing. I know there is supposed to be a gap all the way around. Will it cause a problem to have the flue touch against the framing like this? (Keep in mind that the flue is mortared down, and the framing is bolted to the cement slab already!)

[Les]

I don’t know if the metal will expand enough to compromise the flue mortar joint, but it doesn’t take much to crack the stuff. Can you remove the offending stud and bend it in a little to get relief? Might be better being safe. Although, I’m assuming you are going to fill the chamber with vermiculite, so a little smoke escaping would cause no harm.

Les...

[dbhansen]

Could you snip away some of the metal, in place? Might weaken the stud slightly, but you can add reinforcement elsewhere.

[dmun]

I'm not certain it's that important. You're not providing clearance to combustibles: I don't really see any reason it can't touch.

[mfiore]

I'm less worried about combustibles, as the whole thing will be filled with loose vermiculite. Does the flue tile expand at all? I will have cement board, with stone veneer on the other side of that metal stud. I 'd hate for a hot flue tile to expand, move the stud, and dislodge the thin stone veneer. Is that likely, or am I worried about nothing?

I agree with Daren. This enclosure is a lot more challenging/frustrating than the dome. I think it's because the dome comes with instructions (FB plans). Even if you have no building intuition/knowledge/experience, as long as you can follow directions, your good. The enclosure seems to involve building skills and experience, neither of which I possess.

[Lars]

I pretty much just read this entire thread... You guys are right, this forum is VERY good.

I am about to post my completely simplistic approach to supporting an arch, and have learned so much about my flue building ( next thing to do) and curing with ( or without) insulation.

Thanks for all the info!

Lars

ps. Seems like there ought to be a WFO tour... would be a very interesting trip!