My Old Kentucky Dome Enclosure Brick Oven Photos Discuss My Old Kentucky Dome Enclosure in the Good Background Information forums; I'm finally back from all the holiday activity with absolutely no progress to report on the oven. It's still out ...

[Ken524]

I'm finally back from all the holiday activity with absolutely no progress to report on the oven. It's still out there covered with tarps getting rained on waiting for a 4" coat of Vermic.

My last adventure was a Christmas day failed attempt at Focaccia Bread. Tasted great but was tougher than shoe leather. 1 pound of James' white powder shot to heck!

The good news is that I received a Bialetti Moka Express coffee maker for Christmas. That's been a fun toy.

The biggest surprise was when my wife handed me a set of car keys on Christmas morning. I looked out at our driveway and found a "new" 1987 Dodge Ram 1/2 ton pickup (runs good/needs work). I guess she's officially fed up with me loading firebricks in the back of our '05 Honda Odyssey.

So, if you all can't find me, I'll likely be dividing my time between Forno Bravo's message board and the Dodge Classic Truck boards!

[gjbingham]

Welcome back! I figured you were about done by now after all that warm weather down south.

I love coffee toys. I bought a Starbucks Barista automatic espresso machine a year ago. I don't know how I ever survived without it.

[Ken524]

Thanks... now that the weather is back to cold, I'm having trouble getting motivated to work with water, vermiculite and cement. I'll probably do some cooking until a stretch of warm, dry weather comes along and then get busy building again.

[thebadger]

Ken,

What's the plan for the front arch? Were you going to leave it exposed or cover it up with concrete board (I hate to see that given the great work/detail you put in)? I was asking since having similar weather patterns (cincy) wasn't sure about exposed firebrick to the elements. Or were you planning on putting roof over it?

I just hate the idea of covering up my front arch.

Let me know.
Thanks
Dick

[Ken524]

Hi Dick... Ahh yes, our miserable Ohio Valley weather. I think spring may be just around the corner after this week's wave of rain and cold. Today's 70F high was such a tease!

My current plan is to partially cover the exposed bricks with concrete board and cut some standard house brick into splits to make a decorative red brick arch to match our house. It will be sort of a double arch... some of the cream arch will be visible behind the red brick arch. I hope it works as planned!

Here is what I'm shooting for:


Ken

[Acoma]

Ken, if I am correct, you have a 10-12" chimney base, with a 3' chimney flue? I was going to do the same, with my chimney flue being 3' too.

[Ken524]

Originally Posted by Acoma

Ken, if I am correct, you have a 10-12" chimney base, with a 3' chimney flue? I was going to do the same, with my chimney flue being 3' too.

That sounds about right... I believe the base of the Duratech Chimney mount is 12" square.

[biondoli]

Hi Ken, where did you buy the metal studs for the enclosure? Thanks Carlo

[Ken524]

Originally Posted by biondoli

Hi Ken, where did you buy the metal studs for the enclosure?

Carlo,

Home Depot and Lowe's. They carry slightly different products, but they are compatible.

As others have stated, metal studs a very different to work with than wood. Now that I have the hang of it, I really like building with them. The other day I realized I needed to push back the front of my enclosure about 1/2" (to leave room for the hardibacker). With my cordless screwdriver, snips and pliers, I made the adjustment in about an 45 minutes. It would have been an all-day pain-in-the-butt with wood studs.

Ken

[gjbingham]

That torques me off. How come your HD and Lowes carry metal studs and mine don't? I don't get it! I can't find them anywhere! Perhaps its the huge supply of fir around here that makes wood less expensive and easier alternative for these stores.