Artigiano 120

[DrakeRemoray]

Hi James, I leave it to the engineers, but I think it will work. Recently discussed here:
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/a...tion-2718.html (angle irons on corner installation)

Drake

[Unofornaio]

I see 2 options:

1. 40" 4" is still fine with no under support using 1/2" rebar. If you are hesitant you could add a piece of 3 x 3 angle iron placed in the front of the form then pour on this. So looking at the face of the hearth slab you would see 1" of concrete and 3" of steel, in addition to rebar of course. But the angle Iron is really not necessary, 4" over 40" plenty even with a full brick surround and roof.
2. Build the stone arch then pour the slab so it rests on the stone. If its real stone its going to have structural support. Even if it was as thick as brick it will provide support.

I would do the arch first its going to be much easier to lay the stone without the slab in the way. When it comes time to pour the slab just drape a layer of plastic over the arch and build your forms over this.

[dmun]

I agree. I think there is a lot to be said for building up your facing, if it's a full wythe thick, up above the slab, and using that as the edge forms for the hearth slab pour. I think it forms one solid unit and makes the whole thing that much stronger.

My example:

[james]

We're off and running. I built the stand and hearth yesterday, set and leveled the floor and then set the dome. That's the good news. The oven is pretty cracked, but I am optimistic. I found an intersection where three cracks meet, and used a car jack to raise it up to its original height, and I've started to process of replacing the bricks that fell out, and patching the cracks.

I can definitely say this. Refmix is great stuff. Easy to work with and it sets as hard as a rock. I can also say that the Artigiano is a wonderful oven. I am getting up close and personal with this oven, and I respect the workmanship all the more.

Here are my first photos -- including the damage. More to come.
James

[james]

Day 2.

It's a good thing we have Refmix. I was able to cut bricks to be pretty close to the originals and set them with Refmix. Then, I went over the entire left half of the dome with a cover coating, so basically, the whole thing will hopefully be held together with Refmix.

I decided to patch the oven with red clay bricks. This should make for an interesting experiment with seeing how the clay bricks and firebricks behave, side by side, over time.

I used regular mason's mortar for the arch, to see if I could color match the exsting mortar. It's close -- sort of.

Tomorrrow morning I will be lowering the car jack. If you hear a loud scream at 9AM PST coming from California, you will know that it fell back in.

Wish me luck.
James

[Les]

It's looking great James - whats the purpose of the jack, it looks like its only supporting 2 bricks at best. Was the dome pretty much fused together at that point? Nice looking hearth, I think you have done this before.

Les...

[Archena]

Out of curiosity, why not give it a couple days dry time? An arch (okay, dome) should be able to stand without it - but the poor thing has already been fractured once, why not let it take a breather?

[james]

Lack of patience???

My favorite saying is "patience is a virtue; that I don't have." :-) My thinking is that the Refmix dries very quickly (it has rapid setting agent), so it is going to be as good at it gets by tomorrow. At least that's how I am rationalizing it to myself.

Les, that jack is right on the point where three big sections were sagging. I jacked it up a little in the back, and just that one section raised up, and the other two stayed down. This seems to be the big intersection that caught all three.

I'm nervous.
James

[james]

One more photo. Here are the supports I used to hold the front arch in place when it dried overnight, last night.
James

[james]

One more thing. I looked at the photos of the inside of the oven, and went back to clean up the extra mortar before it cured.

We'll see what we see in the morning.
James