Dave's Pics of Progress Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Dave's Pics of Progress in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Great work Dave! Mixing 25 batches of sand, gravel and cement by hand ? I am in awe! I wimped ...

[Ken524]

Great work Dave! Mixing 25 batches of sand, gravel and cement by hand? I am in awe! I wimped out and ordered a truck.

The stand looks super. Taking the forms off is more fun than opening a Christmas present.

Thanks for the detailed pictures. It's nice to see posts from someone who knows how to float concrete. I could have used your details about a month ago .

[asudavew]

Thanks Ken.

It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

We just set up in an assembly line fashion.

As for the pics. I tried to get some good documentation for people who will build their oven after me.

Hopefully I can help someone else out, the way this forum has helped me.

[asudavew]

I picked up some bricks yesterday.

I got enough to layout the sides of the oven so that I can begin on my insulating layer. I want the layer to match the oven, and not cover the whole concrete layer.

So here are some pics..


These were taken at night, so they are not the best.


The first I tried to show my overhang of my concrete top after the forms were removed. I was pretty pleased with the results.

[asudavew]

Now......... playing with my new bricks.


I put a screw in a 2x4 and made sure the screw was right in the middle of my hearth.

I tied a string to the screw and then made a loop on the other end, right at 21 inches.

I put a pencil in the loop and used it to draw a big 42" circle. Seemed to work pretty well.

[asudavew]

I think this will be my final layout.

[Acoma]

Dave, being that this looks like a dry run, you plan to cut the firebricks for the hearth to define the floor area? I did not see that.

[asudavew]

I'm gonna mark the outside of the walls. And then build a form around the marks, so that I can just pour an insulating layer right under the oven only.

Then I will lay my floor on that, with the outside walls surrounding the floor.

I hope this helps.

[maver]

Originally Posted by asudavew

I'm gonna mark the outside of the walls. And then build a form around the marks, so that I can just pour an insulating layer right under the oven only.

Your walls will sit on the insulating layer to thermally isolate the oven? Do you plan to reinforce the edges of the poured insulating layer or extend it slightly beyond the base of the wall to avoid pressure on the corners (it can be pretty crumbly stuff)?

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by maver

Your walls will sit on the insulating layer to thermally isolate the oven?

Yes, I'm going to run the vermiculite to the outside of the dome walls.

Originally Posted by maver

Do you plan to reinforce the edges of the poured insulating layer or extend it slightly beyond the base of the wall to avoid pressure on the corners (it can be pretty crumbly stuff)?

I haven't got it all straight in my mind yet, but now you have me thinking.....

Maybe I can make it about an inch bigger all around the edges and put an inch or so of mortar around that.

What do you think?

[rlf5]

Originally Posted by asudavew

Yes, I'm going to run the vermiculite to the outside of the dome walls.





I haven't got it all straight in my mind yet, but now you have me thinking.....

Maybe I can make it about an inch bigger all around the edges and put an inch or so of mortar around that.

What do you think?

Why the extra inch of mortar? Sounds like more work. Why not just extend the vermiculite out two inches?