George's Pompeii progress Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss George's Pompeii progress in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Looking really good George! I like the angle finder... wish I would of had one of those. And talk about ...

[asudavew]

Looking really good George!

I like the angle finder... wish I would of had one of those.

And talk about rustic...that would be the outside of my dome!
Yours looks great!!

Keep it up. I am enjoying watching your progress.

It's kind of fun to look at pictures of ovens and finding your own way.

It appears you are doing well on your own path.

[gjbingham]

Ahhh, great answer to the misterious black rubber piece. I am using a piece of aluminum foil. That spray goes everywhere and coats everthing with brick dust.

BTW, I went out this AM. It was 45ish degrees outside. The concrete slab was warm to the touch from the lightbulb underneath the stand. The floor of the oven was stone cold. The insulation hearth works in both directions I guess ;o)

[sarah h]

George,

So the fun (the dome) has begun - things are looking great! Bet it feels good to finally move beyond the hearth stage. I hope the rains hold off so you can keep moving ahead. I'll look forward to more progress pics.

Sarah

[gjbingham]

Thanks for all your help Sara, Dave, Les et al. I set the third course of brick yesterday and will do number four today. I'll probably post more pics tomorrow as they all start to look the same after awhile. It certainly is gratifying to see a dome rise from the ashes on top of what was just a pipe dream a few months ago. That first time you set up those bricks outlining the circumfrence of the dome is really a special moment. You can just sit there and stare at them and dream.......

I'm going to use an angle iron (somehow) to close the top of the oven opening. I've looked and looked at brick arch/dome transition pics. They make my head hurt just thinking about trying to make those bricks lock into place. I keep looking at Sara's. That looks hard too! I'm just going to keep working on it in my head, and playing with my man-size leggo.

Anybody know if using an angle iron causes structural problems when heating the oven? I'm assuming different coefficients of expansion between brick, iron and mortar would create a situation in which the iron would eventually be basically floating, or only held in place by the weight of the arch above/around it. (Now that I sit here and think about it, that's probably the case with the entire structure).

Back to work! Have a great day all.

[Frances]

I would think that the angle iron should work without problems, since its in building plans for these ovens. I'm sure James wouldn't have recommended that solution if it didn't work... Although having a bit of metal in the dome does feel a bit weird.

You know, I'm really glad that you say the top of the oven door makes your head hurt. I thought I was just being really dense. Still, it works out in the end...

[Frances]

Oh, and what I really wanted to say: Why not post the idea with the angle finder under tools, tips and techniques? Its such a good idea!

[sarah h]

Originally Posted by gjbingham

I'm going to use an angle iron (somehow) to close the top of the oven opening. I've looked and looked at brick arch/dome transition pics. They make my head hurt just thinking about trying to make those bricks lock into place. I keep looking at Sara's. That looks hard too!

Hi George,

The transition was the part I dreaded and it gave me some major headaches trying to figure it out ahead of time. My advice? Other than the decision of whether to do an arch or a straight transition, don't waste time trying to figure it out too much ahead of time. It will fall into place. It's finicky and slows you down a bit, but it's not difficult - simply a matter of adjust, adjust, & adjust some more - till it works.

These pics show my progression, faults and all (like the too-long brick on the left and the fact that my round dome is just a bit flat-fronted). We just cut a wedge off the first row of bricks to try to match the angle we would need for the next row, then used those pieces to wedge up the next row. Then it was a matter of cutting some other pieces to fill the gaps and using mortar to fill and smooth things out. Rows 6 and 7 were a bit if a juggle to try to take the now-closed top from flat-fronted to round - that's the adjustment part - manageable by a total novice - just can't be rushed though.

Hope this helps, whichever way you decide to go. You'll get there!

Sarah

[gjbingham]

Thanks Sara, I didn't see that side view before of your bricks on the iron. I am considering putting a second iron inside the dome. I cannot tell if you did that, but I don't see any other way to support those bricks on the interior of the oven.

Frances, consider it done. Good idea! It's really easy to use and if I get within a half a degree of my angle, I call it good.
George

[sarah h]

Originally Posted by gjbingham

I am considering putting a second iron inside the dome. I cannot tell if you did that, but I don't see any other way to support those bricks on the interior of the oven.

I did use another angle iron on the inside, figuring like you, that it was needed for support. Instructions I saw seemed to refer only to one piece but that just didn't make sense. I figured that if the metal shouldn't be on the inside, it shouldn't be there at all since the heat transfers through.

Frances, how did you do this?
Anybody, comments??

Sarah

[Frances]

Ah well... with difficulty.

I figured that as the angle iron listed in the materials list is twice as long as the oven entry, the idea was to cut it in half and use one for each side of the bricks. I'm still not sure if this is what is meant, but as I was also was unable to locate an angle iron bigger than 3/4 of an inch wide, it was pretty much a given. I have seen other pictures in the meantime which seem to do it with only the one iron, but it still beats me how that is supposed to work

My mistake was making the bricks for the entry reveal too small, so that I was unable to balance both angle irons on them and had to place the inner one on the bricks of the dome... maybe not the most brilliant construction solution, but hey... it all works out somehow.

BTW one comment which helped me enormously was someone mentioning "gobs of mortar" to fill in the gaps. And I had the flat bit over the arch to deal with afterwards, like Sarah. Anyway, here are some pics. Check out my thread too, maybe, for the explanations I got. I found them very helpful...