Keystone CRA|CK Ugh!!!! Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Keystone CRA|CK Ugh!!!! in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; What use has anyone else come up with for the deep under oven space? The best idea was to make ...

[dmun]

What use has anyone else come up with for the deep under oven space?

The best idea was to make a wheeled wood trolley that you could pull out to access the firewood in the back.

[jmhepworth]

I divided mine in half and have wood storage on both sides.

[Lars]

Dmun ( Dave, right?)

I have thought about that idea, and I like it. the cart idea could work. I even thought about something I could take down to the woods behind the mower and load up.

Joe: Had a look at your thread. Good idea, too. I can't get at the back of mine though ( solid earth back there)

So far I have a family of mice that always seem to take up residence at the back of the wood pile, then chew up any newspaper I try to store there to have on hand.

A tight fitting door would be quite worthwhile.

Hmm..
Lars.

[jmhepworth]

It's pretty tough to make a door fit tight enough to keep mice out. All but impossible.

[tony715]

have you given your oven time to cure prior to the small fires? i let my oven sit about 2 weeks before i started the curing fires. i have the dome made of 4 1/2" fire brick, 1" of firecaly and 3" of concrete. then i enclosed the entire vault with vermiculite and a concrete cap. if i could do it again i would let the dome cure much longer before the first fire and fuly cure it before i enclose the vault.

i am having a hard time understanding the cracking flu liner. they should with stand around 2000 degrees. no way you are reaching that temp. you flu liner size is the same that i used and mine draws reall well. i would really like to see the inside of the oven thru then mouth of the opening and up through the flu to see what is happening.

maybe your firecaly recipe is off. i used 10:6:2 (sand, fireclay,PCL) and seemed to work well with the firebrick. i aslo did a fire pit with the same recipe with good results.

don't ge me wrong i have some cracks also. guys here said don't sweat it so don't worry too much. i have had my oven well over 1000 degrees and the pizza is fantastic.

if you send me a friend request on face book (anthony leone) i have an entire photo album showing what we did. your more than welcome to take a look.

tony

[ikhan42]

LARS,

You mentioned putting the fresh wood at the back of the storage area to dry and become seasoned. I would imagine the back are wouldnt allow the wood to dry all that much actually I would imagine it would keep the wood fairly moist even after a couple of years.

Does anyone use the end of the burning period to dry their wood? I would imagine once all the coals are raked out and the temps are getting low this would be an ideal opportunity to put wood in the chamber to dry.

Any ideas???

Also has anyone used the refractory lintels for support of the chimney to avoid to much weight being put on the arch leading to cracking? I know some people use angle iron but I would assume with heat there would be too much expansion and contraction of the angle iron and cause cracking anyway. But would assume the refractory lintels are made out of refractory material and would therefore have less expansion on heating.



ikhan42

[Wiley]

Ikhan,
Unless I'm doing a retained heat bake I use the heat at the end of most firings to dry the wood for the next firing. I have found that I can load more than twice the wood I need for a usual pizza get-together if I really want to pack full the WFO. I leave the door ajar and I have come back days later to find that the wood is still warm.

By doing this the wood is very dry and catches fire fast and burns clean. I try and not use just cut green wood but wood as it comes from our stacked wood supply for the house. Being in the country we heat with wood and most of it is about a year old (since cut). However, being in the Pacific Northwest "dry wood" stacked outdoors but under cover still has a significant moisture content.

Bests,
Wiley

[ikhan42]

Cool thats fair enuff.

Originally Posted by Wiley

Ikhan,
Unless I'm doing a retained heat bake I use the heat at the end of most firings to dry the wood for the next firing. I have found that I can load more than twice the wood I need for a usual pizza get-together if I really want to pack full the WFO. I leave the door ajar and I have come back days later to find that the wood is still warm.

By doing this the wood is very dry and catches fire fast and burns clean. I try and not use just cut green wood but wood as it comes from our stacked wood supply for the house. Being in the country we heat with wood and most of it is about a year old (since cut). However, being in the Pacific Northwest "dry wood" stacked outdoors but under cover still has a significant moisture content.

Bests,
Wiley