The last 5 chains... what did everyone do?

[Lars]

Hey Frances,
Just had a look at your thread. Wow, it was fun to follow the whole story and see the familiar plot twists and difficulties ( doorway, chimney, top of dome, insulation, etc.) Looks like you had a lot of fun! ( see attached rain pic... over 4 gallons of water!!)

My kids tolerate the oven project, but they are really quite helpful ( at 18,16,14,and 12 they can actually cut bricks, etc.)

With my dome finished, I think I will start my brick arch in front and think about insulation. I am thinking vermiculite and portland only. It is kind of squirrely to work with, but when it dries and hardens, you can get a nice surface and it seem to retain it's light insulating properties.

I love your flue blocks. I have yet to find something around here. Most fireplaces are not even masonary in new construction here in the midwest USA.

The forum really is something.

Lars.

[Dino_Pizza]

Lars, I love the Pizza Gnome coming out of your oven. You've done a fine job, it's great to have your kids help, I think once you start a fire and cooking they'll be all over it. Are you going with a metal flu/vent pipe or a clay pipe for the vent? Take care, Dino

[Lars]

Hi Dino,

I just got a lead on a couple sections of clay flue, and I thought I would try that. I want a rectangular flue, and I didn't really give much thought to the dimensions of the opening in the arch. It ended up being a 4" x about 15" opening, but I set my top bricks in the arches level so that I could just mortar in a clay flue liner ( rectangular) then see what needs to be done to create a taper up to that.

I may just set it in place and light a few small beginning paper fires to get a feel for how it might draw.

The flue liners are pretty hard to find around here, seems most people are making fake fire places in new construction, and few have real masonry stack. Economics, I guess.

Lars.

ps. I do NOT want to look at that cost spreadsheet...

[Mikeymops]

I am at this stage now, and I am at 1/8ths of a brick. Glutton for punishment. I have started using wooden lollipop sticks, cut up and then lightly glued onto the outward facing face pointing down. This leans nicely onto the brick below. However the glue i am using is like silicon that you would put around a bath or shower and if i need adjustment, a few taps with the mallet and it 'gives' a little.

When set a couple of taps with a chisel and most of the glues comes away and the stick is gone and recycled for the next ring. It seems to be working. If the description is not enough, reply and I will post a picture.

[Lars]

Thanks Mike(?)

Northumberland England?

I think a thread like this is definitely useful. Although all these ovens end up with a similar firebrick shell, the methods of getting there are many. I love the tinier and tinier brick method, and the way it looks, but for me, without tapering every brick, I could just see them falling out someday. ( when the mortar stops grabbing ... or grabs unevenly)

The glue on method sounds great. On my only chain that I had to support ( #8) I just made a stack of blocks in the center and nudged bricks up next to each one in the chain. It was a pain ( literally and figuratively) leaning over the dome and grabbing stuff.

What I originally envisioned with my arch-over method, was a kind of smaller curved reflection of the herringbone patern in the floor.

On a different oven ( with a tile saw, I would try that perhaps... )

Anyway, thanks for the info.