Matt's WFO Build Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Matt's WFO Build in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; 2. Don’t touch the mortar with your fingers. Your fingers are for picking your nose not moving mortar that is ...

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

2. Don’t touch the mortar with your fingers. Your fingers are for picking your nose not moving mortar that is what the trowel is for.

First off, that has got to be one of the funniest things I ever heard,,, God bless your father in law...

2nd.. Your oven is looking great, your doing a fantastic job,,

Cheers
Mark

[mluttropp]

Wahoo I am getting very near the end. One more chain then the plug. I set the last chain using the TLAR method and it looks gray. Very excited.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

where's the pic's man ???

[mluttropp]

Okay sorry about not posting pictures the last time. I was in a hurry.

Well we have been hard at work and are very close to closing the dome. Tomorrow I hope to set the keystone in the dome. It is definitely not going to be pretty but it will do the trick. As you can see from the pictures the interior of the dome leaves a little to be desired in terms of clean neat joints. I think I will take the angle grinder to some of the high spots to clean up the interior surface of the dome. Not sure how and when things got out of wack, but once it was it sort of continued to be a little off for the rest of the build.

The keystone is going to be quite the carving project and I think I am going to use the same approach that Dino used in that I will set it in two pieces (lower and upper). This should make the shaping of the piece a lot easier.

I think If I had to do this again I would spend more time on the lower chains making sure they were absolutely perfect as the errors seems to get amplified as you move up the dome. All in all I think the oven will work just fine, it just may not have the nicest interior in the forum. By the way I looked inside the commercially made oven at Tony Gemignani’s restaurant in San Francisco and I could see mortar smears and other imperfections in it, so I am going to assume that this is all an exercise in esthetics.

By the way the kids wanted to help with the oven so I asked them to cover the ugly outside of the dome with a thin layer of mortar. They thought this was a great idea as it was just like playing in the mud but with mortar mix. Yes they had gloves on and it was the home brew stuff so it is not an extravagant expense. Besides I think a nice smooth coat on the outside will help me identify cracks that open up when I cure the oven.

Since I used a lot of the home brew mortar I am planning on waiting 28 days before I start the curing process so that the mortar has a chance to reach the majority of its strength before I drive all the moisture out of it. I suspect this will help a great deal with potential cracking issues. I noticed that quite a few of the folks from England and Australia have used propane burners and charcoal to cure their ovens. They seem to like the idea of starting at a lower temperature and holding it for a while then slowly raising the temperatures without a cool off period. Has anyone else tried this approach with good results? At the very least I am thinking of using propane for the lower temp fires as it seems to be rather convenient.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

I think it looks great,, Hope you get your dome closed,, Then the hard part,,,,28 days waiting......

Cheers
Mark

[mluttropp]

Well we did it. The dome is complete. The keystone may not be the standard configuration but it will work. Once the oven cures I will crawl inside with a grinder and clean up some of the lips and mortar spills that will drive me crazy if I just leave them. I definitely plan on using a full on respirator and face shield for that job. Should be interesting.

I have attached the mandatory Hansel and Gretel type photos for the kids in the oven as well as the full build team.

Now I just have to start thinking about how to build the gabled house type enclosure and more importantly how in the world you get a flue pipe through the top of a roof at the peak. Dino did it with a custom build copper flashing system. Is there a standard off the shelf version in steel available or do you have to have this flashing custom built? Any help would be appreciated.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

I will crawl inside with a grinder and clean up some of the lips and mortar spills that will drive me crazy if I just leave them.

I cant see any of the spills from here in New Jersey,,, and there even harder to see when theres a fire going....

[jmhepworth]

Originally Posted by ThisOldGarageNJ

I cant see any of the spills from here in New Jersey,,, and there even harder to see when theres a fire going....

I agree. I was annoyed with some of the mortar on the inside of my oven. When the oven's cold, the black covers the problems up. When the oven is hot, you can't stick your head in to see the problems.

Joe

[wayner]

Matt,

Good work.

I went over to Tony's Pizzeria last Friday and sat at the table looking into his dome oven. And you're right. I'd estimate his mortar joints are all 3/8" to 1/2" wide on each side of the bricks on the inside of the oven. The last last time I went Tony sat down and was telling us that he had this oven built in Italy and shipped over on the stand and the only thing they did here was apply that cracked tile finish. Long story short, like everyone is saying, "Perfect the food, not the dome." There are an incredible number of artisans on this site, but what would you expect from people who are willing to tackle something like this.

RE: custom sheet metal flashing. My friend has a sheet metal shop, but its here in Burlingame. Based on a sketch and dimensions, they can build anything to order. They can do stuff out of copper sheet, galvanized sheet metal, and stainless and in lots of different thicknesses. Depending on how complex your flashing is going to be, I'd imagine most sheet metal shops will be able to cut and bend something for you. Most of their shop work is for other contractors/installers because they're set up to fabricate faster. His shop is Burlingame Heating. If you don't find anything in your neck of the woods. I can certainly give you his contact info.

Congrats again on closing it up before this big storm hits.

-wayne

ps. If you haven't already, you've got to go to Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur. Just as good or even better than Tony's.

[mluttropp]

Mark and Joe, thanks for the words of encouragement on not messing with the cleanup. I may take your advice as I am 6'2" and crawling in the oven does not leave a lot of room to work.

Wayne, thanks for the sheet metal flashing help. I will see what I can find here, if I strike out I will contact you regarding your friends business.

I have not been to Larkspur in a very long time, next time I get there I will definately have a pizza at Pizzeria Picco.