Pizza Bob's 42" Build Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Pizza Bob's 42" Build in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Originally Posted by DaveW Hi Bob, You and Dino are my inspiration. . .true craftsmen. Of course there are many ...

[pizza_bob]

Originally Posted by DaveW

Hi Bob,
You and Dino are my inspiration. . .true craftsmen. Of course there are many others but I have been focusing my attention on your builds. Is the weather as nasty up there as it is here in VA? I set my soldier bricks and the wx went sour. I won't catch you but I hope to follow closely behind. Thanks for documenting your build so well,
Dave

Dave,
Thanks for the compliments and glad I can help. You have got quite the project going on there! It looks awesome so far! How cool will that outdoor kitchen be with a WFO??? Nice! This is the first time I ever laid a brick and I'm really enjoying it. If you learn anything from my build is to not take as long as it has been taking me! You might catch me...I really wanted to fire this up before the winter but it's not gonna' haappen. It hasn't been too nasty here but that storm hitting you now will catch up to us tomorrow. I have bricks cut for my eigth course and I want to get those in place before the winter and then I think I'm done until the spring.

Good luck with your build!

dsgreco,
Thanks for the compliments. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. Good luck with your build!

Best,
Bob

[pizza_bob]

Today was an absolutely gorgeous November day in Connecticut! I wanted to work on the oven so badly but decided it was about time to close it up before the snow arrives. My "real job" has just been keeping me too busy to dedicate enough time to get this done before the snow. I'm not complaining but I am...
I completed the seventh course last week and took some pictures today. These will be the last until the spring. The coolest thing about these pictures was that I was FINALLY able to get pictures of the sky & tree tops from inside the oven with a course displayed! I always thought these were the coolest pictures and never thought I'd get there. Again, not as cool as putting in the keystone but these are close. I also broke-out the wet-dry vac and cleaned all loose mortar inside and out. If there was a mortar police I would have been fined over and over for wasting mortar! I removed the protective wood floor covering too in order to clean everything. I almost forgot what my herringbone floor looked like! It looked better than I remembered.
It was funny as I was cleaning-up, so many thoughts were going through my head as to how much work has been put into this - by myself (and of course all the support from this forum) - and I kept saying how I would do this and that differently and how I screwed-up here and there and how this looks great and that looks okay etc, etc, etc...But the bottom line is that this thing is gonna' kick ass when it's pumping out pizzas next spring!

~Bob

[pizza_bob]

Interior pictures...

[DaveW]

Bob that is gorgeous. Love those sky shots, they remind me of the Pantheon in Rome. I would call that eight courses...What are the soldiers? Chopped liver? I finished my seventh yesterday and had to call my wife out to hold the chain in place until I got the key stone in. Did you get your last chains in alone and if so how did you do it?
Come on, build a tent over that thing and finish it. Where else are you going to roast your chestnuts?
Dave

[pizza_bob]

Thanks Dave. Yeah I always loved everyone's "sky shots" from the inside. I'm glad to finally have my own. The soldiers have always been referred to as soldiers in this forum. I just followed suit...

I never needed to hold the courses in place for the last brick. I would custom fit the last brick and just use a little extra mortar on the sides and bottom of the brick. Then I would slide in it in from outside towards the center of the dome. The last brick usually needed to be ever so lightly tapped into place but not enough to disturb the bricks on each side. The extra mortar would make somewhat of a mess there and sometimes I would need to go in with a pointer (a.k.a. - my finger) to force a little more mortar into the joint. It seemed to work fine. The HeatStop 50 sets quickly enough for the bricks to stay in place for this method.

As far as the tent...I really thought about it but it would be more than just the tent. I cut bricks before each course so I can get them to fit exactly for that course. The temps are too cold in Connecticut and I worry about freezing. I know I can keep a light bulb or something in the oven to keep it warm but I enjoy working on this thing and don't think I'd enjoy it in the winter. Spring will be here soon and I'll get to that final keystone.

Or I might have these masons who just did a retaining wall for me last week finish the job! These guys did a GREAT job on the wall! It's 90 feet long and 3 feet tall and then it transitions up to 5 feet tall and 30 feet long. I was able to get 25 extra feet of flat land in the back yard. The steps will eventually lead up to a stone patio where the pizza oven will be located. They did all this in 7 days! It's 50% stone from our yard - all New England fieldstone. The rocks above the wall will be the location for another retaining wall that will connect to the pizza oven. Then the pizza oven will be finished in this same (smaller sizes) fieldstone.
The masons checked out my pizza oven a few times and commented on how good it's coming out...but they would have completed it in less than a week!
You can see the pizza oven in the second picture. Currently there is no easy access to the backyard so this wall and the next wall will make it easy for friends to follow their nose to the smell of pizza...

~Bob

[Millstone Man]

Your dome looks great and I love that stone wall. Quality craftsmanship on both projects and time is the only difference. Time is good if you are enjoying what your doing.

[cecilB]

We've had some absolutely gorgeous weather here, too. Unfortunately, we weren't here some of the time...and my "real job" also keeps me from finishing my dome - I just have to plug it up on the top! It sure isn't neat like some of the ones on here, but it'll keep the heat.
Bob, I love the stonewall - I lived in Massachusetts for 7 years - my favorite memories of my childhood where those years - between the ages of 9 and 16. They have stone walls in Kansas, which I discovered a few years ago - it was fall and the colors were beautiful and I found stonewalls and almost thought I was back in New England!

Well, I'm going to spend some time on here and figure out insulation and chimneys and doors...
and read the bread book by Hamelman I got today! woohoo!

Cecelia

[pizza_bob]

Do I have any volunteers to help me mortar my last few courses - today??

[Lars]

Hi Bob,
I was just out the property yesterday and saw my own drifted in oven. Wished I had my camera. It snowed a whole swath across the entire country. I guarantee noone is out there mortaring any oven bricks.

L.

[Rodneyf]

You guys have to be kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was 34C in Sydney last week and we never have to worry about snow. The only thing that stops the firing of the oven is a total fire ban and they don't happen that often though, so we just keep on cooking.