Trying a thin Dome Pompeii?

[james]

David,
I think XJ was thinking on edge, but I guess we'll see. My oven has them on the edge as you describe -- again, not recommended. The concretet required to hold everything together ruined the experiment.
James

[Marcel]

(M) Noosab. I tried to send a private message but the center doesn't show it.

(M) To answer your question: French Horn.

"Support Live Music"
Local 47

Ciao,

Marcel

[Chris]

I'm the one who cut his bricks into thirds. I should be starting curing fires in my oven built with 3" thick walls sometime next week.

I built my oven under a shed roof, then decided I'd rather move the roof to cover the dining area than try to run a chimney up through it. Some guys are coming tomorrow to help me move it over, then I can proceed with the fires.

[Xabia Jim]

Yes, I was planning on using splits, cut in half and laid on their flat side....so dome thickness would be 3cm of brick and whatever blanket thickness was used. Splits are cheaper here. Thick bricks for the hearth. Still thinking about insulation but the Arlite, expanded clay balls might do.

The arch or dome structure is incredibly stong as many of the pictures posted can attest to. I think the surface area of connecting bricks whether an inch thick or 3 inches is about the same, with just the edge touching (unless you're doing a lot of angle cutting/grinding)

What's amazing me is I"m finding old ovens (two I've posted pictures of now and one I owe you) where the domes are intact but the buildings around them are in ruin! I don't believe they used refractory cement either as they are probably both about 200 years old! .....But that said, I'd be relying on the dome shape for structural support, with a mortar in the joints and outer layer for the support longevity.

I already used plaster for my outer insulating dome layer of the bake oven but covered it with two layers of thin cement for weather protection. Holding up fine so far. One fact I've left out is that the sand here is actually crushed limestone so you're getting limestone dust and fine crushed stone for your mortar binder. I think when heated, this adds to the strength of the mix.

Still processing this one so keep the ideas/suggestions coming.....