one door or two????

[klaatu]

Hey Guys,
I'm of the mind that I should have two doors. The outer one should have
the vents to control the airflow to the fire and the inner one for retained
heat cooking.
Having two doors only means that I need to plan ahead with the tunnel,
the trouble of making an extra door and an extra, smaller arch.
Question is, is it worth it?

Thanks

[jengineer]

An the two doors are generaaly of different material. Look for photos of CanuckJim, Marcel and possibly the gallery. The outer door has a small vent in the bottom to allow draft air for the active fire. It needs to be of cast iron or sheet metal - Not Aluminium. The vent is generally 2 to 3 inches in height or with a slide mechanism for variable vent and generall runs the the horisontal length of the door. As Jim puts it it will huff and puff like a steam locomotive but there will be no visible smoke out of the stack due to the complte combustion of the fuel source.

The 2nd door need to fit inside the tunnel to close off the cooking portion of the oven and stop the escaping hot air. A very thick plank of hard wood could be used but it will singe and the oils will cook off with time. Most builders have used some fort of sandwiched insulated door i.e. a steel layer, a layer of insulation and a layer of either more steel or wood and of course a couple of handles.

I am wonderiong if it would be feasible to make a a door using the FB mix about 1/4 inch thick on some of the ISOL board faced with a decorative front and handle. Use the high temp glue to fix the ISOL to the front piece.

Sorry really didn't give you the short answer - Yes it will be worth the effort if you are planning on retined heat cooking.