Giardino 70 in San Diego - round stand

[Allo Pizza?]

Hello fellow pizza enthusiasts!

After a year of reading the FB forums and debating whether to build a Pompei or ordering a modular kit, we finally came to a decision and ordered a Giardino 70 from Forno Bravo. Because of space limitation, we went for a round shaped oven stand.

The location of the oven in the backyard was chosen away from the house, fence and trees and so the bonsai had to be relocated. Hope it survives the ordeal...



The flagstones were cut using a diamond blade, and a 4" form put in place (old garden border material).



The 40" diameter foundation took 7 x 60lbs bags of concrete mix, mixed in a wheelbarrow, and 6 small rebars.



I used concrete garden stones (keystone country cottage small stone) from the local rock depot, with mortar in between. A layer takes around 17 of those bricks for a diameter of 40". The stones have a wedge shape. Using blocks would have led to either bigger gaps or a lot of cutting.



Four layers seem to be enough. Two concrete blocks were placed inside the stand and filled with left over mortar and a plywood plank placed on top of that. Ready for the slab to be poured next week-end.



More pictures to come!

[stonejohn]

Great spot, the keystones were a good choice to make the tight radius, whatever their cost compared to block it was worth it. no cuts. Look forward to your progress.
John

[Allo Pizza?]

Thanks John. I am starting to think about the finish line and still have some questions about the stand, dome and the chimney. Would it make sense, given the small diameter (40") of the slab, to pour 2" or 3" of concrete and then a couple of inches of vermicrete on top of that (to complement the insulation board supplied by FB)?

I tried lifting one side of the dome and could barely lift it. Not sure how much it weighs but that thing is heavy! Is there a trick to moving the dome close to the stand and lift if in place? How many friends/neighbors should I call on? Right now, the dome is resting on the insulation board and that will need to somehow move in place first.



I would like to use a chimney cap with a 5/8" spark arrestor mesh. Would that fit on the terracotta chimney that came with the G70? FB carries the 6" Simpson cap and there is a 5" version available too. There are also some very nice copper pot toppers on the web but they are a bit pricey. What is the best route?

Finally for the igloo shaped dome finish, I have read somewhere on the forum about using Quickcrete Qwickwall surface bonding cement mixed with an acryclic fortifier on top of the 3 insulation blankets that came with the kit for a waterproof finish. I have also read about using vermicrete for that purpose, or a layer of one on top of the other. Can anyone recommend one or the other?

Thanks!

[Millstone Man]

As to the moving heavy objects with limited manpower. Cut 4 or 5 1'' pvc pipes a couple feet long. Use a prybar to lift an edge and put the pipe under and keep adding pipe for it to roll along. Incredibly easy and if you are on uneven ground you can lay some 2x4's between the ground and pipe. Once you get it close use blocks for cribbing and alternately lift each side with the prybar until you get it to height. Now put the pvc pipe lengthways under your object and base and you can slide it over. Slide out the pipe using the prybar. Pop a top on a cold one and take pride in your accomplishment.

Check my millstone project in my gallery of other projects listed below to see what I'm talking about.

[james]

Hey Allo Pizza,

You don't need to add any vermiculite concrete under the FB Board for thermal reasons. If you want to raise the cooking floor a little bit for cooking height, you could build your stand up using vermiculite concrete (and the extra insulation wouldn't hurt).

One way of lifting the G70 dome is to get three friends to help you slide 2"x4"s under the dome and lift it up to the hearth that way. Tip the front up high enough to slide the 2"x4"s underneath. You can do it! :-)

On easy way to form your Igloo is to use stucco lathe. You can cut, shape and tie wire it into place -- and then do the scratch coat of stucco.

Have fun - I am looking forward to seeing how it comes out.
James

[Allo Pizza?]

Originally Posted by Millstone Man

Use a prybar to lift an edge and put the pipe under and keep adding pipe for it to roll along. Check my millstone project in my gallery of other projects listed below to see what I'm talking about.

Thanks for the tip. I may try it to get the dome out of the garage and move it closer to the stand. Then maybe use James 2x4 technique to lift it into place.
By the way, really nice work on that staircase.

Originally Posted by james

On easy way to form your Igloo is to use stucco lathe. You can cut, shape and tie wire it into place -- and then do the scratch coat of stucco.
Have fun - I am looking forward to seeing how it comes out.
James

So I would cover the blanket with a stucco lathe and then apply stucco. If I wanted the final result to appear like a dome/half sphere to match the circular stand, that would mean applying several inches of stucco around the vent/chimney area. Would that work, or would I need some sort of support underneath the stucco in that area?

[james]

The stucco lathe will hold whatever shape you form, and the you only need about 1" for the stucco itself -- in two or three coats. If you shape the lathe around the chimney the way you want it to look, you won't need to apply a thicker layer of stucco for shape.

James

[dmun]

Not to be the spelling police, but

Lath = masonry armature
Lathe = Machine to make cylindrical objects

Interestingly they come from the same middle english word, meaning twig. Medieval turners would set up their workpiece between centers, wrap a rope around it tensioned by a bent sapling behind it, and pull the rope to rotate the workpiece back and forth. It was centuries before turners figured out how to achieve uniform forward rotation.

[james]

Very nice. Thanks Dmun. :-)
James

[Allo Pizza?]

Originally Posted by james

The stucco lathe will hold whatever shape you form, and the you only need about 1" for the stucco itself -- in two or three coats. If you shape the lathe around the chimney the way you want it to look, you won't need to apply a thicker layer of stucco for shape.
James

Thanks James, I found pictures of the stucco lath in the installation guide. When all fails, read the manual. Looks straight forward. That will probably have to wait until next week since it is raining this week-end. But at least the stand is done, with a 5" slab, including a vermicrete partial core.