Golden Hammer Oven.

[redbricknick]

We're going. We've jackhammered a hole for the slab, bought a janky cement mixer, begged borrowed and stole rocks, bricks , blocks, rebar and tools, and we're well underway towards building the worlds first carbon neutral, totally recycled pizza oven. Well, mostly recycled. We bought portland cement, which we're mixing six to two with the broken up slab for the new slab, and we're probably going to have to buy our fire bricks... BUT! We're collaborating with the local elementary school to turn the local trash dump/crack alley into a park/organic garden learning center, full of plants so we can feel good about the amount of smoke our oven will belch into the atmosphere. And we're filming everything. 24p broadcast quality all the way. Much of our work will be done by out of work actresses. Can I post video here? Many thanks to all on this site. A slice for you all soon. (we're already selling pizza futures on the interweb..)

[stuart]

Fantastic!

[redbricknick]

We've been busy. Got all our old bricks excavated from various places, bought a bunch of rocks from a wierd dude on craigslist.. We have about three times more than is pictured, this is the batch we pressurewashed. Got all our cinderblock for free from the same guy... Went to a huge construction site and pulled all this lumber and some rebar (Freebar) out of the dumpster... Poured the foundation. Next we build the stand walls. We're going with a similer stonework style to the the third picture. (It's a wall in Tuscany) Thinking about building a moon arch for the opening of the wood storage area. (first picture) Filmed about five hours of footage so far.. Heaps of fun.

[redbricknick]

That's not powdery mildew on the vines in the background. Our mixer spits. The vines are quite healthy.

[Marcel]

(M) I'm impressed; not just with the workmanship to date, but with your commitment to environmental principles! Your oven will be a real learning example for the local school kids and your community.

(M) I hope that I'm not patronizing when I stress the importance of the *process*. You're having fun and I'm sure your "students" are as well. Take your time, ........ take your time. I took almost a year to complete my oven and that wasn't too long.

(M) I think you're wise to purchase real fire brick, both for the Hearth Floor, and for the dome. It would be a shame to have this beautiful appearing oven fail to produce excellent pizza and bread.

(RBN) "....so we can feel good about the amount of smoke our oven will belch into the atmosphere."

(M) You will be surprised to see very little smoke after the first 1/2 hour. The fire will burn very efficiently. But what will you use for wood? L.A. has lots of Eucalyptus which is fine for a fire place but could mess up a pizza. "Live Oak" would burn well but may be hard to find; perhaps Topanga Canyon may be a source.

(M) "Build it and they will come"!

Ciao,

Marcel

[dmun]

Here's a hint from the concrete article on Wikipedia:

Originally Posted by wikipedia.org

Fly ash: A by-product of coal-fire electric generating plants, it is used to partially replace Portland cement by up to 40% by weight. Experiments have determined that the use of ash up to 95% can produce structurally sound concrete, but it is only useful under limited load pressures.

I'd always heard of cinder blocks, of course, but I assumed that the cinders were used in the place of aggregate, but it seems it can replace some of the portland cement.

Sources for coal cinders might be artisan blacksmiths, or NYC style coal fired pizzarias.

This might be worth doing some experiments.

[redbricknick]

Thankyou Dmun. I'll look into that for sure. Our oven isn't going to end up totally recycled, it's too hard with our schedules. We're using good ol' American money for some things, Mostly other people's (production companies) money. I'm a freelance art director by day, and we've been sneakily adding supplies onto company tabs. Of course, it's all for the good of the film, which is turning out hilarious. Sean Lennon is slated to do a cameo, and I'm working on Daryll Hannah...

Any and all forum members are welcome to come over and be actors. Please bring clothes you don't mind trashing, a bottle or two of reasonable wine, and some firebricks...

Dmun. Your geodesic dome oven is flabbergastingly cool. Please document it as well as you can. Innovation is best shared.

[CanuckJim]

Sure, I'll show up, but only if I'm cast as the Scavenger's Apprentice. Where ARE you?

Jim

[james]

That's the word I was looking for. Thanks Nick.
James

[redbricknick]

I know that river rocks can explode with high heat, and I'm building my oven base out of them. Can anyone put my mind at ease (and my Mother's) and confirm that my oven base will not reach exploding temperatures?