Newbie from Eastern Washington State

[BriggsARNP]

I am interested in doing a 42" pompei oven. I want to watch a few more builds before I get started. I can already see that there is a ton of information availalbe here. I am looking forward to being a fly on the wall.
Thanks
Bevan

[Boiler Bob]

welcome from Boardman Or. I am currently building a 42 in pompeii. Between work, wind and rain I will get it done one of these days. I sourced most of my materials in Pasco.

[BriggsARNP]

I live in Pasco. I will send you a personal message

[terrihoward]

I'm in Leavenworth, if you ever get to that neck of the woods you can have a look at mine. I got my bricks and mortar from Wester Materials, they have an office in your area.

[BriggsARNP]

I have been looking at Western Materials here in Pasco. They have firebrick for $1.30 I think. They didn't have any refractory mortar but they do have fireclay so I think I will end up doing the home mixed version. They don't seem to have any ceramic fiber board or blanket but there are places in Spokane and Seattle that carry those things and so it isn't too far out of the way. Other than that between Home Depot and Lowes I think that I can probably find everything I will need. Er, maybe not the money or the time but I will have to find those elsewhere

[Boiler Bob]

I bought firebrick from Western Materials in Pasco. The firebrick was 1.71 per. I also bought fireclay that I mixed with their amerimax? mortar. I bought the perlite for the hearth from them also, but it is the brick fill stuff. If you want perlite from the gardenstores it is about five times the pricel You can get kaowool blanket at E.J Bartells. I think they are in Spokane. Jim Ward at Western is a good contact, he is interested in wood fired ovens.

[BriggsARNP]

Thanks for the info. I made a typo on the firebrick price. It didn't drop. I priced it at Whites Block in Spokane for $1.85. Did you get fiber board for the hearth isulation or use the perlite concrete?

[combustix]

Looking to build in Skagit county any one now of a good source for materials. May start on base this fall, but still need to look at more threads. Most likely going with the pompeii, any help would be appreciated.

[Lill Dave]

I'm just finishing my 36 in pompeii. I'm going to put all the pictures of my build on this forum when i figure out how.
One word of advice , the plans for the pompeii are very good but if you go the vermiculite or perlite way of insulation like I did the mixture is 5 to 1.
They say to mix it together dry then add water and have a consistency of oat meal ,they don't say wet and goopy oat meal or dry like it comes out of the box.
Make it wet and goopy , for the dome it's real easy to get your 3 to 4 in depth.
Also pick up a gallon of cement binder and a spray bottle .You'l figure out the rato of water to binder , it comes in real handy putting your dome bricks together .
Any queations you have feel free to ask , and if your on the other side othe mountains over by Grapeview wa stop by and take a look at my oven.
Oh get ready for at least 100 hours , its worth it.

[azpizzanut]

Hi All,

OOOOOH ! A new build.

I used block fill Perlite and didn't know there was supposed to be a problem. It mixed with Portland cement just fine. The package gave information about masonry block filling so I am sure that was its intended purpose. If the package also says something about a coating to improve flow characteristics then you may want to try a batch to see if it mixes ok.

Look at landscaper websites to source Perlite. It is used at golf courses and other large users including plant nurseries. I covered the dome of my 36" Pompeii with vermiculite from a landscaper supply. It is twice the price of Perlite but I wanted to try it. I saved on cost by enclosing the dome with aluminum window screen with a 4"-6" spacing. No point in filling the far off voids in the corners, etc. when it doesn't do any good there. See my build #2. View it as a slide show.

Cheers,