Jayson's build in Melbourne Australia

[Jayson]

After much research and a lot of time spent on FB I am please to have started my build.

I am following the Pompeii oven plans with a few of my own adjustments. Dimensions : 1100mm internal diameter , should end up 550mm high.

I was really impressed with the various types of indespensible tools I have seen on FB and decided I had to give that a go, which you will see in my photos. It has been a great help.

I am using castable refractory mix and found it to be really good to work with.

I have started a Picasa web album and welcome any feedback
https://picasaweb.google.com/1140387...eat=directlink

[mn8tr]

Looks like you are off to a great start. Enjoy your build, you will be cooking in no time.

[brickie in oz]

If you havent already started the arch you may want to put a small packer underneath the arch form work.
This will enable the form to be removed a lot easier when you have finished.

As your form is now it will be very difficult to remove especially when it gets wet and expands.

[Jayson]

Hi Brickie, thanks for that advice, I hadn't thought of using wedges. The upper arch section is screwed to an upright and the upright doesn't go all the way to the top. I was thinking I could take the screws out to drop the arches and the rest should be clear. I might trim the width and use wedges at the sides. Thanks for the heads up.

[Jayson]

Thanks mn8tr. I cant wait to fire up the first Pizza. I like the stones you have used on the fron of your arch. Very unique. How's it cook?

[Jayson]

Things have been progressing and I thought I should share my progress with some photos below.

[Karangi Dude]

Hey Jayson,
Nice job you have done a neat transition from the oven to door arch it's all looking good.

Cheers Doug

[Jayson]

Firstly, sorry about the order in which I have added this post.

This part of the build was obviously before the previous post.

These pics show the transition of the dome to the arch, which I have found to be the most challenging part of the build so far. I was keen to avoid the tear drop shape that I have seen occur with other builds. When I began cutting the transition brick I had initially used full length bricks but quickly realized that if I used a brick longer than the normal half bricks, this took the round shape off course and caused the tear drop shape.

I resisted the temptation and just used half bricks and this seemed to work. Getting the angle on the back of the brick (outward facing) right was the hardest part as you will see from the picture of the front of the oven. A couple of bricks above the arch had been angled a little too steeply and as a result I had to fill a bit with mortar but this is just in the surface mostly.

Credit to my dad too for doing the clean up, trust him to be able to prove he helped by getting in the photo. Free Pizza for life now.

[Jayson]

Originally Posted by Karangi Dude

Hey Jayson,
Nice job you have done a neat transition from the oven to door arch it's all looking good.

Cheers Doug

Thanks Doug! Watching yours along the way has really helped. Thanks for sharing the build.

Regards

[Karangi Dude]

Hey Jayson,
Nice Vegie Garden over the fence! what is the copper pipe fitting for adding steam?

Cheers Doug