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Wood fired oven - housed in dry stone structure

33K views 190 replies 24 participants last post by  drystoneoven 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of building a wood fired oven within a dry-stone structure. I've been at this at least since September 2010, when I started brainstorming. Since I started so long ago, I have already come quite far, and am currently working on the oven itself. You may notice that I'm not a professional mason in the sense that I don't make my money doing this. I'm actually an attorney, but I take stone work very seriously. I hope no one will hold that against me!

That said, I started out doing dry stone masonry in 2008. I've done quite a few free standing walls and retaining walls, including some corners, steps, an arch, etc... However my wife wasn't very impressed, considering the time I was spending outside. So I set off to build a brick oven housed in a dry stone structure, meaning there would be no mortar to set the stones in. I realized that in order to do this, I would invariably have to find a gigantic capstone to cap everything together at the end, or the oven would get wet and I wouldn't get all the stones tied together properly. So I went in search of a stone that might work, so that I could design an oven and structure underneath it. I found one on a creek bank which was already almost rectangular. After I split a section off, it was 6'x4'x9" thick, and more importantly, it was accessible by the creek in only 2 feet of water, meaning I could drive a tractor up the creek to get it. So that's what I did first. I built a sled to lay the rock on, went down to the creek and jacked it up and slid the sled underneath and towed it out of there. Here is an album of the pictures: http://imgur.com/a/bsS2O

Here are two pics of the stone, for those who don't wish to visit an outside site.



I may be a bit slow on updating, but that's only because I'll be uploading and arranging pics as I go. The next post will be about how I chose a spot in the yard and dug and set the foundation.
 
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#94 ·
Should I try to remove all of the cladding? Did you see the post where I mentioned that some of the layers of brick in the wall have no mortar because I wanted to lay them tight together. If I tear off the entire cladding and hammer away at the thing, I do feel uncertain that I won't crack up the vault.
 
#95 ·
It seems what these guys are getting at is to get rid of mass that isn't contributing to insulation. If you got rid of 4 of the 8" I suspect you'd be doing more than twice as good. Wait maybe that's wrong, take a look at those formulas that Tsarborough or whoever posted and figure out if there's a point of diminishing returns.

I don't think it needs to be **** and , leave some material there if you feel like the walls wouldn't be stable without it, but the less mass you have to heat up, the more heat can be used for cooking, so long as it's contained
 
#97 ·
dryso,
I've been doing my homework for way to long on these and I'm still only playing with an outdoor fireplace. If you go back through the posts, it's all about the insulation. And I mean that if you really want this to be a real oven, able to do your pizza in the beginning, and then going on to the roasts and finishing with the breads and minor deserts. C.J. and the big T. have weighed in, concentrate on the R -value right around the oven, with the dead air space and you can build a smaller oven(Harder as we in the know, know) and still produce amazing edibles! My plan is to build my killer oven and then, my three neighbors being cooks, we tag team weekends when I fire her up. They seem oh so willing...

D.
 
#99 ·
I would certainly leave some on the lower edge to bind the dry laid brick, but the bottom line is that the firebrick alone provide enough thermal mass. Go crazy with the angle grinder and a couple of cheapo diamond blades, cut and chip, it doesn't have to look pretty. Normal procedure is to parge the exterior anyway, both to fill the gaps and to act as a binder.

And, just so you know in advance, you will get cracks and they do not matter at all.
 
#100 ·
I wish you had told me about the cracks earlier! I went out this morning and saw a crack through the mortar of the front arch and I was like WTF? Then I looked online and realized everybody gets cracks. Oh well it still looks structurally intact.

I'm looking for a place to rent an angle grinder but not having any luck yet.
 
#116 ·
So I had to get a washer to even make the diamond wheel fit without wobbling, so there went a day. I tried it out during lunch and it works fine, but I'll have to score and chisel twice, such is the limited bite of the 4 1/2" cutting wheel, at least when compared to the thickness of the concrete cladding I've got on there. Guaranteed I'll be cutting and hammering in the black of night tonight. Talk about first world problems, I've got them in scores!:laughing:
 
#119 ·
yep watch the fingers when you do the 7" blades. I carry 3 grinders in my truck. one has a 4" tuck point one has a 7" blade and the other goes between a reg 4" blade and a grinding cup. then a few in the garage with metal blades and flap disks. the angle grinder is my most used tool I own
 
#122 ·
Behold, repentance for my sins!





Let me tell you, greater love hath no man for an oven than he removes 3-4 inches of reinforced high strength concrete cladding with a 4 1/2" grinder and a cutoff saw. The 4 1/2" grinder was basically useless. I tried cutting and chiseling at first and eventually got one whole piece free, so I decided to take them all that way. I reckon I should've thought about a bigger blade, but there is no way you could convince me to use one of those grinders without a proper guard. I wouldn't be a very effective counselor for risk assessment if I've cut my fingers off by misusing a tool now would I? In any case, I managed to remove the entire cladding except for the spot buttressing that front arch. I probably could've got rid of that as well, but I didn't want to chance messing it up right at the last piece. Also, I put the insulation on, two layers thick, except for the very front part.


I didn't have enough for more, but I figure I'll be in a pretty decent position now with the non-insulated cladding gone. I've got 12 cubit feet of perlite waiting outside with some portland cement. I'm going to pour it tomorrow. Once it dries, is it possible to put some kind of stucco cement mix on and then seal that for temporary water protection while I'm building for the next few months?
 
#133 ·
is it possible to put some kind of stucco cement mix on and then seal that for temporary water protection while I'm building for the next few months?
Sure...just don't use straight Portland cement. You want the stucco to be breathable so it will be able to release the water vapor from the oven and insulating concrete. If it was me, I would apply the stucco after curing the oven and insulating layer so the moisture doesn't have to pass through the stucco. Then apply the outer shell. Keep it covered will a tarp or plastic until you get it dried in. The stucco won't be water proof and you don't want to keep having to dry the oven out.

Speaking of which, if you don't know this already....do NOT build big fires in the oven during the first few days of curing. You will damage the oven! Small fires at a consistent temp are your friend at this stage.
 
#125 ·
Thanks, I'm no professional. I have a time advantage that many people can't consider when they're doing something for money. That's why I love doing it for myself. It's not a question of time and money. It's all about loving the process. Your oven and set up around it look awesome. I'm excited to design the surrounding area of my oven with paving etc. It'll be a while though.
 
#128 ·
First thing I do when i get a grinder is remove the guard. It's surprisingly difficult to cut yourself with a diamond blade. It needs something hard to cut against and the give of your skin and flesh make a cut more like a friction burn. I doesn't feel good, that's for sure but you'd really have to press it into your body to even warrant stitches let alone losing a finger. But that's my experience and the guards are there for a reason.
 
#131 ·
No segmented blades. And like I said, they don't feel good, and it's not something I do on a regular basis but it happens a couple times a year more or less and it's not instant trip to the hospital type stuff like with a wood blade. I don't think I've ever needed a bandaid even. Again, I'm not talking about pressing the blade into your flesh, just if the blade nicks you. Try to cut something soft with a diamond blade, it takes a long time.

My old business partner did have to go get stitches one time but he'd been dropping the grinder on it's blade and it had become twisted, which was also why it jammed in the cut and jerked out into his hand.
 
#130 ·
Segmented blades have opened me up from time to time, and it was just a bounce off the skin. As well, demo saws have more then once cut open the toes on my boots. Yeah it might not cut as quick as a wood blade, but dont get complacent with the ability for it to cause enough injury to ruin your day.
 
#141 ·
Now doesn't that feel better?
Um, OK I'll be the stick in the mud to say that I don't feel real comfortable with a post that seems to advocate modifying a tool to remove it's safety features.

I saw a guy once who had a 7" blade on a 4 1/2" grinder and I thought it was ridiculous, and amaturish.
They make 7" grinders you know.

Sorry for the digression but I think safety is very important and we're a serious discussion here right?

Besides that, if you take the guard off a grinder you can't set it down without scarring your work.

Dave
 
#143 ·
Point well taken.....I guess I should say use at your own risk. I too take off my guard as well and have no problem setting it down without scarring. It would definitely be best to advise all those reading these posts to follow the manufacturer's recommendations and always wear eye protection at the very least. These are not toys.

Having said that, I have done nothing but nick myself a few times with a big blade on a small grinder, no blood spilt in 10ish years. (I have severed the tendons to my pinkie finger on a full size brick saw btw) One of the reason's a small grinder works pretty well is that the motor is not that powerful so when the blade binds it stops the blade instead of ripping your arm off. A 7" grinder is much heavier and more powerful creating it's own set of problems. Another point to consider is that some grinder's are more dangerous than others depending where and how the on/off switch is configured.

To each his own though...if it makes you uncomfortable please don't use it.
 
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