[Captainsls]

Hey all. Hope everyone is having a good season. This is the first time ive built any type of WFO so any input is appreciated. Ive poured my structural slab at 5" followed by a 4" layer of fine vermiculite/portland. Went 7/1 with the vermiculite. Im pretty much going off the fornobravo plans for a high-vault pompeii. Started cutting the floor today and also cut the first soldier course. Bout 2 hours to cut what is shown below.

 

[JBM]

Looks great! Subscribed!

Red firebrick eh? We gave up on them, they just have a meh look to them for me now a days.

 

[Captainsls]

Thanks jbm! i like the buff's better too i think. these were 25 cents less per unit and will prolly be black in no time so i went with em.

btw- i went through 100 units in the pict above. I thought i could have started the arch layout tonight but i need more brick

 

[fjn]

Are you going to go the indispensable tool route ( or what they call it) or foam forms or the nothing route ?


Look forward to watch the progress. Thank you for posting.

 

[Tscarborough]

Drag the ceiling down about 3" from the Forno Bravo plans and adjust the door height if it is primarily for pizza, otherwise, go for the hemispherical form. Looks great so far.

 

[JBM]

When you all build the form you use foam right? Is it common to use sand in between or just hold the ones long enough to lay another one next to it?

 

[stonecutter]

I don't use a form, but I do use a quarter cut board with my dome profile...sort of like a moveable template to check my angles as I go. A few seconds hold and move to the next one.

 

[Tscarborough]

Just a template to check the profile so you can tuck and clean the interior as you go.

 

[CJKarl]

The dome brick should sit completely on the floor. Allow for the floor to expand.

 

[CJKarl]

Plus you wouldn't have had to cut that beautiful radius.

 

[JBM]

It was an awesome cut out!

 

[Captainsls]

Are you going to go the indispensable tool route ( or what they call it) or foam forms or the nothing route ?


Look forward to watch the progress. Thank you for posting.

I like those 'indispensable tools'. Im just using a piece of foam insulation as a guide

Drag the ceiling down about 3" from the Forno Bravo plans and adjust the door height if it is primarily for pizza, otherwise, go for the hemispherical form. Looks great so far.

This will be a multi-use oven, so Ill go with the 18". When you pull the ceiling down like you said does it cook the pizza faster or help the floor heat up???

When you all build the form you use foam right? Is it common to use sand in between or just hold the ones long enough to lay another one next to it?

My foam piece is just like stonecutter uses...a half section of the dome. Havent used it yet, so Ill be finding out shortly how well it works

The dome brick should sit completely on the floor. Allow for the floor to expand.

That would have been much easier huh :laughing:. I plan on leaving a 1/4" or so between the floor and the walls- or would you leave more?

 

[Captainsls]

I had other block work to do on site so I couldnt work on the dome much. Here is where Im at. The only thing that bothers me so far are those stacked joints that have the reveal for the door. I had a crazy brick with a ton of cuts in it to make them half bond but i abandoned it.

 

[bytor]

I plan on leaving a 1/4" or so between the floor and the walls- or would you leave more?

I did the same as you... built the floor/hearth inside the 'walls' of the oven. I left 1/4" space and slipped a piece of 1/4" ceramic paper in the gap so it didn't fill up with ash etc.

 

[Captainsls]

I did the same as you... built the floor/hearth inside the 'walls' of the oven. I left 1/4" space and slipped a piece of 1/4" ceramic paper in the gap so it didn't fill up with ash etc.

Ahh. thats a clever idea. I didnt even think to reference your thread b/c I remembered it being a barrel vault. I read somewhere on Fornobravo (i think it was Tscar) that a lower vertical first course is more efficient. By having the walls inside the floor it gives me 5" till things start to 'dome'. I finished off the first course and arch. So... 5 hours for 1 man whats shown below + 3/4 bag of 50lb HeatStop.

 

[CENTERLINE MV]

I want one!

 

[dom-mas]

The dome brick should sit completely on the floor. Allow for the floor to expand.

I was reading that it's advisable to put the floor inside the dome rather than on it so it can be fully replaced if the bricks crack for any reason. Certainly a long term reason but not a bad one

I'm with you though on those cuts being incredible

 

[Tscarborough]

They can tear it down in a hundred years and rebuild it, re: floor. A better reason to put the floor inside the bricks is so that there is no joint at floor level for the peel to slide into.

The reason for a lower ceiling is better distribution of radiant heat leading to more even cooking between the top and bottom of the pizza. This is, of course, dependent upon the conduction of the floor material. If using low duty firebrick all around, then a lower ceiling helps.

 

[stonecutter]

I've done the dome layout both ways, floor inside the radius, dome on top of floor. It's personal preference....as far as jamming a peel between soldier and hearth- you either are careless with oven management or the hearth isn't level. I've yet to do or see that happen. I will say the hearth inside would be the best choice if you are using soapstone or something soft like biscotti di sorrento, and are rough on it. It would make replacement a whole lot easier down the line.

I'll jump on the bandwagon-nice cutting Cap. On one of my builds( the Pompeii) I used two pieces of foam fixed together for a template. It worked nice.

 

[Tscarborough]

I have jammed it in when cleaning out ashes with a metal peel, not while cooking.