August -Sept. 2011

AUGUST 2011 (continued)

Well, this build is certainly all it's CRACKED up to be! Here are some pics of the damage which was a result of not putting in cardboard to keep the brick chips out from around the oven expansion joint for the floor. The soldiers were spaced 1/8" away from the floor for thermal expansion of the hearth. Without putting in cardboard or other burnable material, solid, nonburnable and damaging material fell into the space and with the thermal expansion of the hearth, something had to give! It was the dome! Here are some pics of the cracks (more like fissure) in the dome.

This doesn't look as bad in pics as in person!Here are some more pics from the outside......

And now the grandaddy of all cracks! Yep that is me foolishly thinking I could fit inside to repair the cracks...well fitting in is easier than getting out!!!! HELP!!!!

Ok ok help me out of here... my shoulders are stuck! 

Now you know my wife is taking this pic and laughing her butt off and making all kinds of requests before she gets help!

All is well that ends well, the cracks are repaired and cured. Now it is time to finish the oven cure and test this puppy out with some PIZZA! (Hmmm, I wonder why I got stuck?)

Here is the form work for the travertine landing in front of the oven. Needed to build up this area to match the elevation created by the insulating foamglas under the oven.

Here you can see I angled the self towards the front for water or other liquids to run away from the oven and not into it. First non level surface to date! I added the travertine shelf after the concrete cured and now to Pizza!

FIRE oh YES!

Oven temps are approaching 800 degrees F

It's looking like PIZZA Time!

Where does the pizza go??? Dean do you know?

You can hear Dean Martin singing - " When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, That's Amore' "

Finally PIZZA! Looking good enough to eat!

Pizza Party Time!  YAHOO!!!!!!!!

Now back to Building! Yeah right, how can I stop eating and start building again???
Is that my wife I hear? 
Oh, oh I need to get building! 
See you in September!



SEPTEMBER 2011 (continued)


September 2011 brings a chill to the air and a sense of urgency to the project. Now that the oven is functional and dry, it is a good idea to keep it dry!

So insulation on the oven, walls around the oven and a roof over the oven are the next steps in this journey!

    Here I am all cozy in my make shift hazmat suit. This insulation is super heat resistant and alsoworse than fiberglass insulation. I have a total of four blankets and will use it all.
That will give me a total of six inches of 8lb high heat insulation on and around the dome.  

Tada! Dome is all wrapped in its blankey and ready for a nap!


Now on to the walls!