DOUG SPALDING LANDSCAPE
PHOTOGRAPHY
This page will show the
construction of the oven from the base up.
To see the foundation work,
click here
To see the next phase of
construction - the outer shell, click here
 A
dry run of the pattern before we begin cementing things down-Note-laying
the bricks on edge turned out badly-lay the bricks on the flat sides for
the walls on use #1 arched bricks for the ceiling-see later images of how
this works |
 Precariously
balanced, Doug attempts to do this correctly |
 Doug's
feet |
 The
firebox floor/cooking surface is down |
 Bill
cleans off the excess mortar |
 Bill
does that some more |
 Bill
admires our work |
 The
basic firebox is in. We'll add the entry arch and the firebox arch next, as
we bring the front and back walls up with the arches |
 Looking
down from the upper deck |
 Forms
in for the vaulted arch |
 Oh
look - a sort of staging to stand on while working |
 A
view from the ground, looking at the back of the oven |
 View
looking into the front of the oven as we add forms to build the arched
vault |
 We've
added 2x6 bridging between the forms so as to have something to attach the
thin plywood to before laying in the firebrick ceiling of the vault |
 A
view from above, looking into the firebox |
 Once
the refractory mortar has cured we'll begin with small fires and burn out
the wooden forms that are shown here |
 Here
you can see the plywood installed over the forms to give a good surface to
build the vaulted arch |
 Close-up
of the form |
 The
bricks are in on both sides and we only have one row left down the center
of the roof |
 This
is gonna be soooo neat! |
 From
the lake side |
 Looking
down from the upper deck we can see where the outflow of hot gasses will
exit the firebox in front (towards the bottom of the screen) |
 Closer
look at that |
 Another
view of the roof of the oven |
 Doug
slaving away |
 Golly,
maybe staging on this side would have been a good idea too? |
 Note
the mortar on the hands-caution - may cause skin irritation. bah... |
 Closing
up the front of the firebox |
 Firebox
is nearly done. We'll work on the smoke path and entry arch next time |
 This
may end up as the entry arch |
 The
smoke exits the top of the firebox at the front of the oven (to the
viewer's right in this image), and passes through the horizontal passage
on the top of the oven to the flue shown at the left in clay tile. As the
fire burns deep inside the oven the smoke must travel to the front of the
oven to exit the flue. It gives the heat from combustion off to the
firebrick oven by taking this circuitous path to the chimney. (Note-the
clay tile was temporary-it couldn't stand the heat and crumbled-use
firebricks for the chimney!) |
 This
front-on view of the oven shows the flue from a different angle. Again-
the wooden forms you can see inside will be burnt out as the initial
firing begins to cure the firebrick joints |
 Here
you can see some reinforcing wire that we'll embed into the outer surface
of the oven - a little insurance against arch failure in case a mortar
joint fails |
 The
mortar embedding the wire |
 View
from center-deck |
 Closer
look at it |
 From
the side |
We burned a couple of sheets of news paper and the smoke
came out in the right place. Good news on top of good news here |
Click here for images of the next
phase of construction - the outer shell |
A
dry run of the pattern before we begin cementing things down-Note-laying
the bricks on edge turned out badly-lay the bricks on the flat sides for
the walls on use #1 arched bricks for the ceiling-see later images of how
this works
Precariously
balanced, Doug attempts to do this correctly
Doug's
feet
The
firebox floor/cooking surface is down
Bill
cleans off the excess mortar
Bill
does that some more
Bill
admires our work
The
basic firebox is in. We'll add the entry arch and the firebox arch next, as
we bring the front and back walls up with the arches
Looking
down from the upper deck
Forms
in for the vaulted arch
Oh
look - a sort of staging to stand on while working
A
view from the ground, looking at the back of the oven
View
looking into the front of the oven as we add forms to build the arched
vault
We've
added 2x6 bridging between the forms so as to have something to attach the
thin plywood to before laying in the firebrick ceiling of the vault
A
view from above, looking into the firebox
Once
the refractory mortar has cured we'll begin with small fires and burn out
the wooden forms that are shown here
Here
you can see the plywood installed over the forms to give a good surface to
build the vaulted arch
Close-up
of the form
The
bricks are in on both sides and we only have one row left down the center
of the roof
This
is gonna be soooo neat!
From
the lake side
Looking
down from the upper deck we can see where the outflow of hot gasses will
exit the firebox in front (towards the bottom of the screen)
Closer
look at that
Another
view of the roof of the oven
Doug
slaving away
Golly,
maybe staging on this side would have been a good idea too?
Note
the mortar on the hands-caution - may cause skin irritation. bah...
Closing
up the front of the firebox
Firebox
is nearly done. We'll work on the smoke path and entry arch next time
This
may end up as the entry arch
The
smoke exits the top of the firebox at the front of the oven (to the
viewer's right in this image), and passes through the horizontal passage
on the top of the oven to the flue shown at the left in clay tile. As the
fire burns deep inside the oven the smoke must travel to the front of the
oven to exit the flue. It gives the heat from combustion off to the
firebrick oven by taking this circuitous path to the chimney. (Note-the
clay tile was temporary-it couldn't stand the heat and crumbled-use
firebricks for the chimney!)
This
front-on view of the oven shows the flue from a different angle. Again-
the wooden forms you can see inside will be burnt out as the initial
firing begins to cure the firebrick joints
Here
you can see some reinforcing wire that we'll embed into the outer surface
of the oven - a little insurance against arch failure in case a mortar
joint fails
The
mortar embedding the wire
View
from center-deck
Closer
look at it
From
the side