Author Topic: 41" low dome WFO build (Read 10878 times)

Jet_deck · « **on:** December 08, 2010, 03:34:17 PM »

I would like to take this thing to a chili cookoff here in 10 days, so I thought I should get things rolling. I picked up 100 firebrick, and got the dome made. It is going to be a lot larger than what I need, for now. It is loosely based on the FB Pompeii oven. If it doesn't work properly, I can dismantle it, and reuse just about everything. The center of the dome is 4" taller than the sides.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 08, 2010, 09:26:41 PM »

How are you going to insulate it?

c0mpl3x · « **Reply #2 on:** December 09, 2010, 12:27:41 AM »

i suspect with some form of insulation

Jet_deck · « **Reply #3 on:** December 09, 2010, 06:03:13 PM »

Yes, Kaowool, a ceramic blanket will be some of the insulation.

Jet_deck · « **Reply #4 on:** December 12, 2010, 11:31:28 AM »

Some progress.
Inside dia. 42"
inside height 12.4"
opening width 17.3"
opening height 8.7"

Jet_deck · « **Reply #5 on:** December 16, 2010, 11:44:14 AM »

Updated build pictures.

Jet_deck · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2010, 11:02:47 AM »

UPDATE: Great news. I just ordered a device from Auber Instruments to "automate" my WFO. It is a very simple device consisting of three parts; a small fan, a temperature probe and the controller. They are going to switch the normal temperature probe to a different one that is used in glass melting and kiln furnaces it is rated for 2,300F. It will work this way: I will drill a hole into the firebrick floor (from the bottom) and insert the temp. probe about 3/8" below the cooking surface.(this has been done before) You "set" the desired temperature on the controller say 850*. Until the temperature is reached, the controller turns on the fan, the fan lightly blows onto the burning coals, thus heating the oven. When the desired temperature is reached the controller shuts off the fan. It will repeat the on/off cycle of the fan until the temperature falls below/above the selected temperature. The fan will draw ambient air from the outside and will be located well away from the heat. The air will be carried into the oven through pipes into the sidewall of the oven, at floor level. This setup is widely known in the bbq world. It has not to my knowledge been done in a wfo before.

Anywho, I'm still plugging away at it.

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #7 on:** December 22, 2010, 11:19:12 AM »

Great idea Jet. I bet it will work great.

shuboyje · « **Reply #8 on:** December 23, 2010, 12:30:22 PM »

Sounds like a cool setup, my only input from my own experience would be to make the ducting into the oven as large as possible to give as low an air velocity as possible. I don't have any fancy setup, but I do have a piece of 2" cast iron pipe and a heat gun. I place the pipe into the oven mouth and put the heat gun at the end. Although it makes for huge flames and a good show, it does not work to get the oven up to temperature. You can feel the heat pouring out the front of the oven, and in my opinion that is exactly what happens. The air velocity is too high and the flame and heat move through the oven before it can give up it's heat to the dome. All the heat generated by the forced air induction goes up the stack. Every kiln I have seen vents from the bottom, our ovens vent relatively high, so the dynamics are very different. I think it will work great so long as you have a high volume of air moving at low velocity.

Quote from: Jet_deck on December 22, 2010, 11:02:47 AM

UPDATE: Great news. I just ordered a device from Auber Instruments to "automate" my WFO. It is a very simple device consisting of three parts; a small fan, a temperature probe and the controller. They are going to switch the normal temperature probe to a different one that is used in glass melting and kiln furnaces it is rated for 2,300F. It will work this way: I will drill a hole into the firebrick floor (from the bottom) and insert the temp. probe about 3/8" below the cooking surface.(this has been done before) You "set" the desired temperature on the controller say 850*. Until the temperature is reached, the controller turns on the fan, the fan lightly blows onto the burning coals, thus heating the oven. When the desired temperature is reached the controller shuts off the fan. It will repeat the on/off cycle of the fan until the temperature falls below/above the selected temperature. The fan will draw ambient air from the outside and will be located well away from the heat. The air will be carried into the oven through pipes into the sidewall of the oven, at floor level. This setup is widely known in the bbq world. It has not to my knowledge been done in a wfo before.

Anywho, I'm still plugging away at it.

Jet_deck · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2010, 04:48:17 PM »

Quote from: shuboyje on December 23, 2010, 12:30:22 PM

Sounds like a cool setup, my only input from my own experience would be to make the ducting into the oven as large as possible to give as low an air velocity as possible. I don't have any fancy setup, but I do have a piece of 2" cast iron pipe and a heat gun. I place the pipe into the oven mouth and put the heat gun at the end. Although it makes for huge flames and a good show, it does not work to get the oven up to temperature. You can feel the heat pouring out the front of the oven, and in my opinion that is exactly what happens. The air velocity is too high and the flame and heat move through the oven before it can give up it's heat to the dome. All the heat generated by the forced air induction goes up the stack. Every kiln I have seen vents from the bottom, our ovens vent relatively high, so the dynamics are very different. I think it will work great so long as you have a high volume of air moving at low velocity.

Good points. This fan is 10 cfm and I will be using only half.

HASassin · « **Reply #10 on:** February 01, 2011, 10:45:41 PM »

so hows the progress coming along?

how effective have you found the metal roof, as opposed to a tradtional brick one?

Jet_deck · « **Reply #11 on:** February 02, 2011, 11:09:44 AM »

Thanks HASassin for following my work. The progress is very slow at this point, but I hope to finish it sometime soon. I will report how the stainless roof functions as soon as I get her fired up.

HASassin · « **Reply #12 on:** February 02, 2011, 01:30:44 PM »

Quote from: Jet_deck on February 02, 2011, 11:09:44 AM

Thanks HASassin for following my work. The progress is very slow at this point, but I hope to finish it sometime soon. I will report how the stainless roof functions as soon as I get her fired up.

sounds good

so basically all you did is found a round metal disk around 45 ish (where did you find that btw) and you cut a straight line in it and then bent it?
did you reweld it?

Jet_deck · « **Reply #13 on:** February 02, 2011, 02:26:57 PM »

It was a new piece of stainless steel. I cut one pass from the center outward and formed it into a shallow cone. Then tacked it in a few places.

Tampa · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2011, 06:17:02 PM »

I love the fan idea. Good for you. Pls keep us posted.

I'm not sure how that fan works/is oriented, but you might want to try a few different orientations before "cementing" it in place.

Dave

Jet_deck · « **Reply #15 on:** April 03, 2011, 04:25:48 PM »

I need some help. Please tell me what the front of the oven should look like. I've got the sides on, and I have the exhaust ready for the chrome stack. I have 3 ideas.

1) Cut the front off even with the "sides"

2) Radius the entire front.

3) Round the sides

Thanks in advance, any/all ideas welcome.

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #16 on:** April 03, 2011, 07:03:30 PM »

If people will be able to see around the swides and back, I'd say cut it off even. If not, I'd radius the front.

CL

Jet_deck · « **Reply #17 on:** April 06, 2011, 11:15:21 AM »

I put the oven on a trailer and towed it home last night for a shakedown cruise. It must have looked pretty odd to most people, one guy even seemed mad about it. At a stoplight he pulls up beside me and yells out the window.

HIM: What the hell kind of BBQ pit is that?
ME: It's Italian.
H: Where is the firebox?
M: It doesn't have one, you put the wood right on top of the bricks.
H: How do you control the temperature?
M: You don't. You let it get as hot as it can.
H: Well it seems obvious that Italians don't know s@#%t about bbq!

After a 2 hour warm up time, the firebricks had cleared themselves as did the stainless dome. The floor temp was 850 to 950 depending on where I took the reading from. The dome temp rainged from 950 to EEEEEE (error). The 1/4" steel plate below the firebrick (under the insulation) was cool to the touch. I drilled the access hole through the 1/4" plate up to the bottom of the firebrick for the temperature controller. I didn't get the hole drilled into the firebrick yet, but the temperature was 550 on the bottom of the firebrick.

Once the oven got heated up, the exhaust drafted pretty well. Virtually no smoke made it past the front face of the oven, unless a gust of wind happened by.

Special thanks to Scott123 for the idea of a non masonry roof and Tscarborough for answering a handful of PM's along the way, thusly calming my nerves.

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #18 on:** April 06, 2011, 11:31:35 AM »

The last comment made me literally LOL. That's cool, how well did it maintain the heat? Did you bake any pies?

TXCraig1 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 06, 2011, 11:35:46 AM »

Quote from: Jet_deck on April 06, 2011, 11:15:21 AM

I put the oven on a trailer and towed it home last night for a shakedown cruise. It must have looked pretty odd to most people, one guy even seemed mad about it. At a stoplight he pulls up beside me and yells out the window.

HIM: What the hell kind of BBQ pit is that?
ME: It's Italian.
H: Where is the firebox?
M: It doesn't have one, you put the wood right on top of the bricks.
H: How do you control the temperature?
M: You don't. You let it get as hot as it can.
H: Well it seems obvious that Italians don't know s@#%t about bbq!

LOL - I must say that I agree with him in principle. That being said, most Texans don't know s@#%t about pizza...

Gene, you definitely win my award for resourcefullness in pizza oven construction. I'm hanging on the edge of my seat to see how it cooks.

CL