cookstove n bread oven

[shooter]

this has been a back-burner project for 10yrs
Hat's off to Masons!!
my 1st n probably last block-laying.  Hopefully my carpentry skills will hide my lack of masonry skills 
the chimney rocks, (assembly required), were flower-garden boarders that I paid one of the neighbor kids to move 20yrs ago,
moving them back myself for free   

[Platefire]

Glad you finally got r dun! Not familiar with that type of oven, I'm trying to figure out how it works? Main thing is that it accomplishes its intended purpose. Nothing like fresh cooked, still hot bread

[shooter]

oh it's a long way from "finished"
the right side is the cooking side, stainless steel grill top. the left side will be the bread oven.  they each have their own "burn-box" the right side slab you see with the square hole is the bottom of the burn box, ashes fall down to the bottom "box"
the oven side, the bottom is both burn chamber and ash box, a slab (curing now in the foreground) will go on top of the burn-box, then a chamber full of all the brick n mortar scraps and sand will fill the "middle chamber" with a brick oven on top of that.


the top will be wood-framed, metal roof with my 400W solar array on top so I have AC to run lights, a rotisserie, radio....

[bmccowan]

Awesome!

[shooter]

made it to the part where you have to think a lot 
also cut brick and more brick and.....
went to Lowes looking for a high-temp silicone that I could "glue" the burn-chamber top with, found some $14 a tube fire block stuff, found out 24hours later it doesn't harden!, mixing mortar after lunch.


i'm a few bricks short of a full load    so the  oven side is on hold til the grill side is finished.

[shooter]

the closer I get, the more there is!
hopefully have it sorta ready for the winter months.  the pricey caulk worked well when heated to a couple hundred degrees.
once it's sheeted, it's off to find some firing clay to line the burn chambers, then metal work to stop the backdrafts!!!
acid wash the interior in my redneck hazmat Carhartt's, face mask, n toilet cleaning gloves, doubles as a bee suit taking wasps near the front door.
rain tomorrow, find out if the roof screws leak. 

[shooter]

got a break in the 30's rain for some 50's clouds.  the clay was a fail! every day i'd check the drying, cracks everywhere, re-wet, pack smooth, next day cracks everywhere.  3rd run I preheated the chamber to ~~100F, worked in the clay, kept the chamber warm 24hrs, cracks everywhere.  fired it anyway at 200F for 5hrs, everything drying nice, brought it to ~~300f, cracks everywhere 
pulled the chunks the next day, nice ceramic crust, hard dry clay behind just too many cracks and didn't appear to adhere well either, pulled it all off topside, bought fire bricks!!
working the outside, readying for snow season

[PRR]

> the clay was a fail!

Adobe clay wants straw, dung, horsehair, cement, etc, to control cracking. While some southwest US clays may be OK enough from the ground, IIRC you are not that southwest.

Straw, not grass, not hay.

I have heard connoisseurs pontificate on horse, cow, buffalo (water or bison) dung.

The guy who "plastered" my last house did it wrong (let's say nearly good enough).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe#Composition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(material)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudbrick
http://pinkbird.org/w/How_to_construct_a_pizza_oven_dome_out_of_cob
https://www.themudhome.com/mudbuilding/how-to-make-cob-and-earth-plaster-waterproof
https://www.greenhomebuilding.com/QandA/cob/mixing.htm

[PRR]

Ahhhhh. I knew I had an e-book about cob construction in the 20th century, but my local copy is misplaced and Google was not cooperating.

Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk and Clay: A Renaissance
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32048
"Read online (web)" has the pictures and is good to read.

Historical note: the book is 1920. After WWI, England had a housing shortage so bad that they kept the troops in France for over a year.

But like all pre-TV books, the author rambles on and on and on....

[shooter]

bookmarked, bails of straw are as common as an 'ol Junker in the tall weeds around here 
my clay was quarried in Indiana, processed in Indy, as "fire cured" potters clay.
pretty sure my fail was in part due to the fluctuations in outside temp over the 5-7 days it takes to "air dry" before you "pre-fire (>212F)"


It's still on the "lets see in July" calendar.  I've got just enough time to "keep the snow out" before real snow shows up trying to get in.

[mresistor]

Cool and usefull project..   hope you have a little more time before those dastardly snowflies show up. It's looking good.

[shooter]

got it sealed up for winter, winter however took the cheap, sawdust siding n gave it some good twists, on the re-do list.
left the burn chamber issues til spring, lots of un-accounted for smoke, plus overheated galvanized pipe wasn't a good choice.
removed 400 pounds of "thermal mass" that I installed last fall, found the extra smoke leaks.  poured 100 pounds of cement, plus 100 pounds to enshrine the exhaust pipe.  slow burn fire to "aid" cure-time.  probably re-fill next week after the next cold snap passes.

[shooter]

working in Phase II of the bread_shed.


since It gets slightly boring stoke'n the fire and HOT, I need a prep area with seating, under cover.  the rest of the deck will just be open-air.

Friday I cooked my 1st meal on the grill side, only took 1/2 a face cord and 4hrs to get to temp 
once there, I had a big-o-plate of barbeque pork with yard weeds sautéed in (dandelion, Self-heal, and Cleavers) in about 20 minutes. 


the 2nd pic is what it looked like before I clear-cut the Amazonian forest!!!

[sluckey]

Nice project. Nice view!

[shooter]

thanks.
here's the un-cropped shot.



when I convinced Pam 35years ago, the farm field, devoid of anything but grass taller than she was, a run-down house with barn would be a great buy, I got a dubious look, AND we'd only been married 2 years 


35 years later she came around to my way of thinking 

[shooter]

movin' slow but forward.


wood box, the "front" ledge will eventually be an herbal vertical garden.

[shooter]

made shade!
the left rear structure is where i'll hang my 400W array

[shooter]

finalizing;
400W array up n tested - no load, yet.


the "space" under the array will be a "garden shed" on the left side, "root cellar" - winter storage on the right.
once the stump on left is out     Hope to put in a fire ring in the "L" area left of deck, in front of array.


next up, order a woodstove to replace my failed burn chambers 

[shooter]

 
we've lost power for > 8 hours 3 times in 2 months.
was slow working the wall for the electronics, had $100 in new groceries in fridge n out-go-the-lights!!  estimated repair time 10 hours after it all went bad!


cobbled it together 3 hours, 3 trips to Napa for crimp lugs, battery n more!
fridge up n saved the bacon!
made Dinner last night, power back a 9pm, made breakfast this morning.


batteries did well, charged to 25.4vdc by dusk, still at 24.6vdc at 7am. 
tearing it all down so I can continue a proper build/install.

[scstill]

Where in Michigan are you?
I grew up rockin' in Warren before moving to SoCal in '76

[shooter]

due south of Battlecreek, once you pass the BeerBaitNgas I'm about 3 miles away 
I tell folk, "I'm in the middle of nowhere, 10 minutes from anything"


I lived In Vallejo CA in '78 while I went to Mare Island for my final Radar school.  great area, used to wander around Point Reyes(sp?) on the weekends, nice Park.

[scstill]

Nice area....
your comment about in the middle of nowhere made me think about my current lifestyle

"...do a lot of nothing
and take a long time doing it"

[shooter]

terminating cables, listen'n to birds yammer, groundhogs munch'n clover, priceless.


battery box wired n tested, need a seal-tight feedthrough.


bought 50' 14/2, haven't bought in awhile, you need a grownup to get access, and a years salary 

[acheld]

Your project is expanding.   Before you know it, you'll need a studio out there to keep you busy while the bread is baking in the winter.   Of course a 'fridge. 

[shooter]

 
The wife asked if I was "taking up the WHOLE yard"


the fridge is up n running.  My oven n grill are a design FAIL!  should have a store bought woodburner here by the 7th.
if i'm to lazy to walk back to the house, this'll be docked behind the "shed"  shower, potty, bunks, AC (only if I run grid power)

[mresistor]

That trailer is cool  and best to buy double axle in case of a flat.   I've been thinking of getting one and using it for a camper,  install a fold down bed and a few niceties.  Solar power and some battery is a must. Idea is to be able to load up a smaller ATV in the back. Bed would fold up on one of the sides.  Can sleep a little more secure in one of them. 


They aren't that expensive and if I decide to move it would come in handy for that.

[shooter]

I wanted small since my tow-motor is a Dodge Dakota AND yep took a couple minutes to find a 14' with dual axes.  she runs down the flat roads 70mph with no problem.


couple "in-progress shots", It's basically done, needs a final water test on whole system, plumb in the gas, then fit n finish some smalls
it has everything a Class A camper has;


45gal blackwater tank
25 gallon graywater tank
15 gal fresh water tank
30X32 shower
"Everyday use ceramic toilet"
3 burner gas stove
on demand gas hot water
6000 BTU AC unit

[mresistor]

Nice work Shooter ,.   thanks for the photos and ideas..   

[shooter]

one BIG downside;
it's a small man's unit, anyone over 5'10" or 200lb will NOT want this size camper


main UPSIDE;
came with ZERO holes in the roof, 90% of all "store-bought" campers has all the crap mounted on the roof!!, typical fail time/leaks < 3 years.


finalized the DC side of the breadshed, tested.  wired up the AC side mains, pulled 3 drops, should be up on solar AC on the 4th.

[shooter]

Grid Independence day!!!!


got lights n recepts.  radio playing, 2 lights on, intermittent use of the saw-zaw, cloudy skies so only about 1.5A coming in, voltage dropped .5vdc after 2 hours, back up in 20 minutes no-load. 


I'm at war with the stump, slow advance, some retreat, but never surrender! 

[acheld]

Stumps are a pain in the behind!   I have tried everything a man can do without a stump grinder, and it all takes time, whatever you do.   One easy thing to do is use potassium nitrate granules.   That works, albeit on the slow schedule. 

[shooter]

the tree guy down the road has a wire-guided monster grinder, but even at the good neighbor discount that stump would cost north of $500


I do about 1-2 hours a day, hydraulics (water), truck winch, demo-blades in the sawzaw.  normally I just cut them at ground level n mow over, this one is where my fire-pit will go so.......


the stove is waiting pickup but it's light'nin n thunder'n so maybe tomorrow, then it's undoing brickwork! 

[mresistor]

well for the stump you could drill a couple of long holes and use dynamite..      heheh     

[shooter]

weather broke, got stove, started the easy demo'n
tomorrow cleanup and break out the compressor and air chisels.

[shooter]

Version II, Rev 1 


picking up some bricks n mortar in the AM


need to sheer some tin "heat shield" back n right side.
chimney stack pieces n parts, gonna be interesting with a ribbed roof


hope to be through the 3 cure cycles n grill'n some of the neighbors free-ranger's by next weekend.

[shooter]

brickwork, tin knock'n, lit the 1st cure fire and the room did NOT fill with smoke!!!!!


there was some from the paint out-gassing but that's normal, 2 more cures then some final leveling.
still need to add the chimney stack n cap, close up the back wall n seal it better.


next, a deep sink for washing, prep area and some cabinets for pots n pans, n such.


the array is doing well, best, 1.2KW day, averaging about 700W/day.   the fridge , lights, n music eat about 250W/ day.  plenty left for cutting wheel, air compressor n cordless charging.

[shooter]

paint, work surfaces, fridge up, n final cure done, getting close to move'n outside!


2 days ago hit 2.1KW day!!!


fridge struggled on 30' of 14/2, plugged it into a 12/2 15' extension cord straight off the Invertor, seems to cycle ok now.
found enough 10/3/ground to wire up a dedicated feed.


had to bring the stove to 500F for 20 minutes, grill surface reached 350F, good n hot!  I typically cook at 200 - 220 on my wood heat stove inside, so plenty of good temperature range

[shooter]

breakfast, lunch n 2 dinners so far.  She's a cantankerous stove, constantly fiddle'n with air, wood, just to keep temp at a good range.


got my 1st drawer built, ready to hang, pretty sure it'll become the "junk drawer" every kitchen has!


found drawer slides at Lowes that seem like someone forgot to over-inflate the price!  $7.95 a set.

[Willabe]

Are you cooking outside to keep the heat from the wood burning stove out of the house in the warm months?

[shooter]

made about 2 dozen meals so far.  I used the Electric stove for cooking in summer, that has now changed, cookin in he summer kitchen with wood n solar, no electric man required.


the electric got jacked 20% UP in the past year, my goal is to jack-it-back 20% by not paying for electric-man for stupid ideas at my expense.


Once I have water out there then life's good.  Now it's carry gear out, cook, carry back n clean, repeat.


See my post about "somedays"  ...still cutting, splitting, stacking, chipping...... so plumbing has to wait.

[Willabe]

Ok, makes sense.

Yes, I saw about that storm/burst and the tree it knocked down. Glad it didn't take out your propane tank or house. 

[shooter]

made some time to frame in the last wall, sink is fixed in place, "root-cellar" door set, left side will be a screen door, someday!
rain for next couple days then I'll drag out the 20 gal tank n get it setup under the solar array, behind the sink.  The drain is still an un-known, the best place would have it run behind the root cellar door...as a continual "trip hazard", 2nd best is a looong run along the inside wall of the array...processing 

[shooter]

adding some fit n finish work


2 cabinets, 2 drawers so far


as the food was cooking this morning I was thinking; "I much prefer the 40 minutes watching the sun come up as the food cooks, over the 2.5 minutes waiting for the microwave to ding"

[shooter]

71, sunny, 15mph breeze!!!
pretty sure this will be my 1st n last chimney 


still gotta sponge n brush the top row in a couple hours

[Willabe]

Not so bad. And it'll look better when it's finished. 

[shooter]

 
it's in back just in case it doesn't
finish my morning coffee n then it's time to rock 

[shooter]

rain on Thursday so letting it all set hard til the rain moves on
and those rocks are heavy n my back is not 18 anymore 

[shooter]

it's nice being ADD, you can move from one thing to another without ANY Issues 


cold-stores is framed in, still need to seal the roof around the panels and where square walls weren't really a consideration!
the 25GAL water tank for sink will set inside the room


paint, insulate, interior walls, 2nd layer of flooring by Nov.....back to work!


haven't settled on "heating" for the room, ideal is 40 - 50 Deg F.  the fridge uses ~~4.2A for 3 minutes 4 times an hour
my options are straight resistive "load/heat" or resistive heat into a "sand-battery"


once it's "sealed up" n heated, I'll check for natural air-flow, might need a couple muffin fans


the 2nd pic is the "greenhouse" for early seed starting, there's an opening after the last solar panel that will be glassed in...NEXT year:)

[shooter]

where creativity and practicality meet at the train-tracks
should be "water-tight" on the "roof", still got some mouse holes to fix, the back wall, finish floor, caulk up for bugs n such.  Hope to be insulating by end of week.

[shooter]

$40 for 4 X 8 1.5" foamboard!!!!   


floors sealed, back wall insulated n closed in, 'sept for the upper left, that's where jiggy meets joggy so it'll get some custom engineering 1st    cutting up the next OSB tomorrow for the west n south walls, probably need 1/4 sheet more than I have, argg.


gonna order 4 8 ohm 50W, mount on a steal strip for some "baseboard" heating experiments.
 
I have a couple 2ohm 100W and a 10 ohm 200w for "fine tweaking" so I can keep from sucking the deep-cells dry before the sun gets around to going to work