I'm Building a Pizza Oven...

[geoff7877]

Just for curiosity, I have an extra weber ranch I've been wanting to convert to a Wood fired oven, this has me thinking.

I was originally thinking of using the bottom of a Weber as a template for the dome. You could do that and then keep using the Weber as is after the dome was formed.

 

[geoff7877]

Progress being made. With the form done, I started mixing the concrete and forming the oven.

 

[4ever3]

Awesome!

 

[tom b]

:clap2:

 

[Inthewoods]

Great thread!
-D

 

[mnbadger]

This thread is so cool. I can't wait to see you fire this puppy up. I've always wanted to build a woodier pizza oven.

 

[angryelfFan]

Looking forward to the final product. Keep the post coming.

 

[geoff7877]

The oven top came out great. Pulled right off the mold with ease. Other than the weight. This thing is a BEAST! I can pick it up but it's awkward. 31" wide across the middle and 39" front to back.

I laid it out on the fire brick for a quick dry fit. 1st pic is straight on from the front. 2nd pic from inside the opening looking at the inside of the dome. Kinda hard to see the inside from this pic.

 

[chicagokp]

I've never seen a project like this come together so quickly. Looks awesome. Can't wait to see how it progresses.

 

[4ever3]

Awesome work!

 

[tom b]

:clap2:

 

[geoff7877]

I've never seen a project like this come together so quickly. Looks awesome. Can't wait to see how it progresses.

I actually started this about 4 weeks ago. I decided to start this thread 2 weeks ago so I had some kinks worked out and some work built up to show off.

I'm hoping to have the table built next weekend and finally put the oven together. Then it's small fires for a few more weeks and then pizza time! Thanks to everyone who is following my progress.

More to come!

 

[NickTheGreat]

Good stuff! Any idea how much the dome weighs? I would have guessed it hard for one man to lift

 

[geoff7877]

Good stuff! Any idea how much the dome weighs? I would have guessed it hard for one man to lift

I would guess maybe 70-80 pounds? That's a pure guess. It's heavy, but I can lift it. Just picture grabbing it from both sides with the opening in you hip, bent over trying to lift it. It's like lifting a tortoise from the front all bent over.

 

[luke duke]

You may want to consider laying your bricks out in a herringbone pattern. Your peel will be much less likely to catch.

 

[geoff7877]

You may want to consider laying your bricks out in a herringbone pattern. Your peel will be much less likely to catch.

I thought about doing that, but my lack of brick cutters is holding me back. My plan was to lay them out as flat as I can get them and borrow a friend's concrete polisher to smooth out the top. Now that I think of it, he could probably help me with cutting the bricks if I choose that route.

Thanks for your input. I'll take all advice!

 

[Groundhog66]

Very cool, PIZZA PARTY in PETALUMA! :hungry:

 

[Bigbears BBQ]

Totally cool build, i see a lot of wheels turning thanks to this post.

 

[geoff7877]

So, here it is flipped over. Great shape to the inside but lots of pits from the concrete. I mixed up a small batch to pack into the pits and then smoothed it out. Next step was to wrap it up in a tarp for a week to prevent hairline cracks in the smooth layer from the outside drying out too fast. Really does the trick.

 

[geoff7877]

So I took the form out for the chimney stack. I had to make the hole bigger than the outer diameter of the stack pipe for 2 reasons. 1. I'm going to attach 2 adjustable metal pipe clamps to serve as anchors for the pipe and 2. I needed to set up the pipe after I have the oven on the table so I can cement around it for a tight fit.

Anyway, here are more pics.