Current project- large contraflow with updraft channels

This is the new heater just under construction as of this week. Drawing to the right is a Sketch-Up image showing the proposal for a large clay plaster finished heater. There will also be some decorative tile details on the finished project. The structure goes floor to ceiling in a 9 ft high room. It backs up to a wall which is the sidewall for the stairwell to the second floor. The central firebox/bake oven structure is the "guts" of a typical contraflow. The wide extensions to each side hold updraft channels. The gases will join in a smoke chamber above the main heater body and then enter a class a chimney pipe. The main heater body comes into the room 2'-8", while the extensions are just 16" wide. This design allows for a large but compressed heater footprint in the room, freeing up space for a dining table and movement space.

Oven Complete for Elmore Mtn Bread!

A good project comes to an end. This entry is like an obituary of sorts, although it also marks a birth.

Only July 3rd I completed the oven. It was an in-depth project which either existed in my head or my hands for months. It was a little hard to let it go, but it was time, and the bricks were all laid up with no more to go....Andrew (bakery owner) came by while I was laying the last couple courses of brick. He asked if I'd like an expresso, which had become part of the afternoon routine on-site. And for once I turned him down as I was already too excited and working on calming myself down so my jittery fingers could lay the bricks. Instead I requested a beer, and was promptly handed a cold PBR, which went down smoothly to the backdrop of another rainy day. The next day I came up for a few hours of clean-up and was done. My son Liam came along that day and had fun playing with Andrew and Blair in the bakery.

So now the oven is very close being fired for the first time, as the owners of the bakery complete the insulation, chimney install, and oversee the fabrication of the doors. Then it will be slowly fired for a couple weeks and cured. At some point then the wall separating the oven from the existing bakery will come down, and the oven will enter into production mode. These final finishing details mark the last stages of the oven's birth, and it's entry into the baking routine. It will be really exciting to get the results of the project and collect some data on the performance of the oven.

When the wall comes down separating the oven from the existing bakery I will be able to get some final photos of the oven's face, which was built with antique bricks laid in lime mortar.