Tuesday, February 16, 2010

More Pics of the Progress

1: Brad tests a ball of all-natural mortar made from decomposed granite and sub-soil (aka dirt and dirt).
2: Brad made three different mortars and tested how well they could glue rocks together. This one was the most successful. No need to buy concrete, which is an energy waster!
3: The foundation for the oven is currently all dry stacked rock. We treat this as a giant puzzle because stability depends on the rocks fitting together snugly. We will start using the mortar higher up.
4: The oven foundation and wood pallets to re-use in the roof structure.

The oven project is coming together nicely, gaining momentum as we tinker with every step along the way. There has been a lot of rock in my (Brad's) life as of late. My self-education in drystacking has been slow but very enjoyable, and the bulk of the rock work is now complete. This took A LOT more time and effort than I had imagined, but I am really pleased with the result. A station for screening and mixing the decomposed granite and sub-soil is all set up and ready to start producing my specialy formulated natural mortar.

I have to wait until tomorrow to do the mortar work since the last two nights have seen substantial freezes here. The weather is looking good for the next week, so we should be able to get some muddy business taken care of.

The Truck (still needs a name) has been a great help. Check out all the free hard wood I have been able to find through Craigslist (leaning against tree and around site). We're gonna play with some pallet-truss design in the next week or so. I should be able to do all of the woodwork for the roof structure and oven counterspace with wood that was on its way to the landfill.

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