Using the steel frame base as a solid foundation (on wheels…) we began construction of the oven two weeks ago. The students remained in the groups that they were in for the research projects, and began working on separate parts of the oven that related to their research. The separate parts were: designing the interior dome form that the oven would be built against; layout and cutting of the floor bricks; layout, cutting and attaching the tile backer board for the sides of the frame; and creating the reinforcing wire mesh form that would be used to strengthen the walls and base slab of the oven.
Here are a few shots of the students in action!
Kevin cuts some bricks..
The brick crew lays out the floor
Devin and Meg work on the interior dome form
The interior dome form is loosely constructed of particle board and 2x4s, screwed together and finally covered in wire mesh and plastic sheeting. This dome will serve as support for the adobe mix as we build the walls, and will eventually be removed once the walls harden. It needs to be sturdy enough to support the weight of the walls, but built in such a way that it can easily be dismantled inside the oven and removed through the door. I gave some basic guidelines and measurements to the crew working on it, but left the construction decisions up to them to see what they would come up with. I feel pretty good about their design and all attachments are made with only screw, so it should be easy enough to dismantle. I think we may have a struggle getting the first few boards out, but then it should go pretty smoothly. The first few are always tough because the weight of the adobe pushes down on the form, essentially wedging it in place.
Claire and Joseph begin cutting wire fencing for the reinforcing mesh
Mr. Malone assists the crew that is attaching the tile backer board to the sides of the steel base. The floor bracing for the base slab has been cut and placed into the frame.
As the first two crews were working on bricks and the dome form, the other two crews were busy cutting wire fencing and attaching backer board. The wire fencing is sculpted into the form of the oven dome that will serve as reinforcement for the walls. There is also a layer of mesh integrated into the base slab of the oven. The backer board is cut to a height that serves as the retaining wall for the cast base slab. The bricks will be set into this base slab later.
The whole oven is built with wheels integrated into the base so that the oven can be rolled out of the way and secured when not in use. Some of our construction decisions were made to account for the vibrations and jostling that the oven will be subject to when it is being rolled. The gaps in the concrete sidewalks around the school are pretty dramatic and will try to give the oven a good pounding. The wire mesh will help hold everything together.
