Thursday, May 7, 2009

From Mesopatamia to Pompeii to Seattle


Refractory mortar recipe handed down from the Romans. :')
3 parts silaca sand, 1 part portland cement, 1 part lime, 1 part red fireclay and water of course


The template drawings for the plywood ribs used to build the dome. They will be burned out once the dome is finished.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Beauty and the Beast!

Don't forget to zoom in on this one!!




Mother's Day weekend will slow things down a bit. With a couple of hours here and there we will resume the following weekend.

Monday, May 4, 2009

busy bees!



As you can see in the top photo, the bees have pretty much finished their work with these few condos. A few people asked so here it is again.
The female mason bee visits flowers to collect pollen for its young. She form a small ball of pollen and nectar in the back of the nesting tube and lays an egg on the ball. She then collects mud to form a cell partition and repeats the pollen ball-egg laying process until she reaches the mouth of the tube where she caps the end with mud. Starting the life cycle in the spring, adult males emerge from tubes first, but must wait for the later appearance of the females in order to mate. This event often coincides with the spring bloom. Females alone, begin founding new nests in holes to make a row of 5-10 cells in each nest. Females collect the pollen and nectar and lay eggs. Their short foraging range is about 100 yards from the nest. Activity continues 4-6 weeks and then adults die. During the summer, larvae develop inside the nests, make cocoons, and become new adults resting in the cells. With the onset of fall, the adults become dormant as they go into hibernation. These bees require some cold temperatures before spring in order to break their dormancy, and the cycle continues.

The shelf form, rebar, cement layer for below the hearth and shelf



Heavy with rebar and ready for the pour. Once again the concrete pros were on site. Fred and Andy spinning some mean mud while I try to keep it smooth. The next day we stripped the forms and patched and sanded a bit, it started to rain so we put the tarp up to cover the shelf that is curing with a coat of sealer. The dome is next!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Garbage can mixer.





5 parts perlite, 1 part portland cement, water and a garbage can. This is the insulation (4+ inches) that lays on top of the cement board , upon which a layer of concrete (about 4") goes, then the fire bricks lay on top of that. The fire brick in the mix is where the ash slot will be. Don't forget to click on the photos for the up close view of the details.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Master of Ceremony








Each layer required several cuts so that the bricks could be connected to the wall with the brick ties and mortar. The final product looks flawless! Nice job Chris.

cutting and laying bricks


First time with a wet saw! These landscaping blocks were a bit of a bitch to cut and chip out with a hammer. They are for the layer that sits just above the hearth.