Matt Todd

Hey Glenn, what did you use to "seal" the top of the firebrick ceiling?
Or another way of phrasing the question: what is between your firebricks and clay bricks in the ceiling?
I see where you had spread something on top of your firebricks in the development thread.

thomas rubino wrote:
I am very happy to report the highest temps my arch has risen to are just over 400F!!!  (Success!)

Do you have any measurement on what your core exhaust temperature is reading?
Reason I ask is, I'M BUILDING A SHORTY IN A BRICK BELL TOO!

One final detail I'm working out is the internal chimney. Planning to do the "plunger tube" style of chimney into the bell. But my Shorty core will flip the exhaust to shoot out the back wall of the riser stub so I can put an oven on top of the firebox. The potential issue being hot exhaust shooting horizontally right at my plunger tube. My DSR2 build has a black stove pipe plunger tube and I intend to do the same here. Just a little worried about it being directly in the exhaust path.

Guess I could wrap it in superwool and hope for the best. Or spend an extra $300ish to continue stainless double wall pipe inside the bell. Any thoughts on this scenario?

Peter van den Berg wrote:

Matt Todd wrote:@Peter van den Berg  
Do you think it would be alright to put the final exhaust opening on the BACK side of the riser instead of the front?

Yes, Glenn is right, it can be done. The lower riser part should be different, the pictures of the French bench build are quite clear how it should be done, in my opinion.

Alright, so a simple matter of moving the "riser liner" to the back wall instead of the front. I was afraid that this decrease in port depth would have an effect on the design, but I see now that you have tested this and found it satisfactory. The flames still enter a square space to form the vortex before expanding in the wider top half of the riser. Thanks for confirming!

@Peter van den Berg  
Do you think it would be alright to put the final exhaust opening on the BACK side of the riser instead of the front?

I'm thinking of putting an oven on top of the firebox. Which would only work if the exhaust could shoot out the back of the riser into a bell.

J Katrak wrote:
I also need to figure out the best way to get some panels here first.

That struggle is real! On one purchase, I needed smaller pieces so I took bolt cutters with me the farm store and cut them to size there. That fit them in a pickup truck well enough.

On another purchase I waited until I had a trailer borrowed for something else and made good use of it by picking up some panels too. Tractor Supply rents trailers and sells cattle panels. Plus I think you get a free trailer rental yearly if you are a "member."

*edit* I see you meant "how to get them on your island at all" so sorry, a trailer is no help there!

I made an "arch" with something akin to the idea of tensegrity. I wanted an open front situation, so I made a 4x4 front frame, bowed cattle panels against it, and used metal cable to balance the pushing force of the panel against the wood. Holding up great and it's gradually being colonized by the native vines I've planted around it.

Looks like you're asking about lavender specifically. I grew about 3 dozen plants from seed last year with NO stratification! In my studying before, I found a lot of growers saying it was not necessary for lavender and indeed it was not for me.

I filled 6 pack cells with sterilized 1:1:1 Sand, perlite, coir soil mix. Sterilized because lavender seedlings are very mold sensitive. 70-80 degrees with light 16 hrs/day. They sprouted in about 7 days. Keep moist for about one month after sprouting (until roots are established). Pot up at 6 or more leaves.

Hatching chicks from an incubator (because my mamas will not brood.) Attempting to hybridize my old Rhode Island Reds with Speckled Sussex.

Also going to try to grow and harvest my favorite medicinal tea herb: Tulsi (holy basil.)

Happy to see no reports of cracking with the all brick (except ceiling) bell!
Funny that you did tile on top of the fire brick roof, that's exactly what I was thinking of doing myself.
Did you use sand/clay mortar of Matt Walker fame, or a purchased refractory mortar?