Blog Posts

Doubting Thomas (Deb) Reformed

10/10/2015

Saturday 10\10 started out chilly again. Most of us came wearing 3 layers so that we could shed them once the sun started to warm the day. We once again had to soak the bricks so that the mortar wouldn’t dry too quickly on the arch. Pulling the bricks out of the water was a little cold when we first got started. Even though we had carefully measured the arch, a little adjusting had to be done to get the bricks to fit correctly. Once the first arch was formed and given a chance to start to dry bricks were added between the smaller arch and the larger ones to bridge the gap. Steve & Jeff did the honors on the small arch and Karen & Deb tried their hand at placing the bricks on the adjoining one. I learned how patient you need to be with the process to make sure the angles are correct and there are no gaps. Once the bricks were placed we mortared across the tops of the bricks to form the bond between the 2 arches. The final project of the day was to build the wood forms around the oven that will hold the concrete when we pour the upper wall and clad around the top of the oven. The concrete will be 6 inches thick around the oven chamber. While we were marking the 6 inch height on the form we had to crawl on top of the arches that were built last week. I was a little concerned to be the one to be on the top of the arch because I didn’t want to be the one to make them fall. My trepidation was for naught as the arches held just fine while we moved around on them. One thing I am learning throughout the process of building the oven is that I need to have a stronger faith. From trusting in my fellow builders and my own skills to trusting that God is with us every step of the way and will help us be his hands and feet I have shown my doubting Thomas side. My fellow builders have been quick to point out that I need to have more faith and I like to think that besides learning new construction skills I am also working on my faith journey. I wouldn’t be able to do it without my fellow work crew members who are there with me every step of the way. We have had many discussions ranging from my doubting faith, to how God will use the oven in our community, and how hunting fits into God’s plan for the world. We have been able to share our time and faith with a few members of the community who have stopped by to chat or to help. Working on the oven has been a blessed experience and I hope that you will consider joining us for a work day.
Tuesday 10/13 we will be starting at 6:30 and we will be cutting the rebar form for the top of the oven and laying the aluminum foil over the oven to form the protective layer between the bricks and the mortar that will surround them.
Saturday 10/17 we will be pouring the mortar for the side walls and cladding the top of the oven with mortar. We will also be staining the wood that we milled in Wisconsin. We will be starting at 8 am and working until 3 or 4. Lunch will be provided so feel free to stop in and help out if you are available.

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Where has all our daylight gone???

10/6/2015

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Tuesday 10/6 we gathered once again to figure the measurements for the form for the small arch for the entry way. We have been putting our mathematical skills to the test figuring out the rise of the arch and making sure that the distance between the top of the small arch and the larger arch is correct. We also cut all of split bricks for the arch on Tuesday so that we would be ready to start on Saturday morning. We are happy that Terry Goldsmith had a wet saw that he is borrowing to us so we didn’t have to rent or purchase one. We were again using flash lights towards the end of the night to see what we were doing so Bob took the measurements and the wood and cut the form at his house so we weren’t cutting in the dark.

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Our very own "Golden Arches"

10/3/2015

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Our first work day in October started out pretty cold but we all thought to dress in layers and as the sun did its work we were able to shed a layer of 2 and enjoy the beautiful day. Today is the day that could be very exciting or very frustrating as we are making the arches for the top of the oven. We started the day with a brief meeting about what the plan for the day was. The bricks had to be soaked in water before they could be buttered with mortar and placed on the form to make the arch. Soaking the bricks makes sure that the bricks don’t draw the moisture from the mortar to quickly letting it dry to fast. When we placed the brick on the form the bottoms of the bricks had to be touching each other at just the right angle in order for the arch to stay in tack once the form was removed as the mortar wouldn’t be dry yet. We all held our breath as the form was removed the first time, hoping that the bricks didn’t fall in a heap on the hearth floor. The first arch held and we moved on to the next one. One person laid the bricks on the form while 2 others (one on each side of the oven) made sure that the mortar was securely in between each of the brick and holding them in place as the next brick was placed. The rest of the crew was busy handling the bricks and cutting the angle in the bricks that started the arch on each side. After the form was removed from each arch the underside was wiped with a wet sponge to make sure that no excess mortar had seeped through. The fronts of the bricks were also wiped before the next arch was built to make sure that the brick fit snuggly against each other. We were making good progress on the arches and decided to break for lunch as a group and then continue with the arches until they were all complete. Frozen pizzas, chips & salsa, veggies & dip, drinks, and some sweets were brought in and we enjoyed our first pizza party inspired by the oven. The pizzas tasted fine but we are all looking forward to making them in the wood fire oven. After lunch we finished the final arches. The very last arch was only half the width of the rest of the arches so each brick had to be cut in half before they could be laid. Seeing the oven with the arches complete makes it obvious to those passing by what we are building.

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Racing against the setting sun.

9/29/2015

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On Tuesday night 9/29 we removed the inside forms and the extra fire brick that laid on top of the wall as a guide for how high the walls should be poured. Removing some of the bricks proved to be a little hard as the concrete wall had attached to part of it. Once they were removed the floor and the wall of the oven where swept to remove any extra debris. The form for the arch was laid out by laying fire bricks in the correct pattern on the wood and marking the cut spots. By the time we had the bricks laid out we were using head lights from one truck to light up the work space on the back of another truck so Bob offered to take the wood home and cut it and construct the form so that it would be ready to use on Saturday.

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The Oven that Built Me

9/24/2015

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As the song goes brick by brick and board by board papa laid life to mama’s dream. Each time that we work on the oven the excitement grows to the possibilities that the oven will bring. We have had Racine residents tell church members that they are looking forward to coming to the events at the oven. There has been a request form a bread baking group out of the Twin Cities for information about our oven and a request to let them know when we start firing. Who knows how our little church and town will touch others. On Tuesday 9/15 we met to determine if we should proceed with the oven on our own as Mike Faust wasn’t going to be available until later into September to help us lay the hearth and build the walls. Mike has sent us detailed instructions and we felt confident that we could proceed without the hands on guidance. Mike continues to be available by phone for any questions that come up. On 9/19 we laid the bricks for the hearth floor and built the firebrick walls. On Tuesday 9/22 we constructed the forms that will hold the concrete in place to dry for the walls for the oven. This Saturday 9/26 we will mixing and pouring the concrete for those walls. We hope you will join us to be part of the experience of the Oven that Built Me.

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We Are Family.

9/14/2015

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On Friday 9/11 a group of 5 traveled to the Eastern side of Wisconsin to mill the wood for the roof of the oven. Deb’s brother Paul owns Levy’s Sawmill and offered to provide the wood in exchange for some manual labor at the mill. On 9/12 we spent 6 hours working with Paul and experiencing taking cedar and white ash logs and making it into lumber that we could use for building our oven. Along with helping load and unload wood from the mill we where tasked with splitting the pieces that couldn’t be used for boards, unloading and cleaning the wood that had been drying in the Kiln and reloading the Kiln with wood that had been cut that day so it could dry. The members from our church; Steve, Tracy, Deb, Jeff and Nate where joined by Deb’s dad Fred, her brother Paul & her nephew Joe for the day of work. On the trip we also enjoyed meals with members of Deb’s family and a camp fire and Paul and his wife Julie’s house on Saturday night. On Sunday morning we worshiped with the members Bethel United Methodist church in Kiel WI. This is a rural congregation of a similar size to our church that some of Deb’s family are members at. Bethel UMC has been praying for our endeavor with the oven. When we returned to Racine to unload the wood we were helped by a few of the neighborhood kids. The draw of free pizza seems to be a strong motivator. It is amazing how many members of God’s family have been involved in this project thus far. We hope that God continues to bless us with the new connections we are making while building the oven.

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Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

9/10/2015

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During the week of 8/25 the hearty crew gathered together the wood to assemble the form for the hearth slab. “The Construction Matrons” or “Supervisors to Keep the Men on Task” as they like to be referred to: Tracy, Norma, and Deb cut sheets of aluminum foil to go between the insulated concrete slab and the slab of refractory concrete.

The assembled form was placed on top of the aluminum foil previously placed with care between the insulation layer and the hearth slab layer. The form was squared by measuring and measuring and measuring and checking to see if the lines on the tape measure had moved until we all felt comfortable that the form was a perfect square.

The Construction Matrons took over the power tools this week. Tracy & Deb wielded the Sawzall and cut the rebar mesh that was used to strengthen the hearth slab. Steve continued to use his skills to mix the refractory cement that was poured in the form he must have made a lot of mud pies as a child because he seems to take to the mixing of our concrete with the joy and innocence of a child making that special mud pie for that special someone.
Darrel, Bob & Jeff smoothed and leveled out the slab in preparation for the hearth to be constructed next. The supplies for the project this week were the costliest so far. We also had to take added precautions when opening the bags of refractory cement because it is made with silica sand and it can be dangerous to breathe in the silica dust.

Stay tuned to see pictures on our next entry of how milling the cedar for the columns, beams, and rafters went as a group travelled to Wisconsin to help with the milling of the wood that is being donated by Paul Leverenz of Levy’s Milling in New Holstein, Wisconsin.

Also if you have not had a chance to visit our GoFundMe site check us out at http://www.gofundme.com/tk3ksn3k

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I Get by With a Little Help From My Friends

8/26/2015

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"Have faith my friend" was the theme this past Saturday while we where working on the oven. Our task was to form the insulation layer. We where working with a vermiculite & Portland cement mixture which none of us had experience with. The mixture was a lot drier than we thought it needed to be so the directions where checked multiple times to make sure that we where doing it correctly. Several times it was stated that we need to have faith in the process and ourselves. Building the oven is about the end product of a working oven but it is also about the process of working together, learning from each other and having faith in each other. The layer was completed and is drying so that the temperature probes can be laid and the layer of heat resistant concrete can be laid this Saturday 8/29. We were joined this week by a special supervisor, “Stormy“ Tracy and Bob Hoover’s furry family member watched us intently from the cool comfort of the seat in the pickup.

On Tuesday night we had planned to take the night off from working while we waited for the needed supplies to arrive for the next step but God had other plans. A call from Joyce Johnson that he was taking a tree down in his yard prompted us to hold the work night and collect the wood from his yard and clean up the downing of the tree. We thank God for all of you who are supporting the oven with your labor, your donations, and your prayers.

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Groundhog Day?

8/19/2015

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This week the work was much like the movie “Groundhog Day” it seemed like we were back to do it all again only this time we were a little bit higher. On Tuesday 8/11 we dry stacked the next 2 layers of block. We then used the bricks donated to the oven by Helen York to finish off the bottom of the ash drop. Then, on Saturday 8/15 a hardy group of souls braved the heat and helped core fill the layers we stacked on Tuesday. The heat was so intense that an easy-up tent was put over the bricks to shield the workers from the direct sun and to keep the cement from drying too quickly. The concrete mixers weren’t as lucky but they where able to step out of the sun under the awning that enters the hall while the cement was mixing. We managed to finish the core filling by 10:30 and some of the workers cleaned up and then met at the Goldsmith’s to assemble the float and travel to Spring Valley for the parade. Again the positive personalities in our group over powered the oppressive heat and a good time was had by all.

Working with our fellow church members has been a blessing. The comradery and conversations have been lively and fun. It has been a joy to work beside people who are as excited to work on the oven as I am. Though my muscles may be sore the day after working on the oven, I never feel that the work is to overwhelming or takes to long. I hope you will consider joining a work day to help with the oven. You could learn a new skill, make a new friend, or maybe even learn something about yourself while working with others. Our next work day is 8/22 from 8 am – 11 am. We will be laying the patio bricks for the base of the oven chamber and making the insulation pad layer for the oven.

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Update 8.12.15 - One Block, Two Blocks, Three Blocks, Four, join us for a work day and help build some more.

8/12/2015

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One Block, Two Blocks, Three Blocks, Four, join us for a work day and help build some more.

Work days are scheduled for Tuesdays from 6:30 – 8:30pm and Saturdays from 8:00 – 11:00am. Since our last entry a trailer full of supplies has been picked up by Charles Kenning and Jeff Goeldi and the building has begun.

On Saturday 8/8 a group of 7 workers gathered together to dry stack and core fill the first two courses of the oven walls.

On Tuesday 8/11 we will be adding the next two courses of block for the wall. On Saturday 8/15 we hope to lay the patio blocks that will support the pads for the oven chamber. We will also set the forms for the insulation pad that we will pour that day. Stop on by and check out our progress or lend a hand whenever you have a chance. Make sure to wave at us as when the Church Float goes by this Saturday 8/15 in the AG DAYS Parade in Spring Valley.