EddieJ

That was just a quick fix one to get you started. Mine isn't going to be clay, but I really like the idea of it. It's far more organic and natural if that makes sense. I reckon that by making and using a clay oven, you would almost feel as though you are somehow stepping back in time. It doesn't get better than that.

If you want a quick and simple temporary oven, it doesn't get much simply than this. .

That looks brilliant Muttley. Sadly I am owed a bloody lot of money from my latest job, so the build has already ground to a halt. If and when I do get paid, I'm going to spoil myself and go for a Pompeii design constructed with refractory bricks internally and stock bricks on the outside. Obviously it will be insulated etc, and I'm going to be big pig and make it a 42" oven. Ref the reducing of the posts, I did the first on my own bandsaw running an inch and quarter three skip blade, but it wasn't easy. The guy at the sawmill kindly cut the remaining three on a Woodmizer. Sadly there was one over cut, but it doesn't show and I've already almost forgotten about it. In truth this has been far more work than I thought it was going to be, and I probably wouldn't have started it had I known. There is as much work in this as a regular big frame. I did cheat and use 16mm stainless rod to hold the top plates on though.

I don't really have time to be making things like this, but for the last few years I have really wanted to build myself an outdoor pizza/bread oven. I don't like the coal bunker cross bomb shelter look that many people seem to sit the ovens on, so have opted for my own design in oak! I can't do the roof until after the main oven build, which is a bit of a shame, but at least you can get the idea of what is planned. The structure is far bigger than these photos make it look. It is 1,800mm x 1,800mm x 1,800mm and the posts and main beam section size is 200mm x 200mm. The top plate section size is 125mm x 125mm Once I have cast the raft for the stove to sit on, I shall then remove the top plates to make the build easier.

Very nice work there Muttley. Another week to go, and my latest project should be finished. It's dragged on longer than I would have liked, but as I mainly work on my own, I guess that it is hardly surprising.

It isn't very often that someones work grabs me and makes me go WOW, but you have managed it. Hopefully you have a bright and successful future ahead of you. With ref to marketing yourself properly, you can do a lot worse that talk to this lovely guy, Richard Marchant. He is always keen to try and steer lads such as yourself in the right direction. Designer/Makers If you would like his contact details, just let me know.

The latest job is now starting to look more like a house, I mean garage! The scaffold went up today.

Thanks for the replies. Up until getting rained off today, I haven't had a chance to make any further enquiries, but will do so this afternoon.

An issue not mentioned is blade set. Even with new blades the set is often dire. Even just one tooth out of set will cause the lines that you are describing.

I couldn't really think of where else to put this request, but after hitting a bolt, I now need to find a new chain for my Ryobi CM31 chain morticer. I've tried the usual Google search, but keep coming up blank. Does anyone have an idea where I might be able to get a new 30mm wide chain for it?

Art in own right.

Stunning. Being self critical is my biggest downside. I hate it. I've been self employed for 27yrs, and I'm still waiting to walk away from a job thinking "that was great" Even the smallest of flaws annoys me, and I don't think that I'm ever going to reach the expectations that I want from myself. It isn't a good attitude to have. Oddly I never see this in the work of others, and just accept any flaws, blemishes, mistakes and make no opinion of it.

Maybe the other thing to do, is not make them. That isn't meant to sound harsh, but it could just be worth exploring and developing other items that pop into your head or that you feel comfortable about making. The downside of wanting to carve the items that you have listed, is that you could fall into the (my) trap of comparing your own work with that of others who have been carving for many many years, then suddenly start to get despondent as you have not perhaps met your own expectations. I stating this, as that is pretty much how I get. If I can't achieve what I had plane din my head, I then struggle to progress forward. After spending most of my working life using a chainsaw, I bought a new MS192 and it has only used two tanks of petrol, and I'm now going to get rid of it. I have decided that I prefer creating work on the bandsaw, or use a bigger chainsaw to create shapes, not figures, that require a smaller saw. There is a niche for all of use, it just a case of finding it.

Going up.

It is a mix, as the client needed to get the project finished in a hurry. At some stage it is going to ripped out and I then have to construct a rustic style oak staircase and gallery area. (another job to try an fit in) That was how I drifted into oak framing. I did just the same as you, then figured that making frames was the easier option and went from there.