Here's an exploded-view sketch of my oven.

Cross section of oven and view of flue pipe setup

For baking, a wooden door seals the oven. Be sure that the screws are far enough in from the edges of the door that they don't prevent it from making a good seal against the oven's doorway bricks and angle iron.

Construction Log

This is a bit embarrasing. It should have taken maybe five or six full weekends to build this, but I managed to spread it out over nearly two years. Work and other things distracted me, what can I say? It won't take you this long!

Late December 1998, dug out foundation
March 1999(?), built foundation forms. Poured foundation during torrential rainstorm.
May 1999, built cement-block base
July 1999, built formwork for upper slab & cut rebar
November 1999, poured upper slab
Dec 23, 1999. Got the firebrick for the hearth (floor of the oven)
Jan 1, 2000. Finished laying the hearth. Lit a symbolic "first fire" on the new hearth and mocked up the walls.
Feb 19, 2000. Put up the side walls of the oven vault and the doorjamb bricks.
Apr 9, 2000. Finished back wall, built arch form.
May 20, 2000. Built the first arch. Not pretty, but it's holding up.
June 17, 2000. Finished the three arches last week and the doorway sides today. Built entry arch form.
July 2000. Finished the chimney & facing brickwork. Encased the oven in concrete cladding
August 5-6, 2000. Built covering with steel studs, Hardibacker cement board walls and corrugated iron roof. Filled box with perlite insulation. Started stuccoing the base.
August 19, 2000. Nearly finished stucco. Started attaching corrugated metal roofing.
August 24, 2000. Painted stucco. Ken Moeller welded the wok and its support for the chimney cap.
August 26, 2000. First pizzas and chicken!!!
September 2000. Building a four-channel thermometer display, in progress.
June 2001. The oven is such a success that the side of the house is now the focal point of the yard, so I had a patio put in. This cost about five times what the oven cost.

Thanks to Brian Rude, Bruce Westland, Pete Cocke and Tom McGovern for helping out along the way!