Well, this weekend was a bit of work!
Saturday I formed the sand dome, which acts as a form for the actual oven.  Used about 500 lbs. of sand!  The floor of the oven is an elliptical shape – 32″ wide x 36″ deep.  The height is 17″.  After shaping the dome, I covered it up with junk mail flyers – soaked in water.

The following day, I built up the oven itself, making a lot of baseball sized balls of sand, clay and water.  The mixture wasn’t too wet – just enough to keep the sand and clay together.

I did manage to get the form covered over completely – with a brief interruption by mother nature and some much needed rainfall.  In a couple days, I’ll lay out the oven door, and cut it out.  Then the moment of truth when I get to remove the sand form!  I’m planning on making the opening around 11 1/2″ tall, and 16 – 18″ wide.  Once the opening is made, I’ll build a door, and then add 3-4″ of straw and clay insulation to the exterior of the oven.