The previous post, "The Boilerzoph," described the process to get the boiler from the frame to the floor. These few pictures show the remaining firebox cleanup/cleanout taking place.
Volunteer Anita N. scoops containers of debris from the firebox. The debris is from the removal of about 1/2 of the fire brick. With hours of work still to go, discovering where the firebox's floor was located proved handy. Anita removed about 30 1-gallon coffee-containers worth of gravel and brick chips.
Volunteer Elliot H. realized that the trash barrel was impossible to grab so the debris was transferred to a barrel with handles.
As punishment for filling the wrong trash barrel, Elliot H. is placed inside the firebox (after Anita crawled out!) and ordered to finish the brick removal.
Removing many of the bricks required splitting the brick and then forcing the air hammer's blade under the brick to dislodge it. The bricks were installed over 20 years ago as a way of moderating the heat from the oil burner. There were two courses of bricks approximately three feet high on all four sides of the firebox. The installers did a masterful job of placing the brick, using a minimum of mortar to fill 1/8 inch gaps between bricks and courses of bricks.
The firebox looks "large" in the above photos, but keep in perspective just how small the Six's boiler really is!
Everybody gets into the act! After chipping several courses of bricks, volunteer Bekah N. jumps in the firebox to remove the debris created by an hour of chipping brick by Elliot.
After an hour's work, this pallet has the larger pieces of brick removed from the firebox.
After a few more hour's work..
