42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Congrats on plug the dome. A few course behind ya....

[man7sell]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Drum Roll

The Dome is Closed! With the help of my two sons I got the dome closed Today
[ATTACH]30611[/ATTACH]
When we broke ground in mid-May, then general plan was to be cooking pizza for my older son's Birthday at the end of July (we are expecting about 40 people).That is not going to happen - but we should get it fired up well before he returns to school in the Fall.

Know how that goes, I thought July 4th party......Well I never stated which year

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Drum Roll

The Dome is Closed! With the help of my two sons I got the dome closed Today

When we broke ground in mid-May, then general plan was to be cooking pizza for my older son's Birthday at the end of July (we are expecting about 40 people).That is not going to happen - but we should get it fired up well before he returns to school in the Fall.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

DVM,

Knnoowww what you mean. Really slow for me too since no two bricks are the same now. My goal today is finish course 9 and set an anchor for the next course. Trying to be patience. Quit early yesterday cause my expectations of brick fit was starting to slip a new day today........

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

FINALLY got the last course in place. This was a "place two, knock one out, replace - wedge with sticks, Return to clean - knock one off, replace" kind of day.

Every "brick" is a unique creation.

The remaining hole is too small a diameter for my abrasive pad for the drill. I am letting is cure over night before moving to the plug.

I removed the IT and floor covering tonight. Contemplating how to get in there for clean up / touch up. There might be too much of ME to fit. I may enlist the oldest son for this duty.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I finished this course and placed one in the next (last) before the capstone. In the day light I intend to finish the last course and plan the cap stone.

I will see If I can shape the opening for the cap stone to round using this: I will let you kn ow how is goes.


Once the dome is complete I am planning a Dino Pizza style chimney arch set off the dome 1/4 inch for a heat break. Moving on!

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

DVM,

Rsponsed off my thread before I looked at your thread, you're almost there!! I'm doing the stick thing too but a couple course behind you. Build looking good.....

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Gravity is intense in the upper courses..... little sticks to the rescue!

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

6th course complete and arch form removed

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

"Ran out" of bricks today. The 42 inch Pompei kit from FB includes 140 bricks, I bought an additional 20 bricks - (FB gave me 168 - to allow for loss). I split 11 to place under the standard 2 inch thick floor tiles. I ran low (6 full bricks remain - not enough for the next course) after completing the course at the top of the arch (5th course on tall soliders). In contrast to a shortage of bricks, I am just now reaching the bottom of the 2nd of three bags of mortar. - clearly the FB folks Expected construction from un-tapered half bricks with lots of mortar.

I went to the local supply yard and found medium duty firebricks for $1.45 per - I bought another 50. I will do an accounting of total bricks used at the end of the project for any who are interested. The new bricks weigh the same as the FB bricks but are much easier to cut (less Al?). I plan to keep the bricks segregated on the chance that one expands at a different rate than the other.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I am making progress. The dome is round and level. The vertical joints are great where I paid attention, and gap at the bottom (inverted v) where I rushed. I built my arch first with a set angle on the back of each brick. Where the courses intersect the arch I am using the hand held grinder to shape the back of the arch to give the brick a place to purchase. I have not continued each brick from the course all the way to its lateral end - so there are some steps at the terminus of each course.

So here is the question: If I "fill the gaps" so to speak with the FB mortar will it hold? (up to 3/4 inch thick in some places) or would I be better off grinding the protruding ends of the brick down to the level of the arch?

Front view
This is a view looking straight down at the arch
Inside view - the inside of the arch form is painted (recycled)

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I think that the current application of my IT is working. I am not tapering the top or bottom of the bricks - the top and bottom are parallel. I am using a full sized mock up of the dome and transferring the angle of the top of the brick to set, to the actual dome, relative to the center point of the floor (via the IT). The bricks, as cut, are trapezoidal and I am using the square end of the IT to square the outer surface of the brick (and therefore the inner surface) to the center of the oven in the side to side plane of the brick.
The place for error in my system is the depth of the brick, since I am using the out side of the brick to set the radius, if the initial cut of 9 x 2.5 x 4.5 inch brick is not on dead center - then the depth of the bricks will vary front to back and potentially result in steps on the inside surface. My solution, feel the inside surface for alignment.

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

dvm -

One issue you might want to think about for the IT - you want it to be at the angle that the brick should be at it's center. This is because the brick is square. If you construct it like you have, you are setting each brick at the angle that a trapezoid shaped brick would be. I can't explain this very clearly - but doing it the way you have will result in the bricks being set too steeply. If you check Xene's thread, you'll see what happens.

Set up the IT so that the piece coming from the center hits in the middle of the brick. This will also fix the problem with the IT not releasing from the brick.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I enjoyed a full day of WFO fun. Started with a trip to HD to replace the (worn) 9.5 inch blade on the wet saw with a new 10 inch blade - Chose the one with radial slits in the last 2 inches of the blade - discovered that this blade's design allows the removal of slivers of brick at any angle (more reliable than the previous continuous rimed blade).

I have been stubbornly attempting to make my version of the IT work (despite sage advice to use a wooden profile in place of the IT). Given my low dome, the IT becomes challenging as the radius of the arc is below the floor of the oven - requiring adjustment in length and angle for each course. My first attempt was to clamp a 90 degree bracket on the end of wooden hinged IT.... the problem, while the tool help the block nicely - it could not be lifted up from the block since the arc of the tool caused the heel of the bracket to engage (move) the newly placed block. I had to rotate the tool to the side off the block before raising the tool - which was fine until the end of the row. I placed the second row of block using wedges and by feel. The height was good but I found that the result was not completely round....

On the third course I used two pieces of poplar, one lined up with the top of the brick, and one on a hinge in the center of the dome. The angel in-between was supported with shims and clamped. I set the tool to the required angle from a scale drawing of the dome. For the next course the hinged board will be trimmed shorter and the new angle shimmed and clamped. My son pointed out that a brick could be placed on the (tilting) IT to hold the active brick in place until mortar is settled underneath. It worked great on row 3... I suspect more trouble will be ahead as the angle increases. Hey if it was easy where would the challenge be?

dvm

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Thanks Russell. I am longing for pizza.
dvm