82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Many Thanks Chip and Russell,

I will do as advised and cut the dome bricks as I come to them.
and thanks for the reassurance that no one will know, present company accepted.

Here is my photos of my efforts today. I've closed the arch !!

As you can see I still made the centre arch brick too short,(again) it was the right length before I cut it

I have now used all the second hand bricks I bought, bar 1 or 2 and I have decided to go with new ones from here on as the second hands were of different heights and not in the best of condition and gave me more work to do to get to this stage.

Now another quandary for you expert guys, according to Dejoahs spreadsheet I need to make the remaining row bricks 4" x 3" (ish) but I have 16 new part cuts which are 3 1/4 wide If I taper the sides from 3 1/4 to 2 3/4 for instance does it make a vast difference to obtaining a round shape.?

It would be a shame to waste these I think but unsure if it would work.
any help would be appreciated.

[mrchipster]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Many Thanks Chip and Russell,

I will do as advised and cut the dome bricks as I come to them.
and thanks for the reassurance that no one will know, present company accepted.

Here is my photos of my efforts today. I've closed the arch !!

As you can see I still made the centre arch brick too short,(again) it was the right length before I cut it

I have now used all the second hand bricks I bought, bar 1 or 2 and I have decided to go with new ones from here on as the second hands were of different heights and not in the best of condition and gave me more work to do to get to this stage.

Now another quandary for you expert guys, according to Dejoahs spreadsheet I need to make the remaining row bricks 4" x 3" (ish) but I have 16 new part cuts which are 3 1/4 wide If I taper the sides from 3 1/4 to 2 3/4 for instance does it make a vast difference to obtaining a round shape.?

It would be a shame to waste these I think but unsure if it would work.
any help would be appreciated.

The arch looks fine, DJ recommends a reduction in brick width as you get higher to reduce the gap at the bottom of each brick. It is in no way required. And you should be able to maintain the larger bricks for the next course.

[deejayoh]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

If I'm understanding the question correctly, you can make the bricks in the upper courses any width you want. Just change the width in that column and it will calculate all the dimensions for you automatically.

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

The arch looks fine, DJ recommends a reduction in brick width as you get higher to reduce the gap at the bottom of each brick. It is in no way required. And you should be able to maintain the larger bricks for the next course.

Hi Chip, When you say I should be able to maintain larger bricks for the next course, do you mean if I use up the 16 narrow bricks and then cut all others to same size on the 5th row, I can then revert to using DJs 4 x 3 size on row 6 which will be cut from full size bricks?

Noticed on your photos Chip that you seem to have bevelled the entrance to your dome on the entry edges, looks quite neat, was this something you did when your arch was set?

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Hi DJ, Thanks for that clarification buddy, your spreadsheet has been a tremendous help, although to be honest with you my precision cutting leaves a lot to be desired.

Just been on your calculator DJ and yep it has given me the green light, I shall have an easy day tomorrow just marking the bricks and look forward to having the bit over the arch done this week end. Will keep you posted buddy.

Paul

[mrchipster]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Hi Chip, When you say I should be able to maintain larger bricks for the next course, do you mean if I use up the 16 narrow bricks and then cut all others to same size on the 5th row, I can then revert to using DJs 4 x 3 size on row 6 which will be cut from full size bricks?

Noticed on your photos Chip that you seem to have bevelled the entrance to your dome on the entry edges, looks quite neat, was this something you did when your arch was set?

Please clarify, I am not sure what either of thes two questions mean. I did not do any beveling of the inner or decorative arch, I did bevel the bricks for the thermal break to reduce contact of flue arch with the inner arch and then filled that area with 11/1 Perlcrete. I also beveled the floor brick at the transition to the flue arch and have insulating fire brick under my stainless floor in the flue area.

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Sorry to be vague Chip, and thankyou but DJ has now answered what I was trying to say.

As for the beveling it was for your thermal break that I was looking at, it looks very nice Chip all credit to you for the extra mile or two you've gone.

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

At last, finished the 6th course and the transition is completed, many thanks to all those that held my hand along the way suffice it to say I could not have done it without your words of wisdom and expertise.

here are a few photos of todays efforts.

Picture 1 the finished 6th course
picture 2 shows my short fall on the transition
Picture 3 aerial view
picture 4 Shows a couple of ugly and large joints.

I now understand what you mean that to enable small gaps at the bottom of the bricks the bricks should get smaller/thinner as you go up particulary on the last courses.

I find that I am having to shave the edges of every brick to try and close this gap.

I obviously failed on a few.

Hope to have row 7 done tomorrow.

[deejayoh]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Paul -
You got over that arch in really good shape. No apparent droop or out of round. Very well done! That is probably the toughest part of the build. I wouldn't fret at all about the joint sizes. You'll not be looking at them after you close it up!

You should be working with 1/3 cut bricks at this point, and move to quarters or even smaller for the last couple of courses. That will keep the joints nice and tight. I found it easiest to use a size that allows you to use 15-20 bricks per course up until the last couple courses. For the last couple, you will find that you can't get more than 8-12 brick sections in without going to a size that is smaller than you are going to want to use.

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Aw Thanks Deejayoh, that's very kind for you to say,

Looking at your calculator, after I went back to recalculate my previous cuts, I made the mistake of thinking that all the bricks would be the same until the finish, but I can see that your right about making them smaller, I have cut the 7th course already to the same dimensions as the 6th, but using your calculator I Will cut the bricks to thirds 3" x 2.5" for the 8th course and I have lots of little 2 " pieces for the 9th course. so fingers crossed.

Its very time consuming, 9 hours today I've done at my brick pile, I expect I will do another 9 tomorrow as I am shaving all the top edges of the bricks to close the gap ( I know better now to make them thinner)

Very tight space on my corner build, but good exercise ( try telling my back that!!

Onwards and upwards.!

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Ok Guys, finished the 7th row today, I found that I was having to cut every brick to shape to make a smaller gap at the bottom.

Is this normal for the gaps to be a menace on these rows?
For the 8th row I intend to make the bricks 3"x 2.31" so I will get 3 wedges for every brick, rather than cut them and then shape them individually is it possible to cut them with a desired slant so they fit better hence only having to cut once?

I only have a angle grinder so no jig, I have been racking my brain how to do this but it has me stumped, so if anyone can show me a picture/diagram how to do it, it would be a tremendous help.

regards
Paul

[deejayoh]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Are you using a jig to cut your bricks? Doesn't sound like it from your description. My spreadsheet gives you the angles to build a jig based on the instructions in this thread

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...tilt-2802.html

oops. just read to the end and saw you are using an angle grinder. Maybe some sort of template so that you could mark the bricks. One cut should give you a usable edge on each side.

Or you might want to rent a brick saw for a day for the last couple courses if one is available

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Thanks DJ, found a thread on Texmans build, there was quite a lot of explanations plus diagrams on there too, I know I have some whopping gaps throughout the build but I'm learning to b e more careful as I head towwrds the completion of dome.

have to have a few days off now sadly and the weather forecast for rain next week so will update when Ive completed.

[cobblerdave]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

Ok Guys, finished the 7th row today, I found that I was having to cut every brick to shape to make a smaller gap at the bottom.

Is this normal for the gaps to be a menace on these rows?
For the 8th row I intend to make the bricks 3"x 2.31" so I will get 3 wedges for every brick, rather than cut them and then shape them individually is it possible to cut them with a desired slant so they fit better hence only having to cut once?

I only have a angle grinder so no jig, I have been racking my brain how to do this but it has me stumped, so if anyone can show me a picture/diagram how to do it, it would be a tremendous help.

regards
Paul

Gudday Paul
I built with an angle grinder as well so I know how frustrating it is with those gapes getting bigger as the rows become smaller. Your going to have to except those gapes. You oven will operate equally as well and will not fall down !
My ovens 3 yrs old now and still cooking great rough brickwork and all !
Look up Budget Build 36" in the getting started section , there's hardly a cut in the whole structure the pavers have been snapped in 1/2 s only.
I think you have done exceedingly well that inner arch transition is a masterpiece .... And done with an angle grinder!!!!
Regards dave

[yorkshireknight]

Re: 82cm Corner Underway in Bulgaria

G'day Dave, Thank you for your encouragement and support, yes its been blood sweat and frustrations to get here, and its not the neatest of ovens by all means.
My main worry is the fire cement I'm using it says its not recommended for joints over 8mm the ones at the back and underneath are 3 times larger but because they are at the back maybe it will be ok, however there are some at the inner joints which are twice the recommended.
My hope is that the cement/glue is for 1000c so not reaching them temps will make it ok, not being able to understand the breakdown of cement properties gives me my cause for concern.

Glad you appreciate the work done with only angle grinder, I have seen my life pass before my eyes many a time I come to do the cuts, here is a picture of my set up.

Picture 1 & 2 shows the completed 7th row and the 8th row brick in place with the gap to overcome

Picture 3 shows my little set up (Bulgarian Jig) I clamp the brick, as shown stick my foot on the board and whizz away, I'm sure H&SE would have something to say about it.