New build - 1.2M dome

[UtahBeehiver]

Top notch, done nicely.

[Gulf]

Great job! Jonv.

That will be a set of pics for lots of future oven builders to reference. A picture is worth a thousand words .

[jonv]

Thanks both! It really is great to have the collective experiences of so many previous builds to go on. Much easier than the pioneering stuff other folk have done

[SableSprings]

That's awesome Jonv! Really interesting seeing the complete arch with angles prepared for the dome incorporation. I don't think I would have been able to dream of doing that back when I did my oven...that's why I used the square/angle iron entry method . If I build another oven, I'll certainly come back to this build and use all the tips you got from other forum members to create this beauty! It's fantastic what's being created with input from the forum. Thanks to Utahbeehiver, Gulf, JRPizza, MrChipster, Deejayoh, David S, CobblerDave, and many, many others for their continued interest in seeing EVERYONE succeed here!

[deejayoh]

That's impressive work. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the dome go up!

[jonv]

I finally have the tapered arch in place

It was a bit tricky but I'm happy enough with how it turned out. Hopefully things will progress a big more quickly now.

[UtahBeehiver]

Either would work but keep the arch ahead of the dome course vs dome course ahead of the arch brick.

[jonv]

Thanks

I'll definitely try to taper the arch. I still haven't decided whether to build the arch as I go or put it up first...

[UtahBeehiver]

Great looking start. Nice uniform and level brick work. What are you going to do about the inner arch? IMHO, it is easier to tie into the arch from the dome than to build the arch after the dome courses are in. I do suggest using and tapered inner arch, it will make the dome to arch transition much smoother.

[jonv]

Not a lot of progress to show for the last couple of weeks but I have at least managed to mortar the soldier course. I was a bit surprised just how tricky it was, so I'm hoping the next course will be a bit easier now I have a reasonable foundation to work from.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Maybe I was a little too worried about keeping each chain as level as I could, but if you keep adjacent bricks level, you can't end up with the droop. The first brick is the key to the chan and I had to start over a few times after trying to start a course with a brick not level or on the wrong angle.

[jonv]

Interesting. I will pay particularly attention to those bricks and pack them up as you suggest to keep them on track. Will be interesting to see if I can avoid it or if it still sneaks up on me even with the benefit of your past experiences!

[JRPizza]

I had intended to make a thread on droop, but never got around to it. I think understanding why it happens is important in preventing it (which I didn't), so here is what I think happens. As you build up the dome the bricks start to angle up as shown in the first picture as they ride on the bricks below. This angling does not happen adjacent to the arch as there are no bricks on the arch side to provide the rise. This is shown in the second picture (my oven ). If you give each brick adjacent to the arch a slight angle up with some extra mortar or a brick chip (to match the rest of the bricks in the row, I think you can eliminate the droop.
PS, I "borrowed" the first picture from someone on the forum - can't remember who but "thanks"

[jonv]

Gulf - that's a great idea, and one I had not picked up on before, so thanks a lot for that - I shall make use of it I did see someone use a laser line to help keep everything level, so I shall probably deploy my laser for that purpose too, but I rather like the idea of something solid on the IT.

Crisp - it's a different design to what I had in mind, but that is a really attractive entry. It's a pity that the inside is not readily visible - I would want to show that off! I was planning a rather dull semi-circular arch on top of a short vertical length...

[crisp]

Nice tight joints . I did my arch transition like these pictures, but my dome is neopolitian ( a lower dome height ) with two radius's, not a half circle, likewise the arch entrance is not semi circular. I cut the top of the arch at the angle and level with top of the the third course. It's just another way of doing the transition. The first five courses were a steeper radius, then a flatter radius.