South Jersey Pompeii Oven - Am I Doing This Right?

[JRPizza]

The OD matters in that the IT will place all bricks so the outer faces are on the outside diameter. What is going to choose which line you cut is the height of the row where it intersects the arch. You can kind of see this in the pic below. You can also see some of the "custom" cuts I made to mate the dome with arch. I also had a mild case of droop I had to deal with as even though I was warned to watch out for it I didn't understand why it happened so I ended up with happening. Forewarned isn't always forearmed
Here is a link to a post where I discuss what I "think" I learned about droop
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...041#post393041

[UtahBeehiver]

At this point of the build and since the lower cuts of the taper arch were done with the original IT elevation, IMHO, I am not sure what you gain by lowering the IT. It will affect the taper arch angles, and might just make things more difficult. If anything, make the IT adjustable so you can make subtle in and out adjustments. As JR pointed out, this is where you will see the dreaded droop appear near the top of the arch.

[mintee]

Today I'm sunburned and it's raining, so I guess it's time stare are the forum some more. Also, Happy Labor Day, hope most of you are off work and enjoying yourselves.

[S]If you notice in the attached photos, the first is from Karangi Dude and I see exactly why you say the TDC is the longest arch brick, but looking at photo 2 and 3 of mine, the trajectory is clearly cutting bricks shorter as it reaches the middle. I've set my arch to me 20" wide by 12" tall, so I'm not sure why this is the case.[/S]

Ok, (I think) it just clicked as I was writing that. The far right arch brick from the inside of image 2 is a mess, and just completely wrong. They majority of that brick shouldn't even be there and should be replaced with an actual dome brick instead. The cut of the arch will be the slope of the IT, and the cut of the dome brick beside it will be as close to perfectly adjacent to the arch brick.

Looking at the 1st attached from KD, it seems like each course intersects with it's corresponding arch brick for the first 4 courses. This makes me think that a full arch is clearly easier in terms of teaching the tapered arch before they become too complex. The vertical sides with partial arch has really messed with my logic.

Unfortunately both of the first "wrong" arch bricks are set. I could chisel them out, but I'm not sure if that would do more harm than good at this point. I feel like I should knock it out and reconstruct as it will make tying the other bricks in slightly easier (and mentally clearer), but if the hammer and chiseling could loosen other bricks, I'd rather not. Any suggestions?

Now looking back, the thought of the tapered arch is so complex to someone that's never really constructed anything harder than a wall of 2x4's it would be awesome if there was a sticky showing multiple angles of a constructed tapered arch, more inside photos of how the dome intersects with them, and possibly a video explaining how to draw out and make the cuts. I'm not cut out for that job, but if someone experianced is considering building another oven, this would be an awesome addition to the forum.

Also 2 other small things I read that helped immensely in the forum was that the entire sides didn't need to be cut for the side angle \ side cuts for the dome bricks. This saved time and brick for me (however I'm starting to run out of brick wedges for the backside). And the other was to mortar a single brick up at the end of your day with the IT for the next day's course so you have something to anchor onto.

Looking to hear back about breaking out the hammer or just correcting the error moving forward.

[mintee]

Did I scare everyone off?

[UtahBeehiver]

You may cause more damage than it is worth, this area of the dome is not seen by any on after the oven is complete.. If you feel you need to take it out the use a angle grinder narrow diamond blade and cut out mortar joint.

[mintee]

Rodger that. I was more worried about the structure than the appearance. Appreciate that info.

[mintee]

Hum, it seems like the site was hacked yesterday and I've lost a number of posts.

[slschoming]

Hum, it seems like the site was hacked yesterday and I've lost a number of posts.

Yep, I came out here on Tuesday evening to post an update and the forum was completely different, and had more of an adult theme... I contacted the fornobravo helpdesk via the "contact us" page of their main site and they restored the forum from about a week ago...

[mintee]

Yep, I came out here on Tuesday evening to post an update and the forum was completely different, and had more of an adult theme... I contacted the fornobravo helpdesk via the "contact us" page of their main site and they restored the forum from about a week ago...

Yeah, I actually signed on the the "hacker forum" with other credentials and basically said "Guys, good job, but you took our pizza forum away. I'm pretty sure you like pizza too, can we have it back?" Heh! I know I had posted a rather large post right before the hack, but I'm not sure how important it was most of it was.

Anyway, almost done with the dome as seen in the photos. Started using 1/3 bricks now to keep a cleaner mortar line. I have a bunch of scrap bricks, so I might start making smaller slivers for the final 2 courses

My main question right now, before I start looking into the the flue gallery is...

Should I worry about making a pastry style bag and back filling between the bricks thoroughly on the outside of the dome, or would just a decently thick smear of mortar on the outside, leaving internal air pockets suffice?

[UtahBeehiver]

I would tuck and point outside joints for added joint structure. Does not have to be pretty, just fill them up. Won't take long.

[Chach]

yes I agree I would fill those in as good as you can. maybe a thinner aggregate to get in the tight spots...when I did mine I set them in mortar and cleans the sides so I didnt have to come back so I didnt have to worry about that. it also helped stick the brick better as I was building...Your dome looks fantastic and very clean great job! Can't wait to see the finished product.

[JRPizza]

Those external gaps are sufficiently large you should just be able to force mortar into them with a trowel. If it was me I'd save the pastry bag for any small internal gaps I needed to fill where I cared if the adjacent surfaces got smeared with mortar.

[mintee]

Thanks for the quick reply. I went to the supply store today and bought some fireclay, sand and portland cement, so I have plenty to push into those gaps. I just finished the dome, but I didn't take any photos yet. I'll get some up later today or tomorrow.

Now, time to research the flue gallery...

[mintee]

I thinking about using one of the Duratech 8" vents, but FornoBravo doesn't seem to sell the single wall. From my understanding, I don't need a double wall for an outdoor installation. Any suggestions on where to find a single wall pipe?

Also, I'm thinking 36" long, but I'm not certain the differences of draw other than just having it exaust high enough not to be in peoples way. Is there something else I should know about vent size?

[UtahBeehiver]

It is called DuraBlack for single wall, be sure to only consider the SS version.