MY 40inch CORNER BUILD

[UtahBeehiver]

Using a yoga ball or platform ( I tried the platform but quickly abandon it) you cannot see the inside joints or clean up excess until you remove the support then it is too late or hard to clean. I made a small L bracket for my IT until the last few courses the just used notch sticks to hold the bricks in place

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[Mr.Pizza3]

Yeah I didn’t plan on going that thick with it basically a skim coat over the joints as they are filled if anything I’m about 1/4 inch thick just giving me a spot to use up the left over mortar as I continue up the dome as far as additional weight I don’t believe it’s really adding much maybe in the end it’ll add 50lbs

i do have more plans for my frame to strengthen it up some more I will discuss as I continue through my build , for now the focus is on completing the dome so it can dry and cure and whilst that goes on I will focus on finishing up my frame and outer arch/ chimney

[Mr.Pizza3]

Using a yoga ball or platform ( I tried the platform but quickly abandon it) you cannot see the inside joints or clean up excess until you remove the support then it is too late or hard to clean. I made a small L bracket for my IT until the last few courses the just used notch sticks to hold the bricks in place

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interesting point I didn’t think of that as far as joints are concerned on the inside I suppose I could always go back and wire brush the dried mortar off if I choose the platform but maybe I too will just think out my it tool as I get higher

I bridge I shall cross once I get higher for now I’m onto the trickiest of cuts tie-ing my 4th and 5th row into my inner arch

[Mr.Pizza3]

Unfortunately no work was done on the pizza oven today but I did make about 16 bricks for my 5th row

after doing some dry fitting it looks like my 6th row should be my first non cut complete full circle row I believe my 5th row will have a small piece connecting it into a full circle

so tomorrow I plan on setting my 5th row and then working on my 4th and 5 th row connecting pieces for my inner arch and getting some cuts done for my 6th row

[MarkJerling]

Looking good!

[Mr.Pizza3]

Wow I’ve seen it’s been a minute since I’ve posted on here and my progress has been immense

I’ll start by saying …..

MY DOME IS FINISHED!!!

okay so I’m not sure where to start but my 5th row was the last row that needed custom cuts to tie into the arch after that my 6th row was the first row to be a complete circle with no cutting of the bricks other then a final key stone

here are some pictures of that !

for my arch I took a marker and put it on the end of my trammel and marked the counter circle on the arch so that I could cut each brick accordingly

Worked out pretty good!

[Mr.Pizza3]

After the 5th row went in i went at a good pace and slowly went placed each row once a day sometimes starting the following row and placing a few bricks to start

my bevel cuts worked out pretty good a few spots with the inverted V but nothing major

I went through the forum and took a bunch of screenshots of how people cut their bricks for the final rows including how the Fire Brick Co sends their precut domes

i settled on doing an alternate size row for row 8 with larger and smaller bricks

9 and 10 I used all small bricks to keep my circle as round as possible for the plug

The final two rows were definetly tricky to install with the sticks for support my saw was also cutting a bit off so my bricks were more parallelogram then rectangular but nothing major and was able to adjust as best as possible for the final rows

[Mr.Pizza3]

More pictures of the final rows before my plug over all I am very happy with how all my bricks went together

for my bevels i mitered with my saw and then used my grinder with a masonry wheel to clean off either the top edge or bottom edge depending on my cut to make my bricks smooth

I was alternating my cuts so I could do only 3 cuts to make two beveled bricks out of one large fire brick

[Mr.Pizza3]

Before showing my final plug I wanted to show my outer shell

i took my left over mortar from each row and smeared it onto my dome to fill in the outer spacing between bricks and to make my dome look very spherical for aesthetics even though it’ll all be covered and not matter


I figure the added bit will help with strength , plus ensure there are no gaps or cracks where heat could escape while also adding a bit more to my thermal mass for heat retention

guess I don’t have photos on my phone at the moment …

I’ll get some later today when I am home

[Mr.Pizza3]

Alrighty the moment I’ve been waiting for more than anyone the PLUG!

Now I’m not sure if it was due to how I cut my bricks but my final plug was a bit bigger then some

I probably could have done one more very small cuts row and then a tiny plug but I decided not to

so I slid Into the oven held a brick up and had my fiancé mark the brick

I then turned a light on over the top and once my large brick was cut and dry fitted I took paper and traced the gaps on either side for my half moon inserts took a bit to get them sanded and fitted good by when I did a final dry fit before mortaring them in they got stuck lol I had to go from the inside and push them out on at a time to get em out so I’d say they are pretty damn good!

I went ahead and mortared them in and then added additional motor and left over cuts on top and make a nice dome over the top to complete my circular shape!

I attempted to take my dremel and sand in my initials and the year the dome was built I hope when it’s all cleaned up you’ll see it a lot better but either way she’s done!

onto the outer arch and chimney

plus some fun add ons to strengthen my framework and add some flare to the build !


it was a GREAT feeling finally completing the dome !

what an accomplishment

I’m sure the feeling will be tripled when it’s fully completed finish work and all

[Mr.Pizza3]

So that catches you all up to where I am now which is the following morning from completing the dome

cleanup will commence a wire brush and a plastic drill brush are in my future to make the inner dome look nice and crispy clean

A few questions for you guys

as you can see in some photos where my inverted Vs are or some bricks with a small space in the middle when a higher row brick is spanning the joint on the lower row should I go back and backfill these gaps with the home brew? Or change up the mixture do it’s more heat resistant perhaps less cement and more fireclay or lime ?

or simply leave these spaces alone I also have the outer layer over all the bricks so there isn’t technically any channels where heat will escape

I’ve seen on other builds people have these joints filled in I just wasn’t sure if it was something I should also do or just it alone

[Mr.Pizza3]

I’ll be getting some more photos today whiles I clean it before it’s covered up for the next week to allow the concrete to cure nice and slow before starting the drying phase

[MarkJerling]

Looks good. It's a great feeling when you get to complete the dome. I don't think it matters to fill the little gaps. Some do, some don't.

[Giovanni Rossi]

It's the best feeling when you place the last brick! If you are going to try to fill those gaps make sure to pre-wet those spaces well now that those rows have had time to start drying.

[Mr.Pizza3]

It's the best feeling when you place the last brick! If you are going to try to fill those gaps make sure to pre-wet those spaces well now that those rows have had time to start drying.

In your opinion is it necessary to perform this for oven performance or more or less an aesthetic thing?

yes it was a great feeling!

I Timelapsed the whole build and switched to regular recording to capture that moment in real time but of course … technical difficulty and the recording didn’t save