New Build

[UtahBeehiver]

Mike,

Good job, you clear the tapered arch and no dreaded droop. I know the tapered arch is a head scratcher but worth the effort. Coming along nicely.

[staestc]

Mike, your arch and transition look great! I hope I can build one half that well.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

wow, thanks for the compliment.

Still a little rough from the angle grinder, but not sure it is necessary to clean it up much more as no one will be able to see that part. tried cleaning the film off the inside bricks with a dilute solution of muratic acid, but didn't want to introduce too much water inside the dome and soak the CaSi block below the floor bricks so threw that out the window. The bricks are fairly clean, with just a slight film left after spunging the joints inside. Will the fire take that film off, or do I need to sand or clean all the bricks in the back of the oven?

[UtahBeehiver]

Don't work about the film on the inside of the build, it will blacken up on the first fire.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Does anyone have a formula, or a spreadsheet that tells you how much to take off bricks to taper them for your outside arches. Say I have a radios of 22" and I want a 1/4" grout joint, how much do I take off each brick? Getting ready to start the vent arch and don't really want to recreate the wheel. By the way, that stainless insulated chimney pipe is way expensive. Couldn't find and liquidator specials so had to pay full price on line. That put a dent in the budget.

[UtahBeehiver]

Mike,

I have the Anglelizer program for this. I need to know the width and thickness of the bricks, ie 4", 4.5" then I will run and send a screen shot. Here is an example of a test run I did.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

great. I will have the standard 4-1/2x9"x2-1/2" where I am tapering the 4-1/2" edge like the entry arch with 1/4" grout space, and then on the outside looking at doing 4-1/2x9"x2-1/2" bricks and tapering the 9" length to cover the p-crete and insulation. Looks like the opening size or diameter for both of them will be 24-5/8". Thanks so much.

[UtahBeehiver]

Here you go, actually the 24.625 OD makes it work even better, no cutting on the extradous.

[JRPizza]

I made a spread sheet that is not as elegant as the angleizer but seems to work OK for me. I input your dimensions for the original 11 inch radius arch and with 17 bricks you get a little under 1/8 joint thickness, and with your 24.625 opening and 19 bricks you get slightly over 1/4 (0.265901). I attached a copy if you want to play with it. Maybe I should post it?
With the way I cut my bricks I had to make cuts from both sides with my saw to get through the 4.5 inch height. I tried to just touch the wide part of the brick (extradous?) with the blade on the first cut but ended up shaving off just a little. The spread sheet said I should have had about 1/8 inch joints, but with my slight cutting errors and probably being a little tall on my template and the way the bricks sat on it, my joints were probably +3/8"

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Thanks guys. That helps a lot.

[fnbroken]

Here you go, actually the 24.625 OD makes it work even better, no cutting on the extradous.

Russell, any chance you could make the software available somewhere? Cheers !

[UtahBeehiver]

It only runs with the original disk that I received when I bought the Angleiizer. Sorry. But JR's spreadsheet is an open source.

[fnbroken]

ahh...cool...a disk...whats that...lol

[JRPizza]

It would be pretty easy to modify the spread sheet to make joint thickness an input and brick dimensions outputs (I think). I'll take a crack at it in my spare time.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Got the 11th chain completed and mortared the starter brick for the next chain a few days ago. Started to mortar bricks on thios morning and knocked the starter off so had to start over. Some how I got off from the dome calculator, and then my little 10" saw couldn't handle the steep side tilt, so I had to compensate with guestimating the bevel angle on the saw, so I am on my own. Luckily only a little more to go. Trying to see if I can close the dome without a form. Decided to complete my floor and start the entry arch. Extended my p-crete under the heart, put the balance of the CaSi board down, made my form, beveled my bricks, and got the first couple set. It is hard to keep the grout joint small and consistent. Started a soldier course to hide the p-crete and insulation board that I tied my floor into. I will still have one more decorative arch at the entry, but the goal will be to close the dome next weekend and get the entry arch done and start to set the chimney. Winter is coming ans I still have to insulate, p-crete the dome, and stucco. Shooting for completion by Halloween, at least with the oven. Then I will have to start the deck and stone around the support structure.