New Build

[JRPizza]

No, my width is 19.5, inner and outer arches. I used a 9.75 radius for my semi-circular arches, giving me the 19.5 inch opening. The radius starts 2.5" off the floor (a brick thickness) giving me the 12.25" height. You are right these numbers are kind of hard to find. I think I ended up reverse engineering other builds that I liked the looks of
Some folks make the outer arch wider than the inner and some also incorporate a tapered entry. I think they look nice but added complexity I didn't want to mess with.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Anyone see any issues with this indispensible tool? Anyone have any ideas on how to attach a sharpie?

[UtahBeehiver]

A couple things need to be corrected. The center line of the rod needs to originate at the pivot point which also if possible needs to be as close to the floor level as possible. Second. the center line of the rod also needs to be at the vertical middle of the brick, ie if your brick is 2.5" thick then the center of the rod should intersect the brick at 1.25". If not the angles of the brick will not be perpendicular to the center of the dome and the effect of being off is cumulative and will affect your dome shape.

In the pic I sent you, I used a cheap, plastic HD carpenter pencil holder and just epoxied a nut that fit the threaded rod.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

A couple things need to be corrected. The center line of the rod needs to originate at the pivot point which also if possible needs to be as close to the floor level as possible. Second. the center line of the rod also needs to be at the vertical middle of the brick, ie if your brick is 2.5" thick then the center of the rod should intersect the brick at 1.25". If not the angles of the brick will not be perpendicular to the center of the dome and the effect of being off is cumulative and will affect your dome shape.

In the pic I sent you, I used a cheap, plastic HD carpenter pencil holder and just epoxied a nut that fit the threaded rod.

I thought if the first chain was flat, that the center of the rod should be at 2.5", or the top of the brick I guess I will have to go back to the drawing board. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Gulf]

I thought if the first chain was flat, that the center of the rod should be at 2.5", or the top of the brick I guess I will have to go back to the drawing board. Thanks for pointing that out.

If the pivot on the IT were perfect, that would make the apex of the dome 2.5" taller than the radius of the dome. You can check your design for yourself with a ruler. First measure it horizontally and then vertically. The vertical measurement is from the floor. The horizontal measurement is from the center of the pivot. If it were perfect, the measurments would be the same. There ain't many perfect pivot points out there, if any. Most all are offset to some amount. I was able stumble upon a commercial door closer that was headed to the dump. The way that I set mine, using a fake brick, I ended up about 1/4" low. (about 3 more washers would have made it prettty close) But, since I gave up on the IT with 3 rows left, who knows. I made one obligatory voyage into that confined space for clean up. I did not take a tape measure with me then. And, I'm not going back .

[deejayoh]

I made one obligatory voyage into that confined space for clean up. I did not take a tape measure with me then. And, I'm not going back .

LOL. I had exactly the same experience! no way I am every sticking my head in that dome again!

[deejayoh]

Vance -
download my spreadsheet calculator. It will give you all the dimensions for the dome, based on a few inputs

[thevance53@gmail.com]

I got it. Thanks

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Finally made some progress. Got my floor leveled, or was supposed to get my floor leveled, but made more of a mess than leveled the floor, then cut the floor brick for the herringbone pattern, made some adjustments to the IT, made the form for the inner arch, and cut the first chain of brick.

Special thanks to Russell, who I convinced to come over and give a newbie some much needed advice and tips. Can anyone let me know if they see something wrong with the positioning of the inner arch before I mortar in the first course? Thanks for the input.

[UtahBeehiver]

Mike,

It was nice to meet a local fellow WFOer. We as a group talked him into doing a pompeli over his original barrel. Remember you need a release spacer under the arch form. I see you have set the TDC arch brick which is good. It will be your longest brick in the tapered arch. So based on the TDC you will have an idea of how much lip on the front of the arch you have to work with. Great job.

[UtahBeehiver]

Mike,

I forgot to tell ya, on the HF saw, extend the outlet line of the pump then place in a homer bucket and fill with water and refill as needed. This way the pump always has a clean water source. This will make your pump last a lot longer than running all the dirty brick cutting water through it. Nothing worse than the pump going south right in the middle of the day. Several of us have used this method. I think Gulf even made an automatic homer bucket refiller from a toilet valve,my my what innovations come up on the forum. LOL.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Great tip. Thanks.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

Ok, so after a long Holiday weekend fishing at Flaming Gorge, I got started on mortaring in the first chain and starting the second chain. 2nd chain takes a little bit longer trying to keep everything as level as I can and shimming the bricks to the IT angle. Anyway, It looks like I need to move my inner arch more to the right to intersect the top of the arch at the dome? But then I will have to square off the inner arch wall that intersects the dome at the bottom. Is it ok to have a horizontal ledge on the inside of the dome where it intersects with the inner arch? Stiil a little confused on how to make this work.

[UtahBeehiver]

Mike,

Leave the arch form position as is. The difference at TDC is due to the IT being raised off the center to floor by the OSB. I have attached a mod of your image. The red line is the slope of the center of the the IT. the section left of the intersection of the yellow and red line should be about 4.5 inches assuming your bricks were originally 9" in depth (cut in half). Use your IT and adjust the length out so you can scribe the inner dome arch beginning at the top of the arch form (the yellow line) towards the red line intersection. Remember each brick will be slightly different each side of the TDC arch brick.

[thevance53@gmail.com]

It just looks like the IT hits too far down on the inner arch, unless the angle flattens out?