Tapered Bricks?

[Jethro]

Hi All,
Newbie question... I noticed several WFO builders in this site using "tapered" fire bricks. My question is this - if you go this route are you wasting roughly 1/2 of every brick? I mean, once you cut a tapered brick in half is the back half used? I suppose you could use the back half's saw-cut face inside the oven but I came to believe that is not a good idea and to be avoided. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Les]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

I suppose you could use the back half's saw-cut face inside the oven but I came to believe that is not a good idea and to be avoided.

There is a lot of scrap. In regard to the exposed cut, I heard the same thing. Every single brick inside my dome has the cut face exposed. I've been using the oven for over 2 1/2 years with no sign of problems.

[Jethro]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

Ok - there are "wedges" and "arches". The back half of a wedge would seem to be waste. However, if you bifurcate an arch brick you get 2 usable half bricks. The difference lies in the orientation of the taper.

[Ken524]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

I cut all my bricks in half, then tapered them. Exposed cuts inside the oven may theoretically be a bad idea, but my experience is the same as Les'; no problems.

[dmun]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

A perfect fit dome leaves a lot of brick on the floor, or the saw pan as the case may be. It's certainly not half of every brick. You don't, however, have the option of using a single cut to create two wedges.

A perfect fit dome also uses a lot of time, and a lot of saw blades. I think the brick shards are a pretty minor cost.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

I tapered my bricks to create a more uniform horizontal joint size and to reduce the amount of mortar required, especially on the outside of the dome. Like dmun says, this takes a boatload of time and I'm now on my third $38 10" blade. Mine is hardly a 'perfect fit' dome but so far I've enjoyed (almost) every minute of my fussy-cut build.

The accompanying example (42" oven, 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" brick) illustrates the difference in joint sizes of a non-tapered brick versus a tapered one. The amount of brick loss is insignificant, IMO.

John

[Jethro]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

Looks great! Few weeks of cutting and a lifetime of WF pizza. Not a bad trade off IMHO...

[Mike D]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

I would say more than a few weeks, unless you are unemployed and independently wealthy (maybe even divorced, without any friends to bother you). It has taken me a lot longer than I had expected. But I am still loving it.

Mike

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/r...ape-14700.html

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

Mike,

FWIW, I started and completed my oven base while unemployed and barely had the floor laid when I rejoined the ranks of the working. Since then I have been limited to working on the oven on the weekends and only recently for an hour after work. During this time I have watched many a FB oven project initiated after mine and completed in very little time. I am married with three productive kids and definately not independently wealthy.

My point? Take great satisfaction in the job you do on your oven and the attention and care in which you do it. In the end it is you who you have to please and thank and no one else. In our case Jethro's estimate of a 'few weeks of cutting' may refer to the actual total time elapsed just with brick touching a diamond blade, but who cares? This isn't a race.

God speed to you......!!!

John

[Mike D]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

-I was in no way trying to be disrespectful to anyone. I was mostly referring to the line of a few weeks of cutting. I think I was making fun of myself for taking forever, or at least feeling like this project is taking forever (or maybe I should say my wife and kids think this project is taking forever). It is not a race and you should be able to do it in your own pace. I just didn't want to give the illusion that this was a couple week project (for most people).
-John, you oven is looking great by the way

Mike

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

Hey Mike,

No disrespect taken! I was merely commenting on how much work I could complete while not working and how little I have gotten done on the oven since I'm back to work. Yes, it can take forever but who cares? Once you're pulling pizzas out of your oven with one hand and a glass of wine in the other, you'll be entitled to be creative with the answers to the inevitable questions... uh, it's 800F in there... yeah, those are special bricks... um, it took about two weekends to build!!!

John

[Santino]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

I cut all my bricks in half, then tapered them. Exposed cuts inside the oven may theoretically be a bad idea, but my experience is the same as Les'; no problems.

I am VERY happy to hear this because I bought all used firebricks and I would have had a heck of a time cleaning them perfectly. If I am able to use the exposed cut side, that will help me tremendously.

For Ken or Les, if there does happen to be a very small amount of the old residue from the old firebricks exposed to the inside, will it eventually burn off if I happen to fire my oven several times before using it to cook?

[Ken524]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

The residue will be long gone after curing.

[Santino]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

Awesome. Thank you for confirming. Can't wait to get this dome started!

[mikep333]

Re: Tapered Bricks?

I like the idea of tapered bricks, and i am in the planning stages of my oven. The tapered bricks means much more cutting, and i could not find a post about what the best saw would be to use or any strategies for cutting these bricks. Also, with the tapered bricks, what is the angle you cut them on? Can someone post the link for me if they know what i should be looking at or let me know in a reply? thank you!!