90 vs taper

[Paul150]

Hello, have been looking in all sections a few days now for ovens built without tapering the bricks and find none. I do not have a brick saw, my tile saw only cuts through a inch of my brick. I could rent one but then I would be putting all my trust in a "pompeii_done_calculator_v4" excel spreadsheet I found in a thread. Meaning I cut 290 pcs, return the saw and go from there. Comments? I am ready to start my dome.

[Paul150]

Re: 90 vs taper

Well...since this post I see several links that showed up at the bottom, but none that I was hoping to see. I guess my question now is, does someone know of a link to someone else that has successfully made a dome oven with just straight cuts. I think Slowly but Maybe did on his thread 36"oven Charleston. But cannot tell for sure. If it is doable, from a longivity standpoint, I would much prefer to use a little more mortar and just cut a bunich of 4", 3.5", 3" etc. Pcs.

[jeeppiper]

Re: 90 vs taper

Paul:

I built my dome using straight bricks. I found a used brick splitter and split my bricks in half. I also used a brick chisel and mallot. I also used a hand grinder with diamond blade to help shape bricks when needed. When building the dome, I positioned each brick and I filled in the gap with mortar. I couldnt see cutting using a saw on all those bricks.....The noise would have caused a revolt against me in my neighborhood. I also used a hand grinder with diamond blade to help shape bricks when needed.

[texman]

Re: 90 vs taper

the original pompeii oven plans used half bricks only, no tapers. the taper has been added for many reasons, but you do not need to taper to have a good oven. you will need more mortar though for larger margins. i would at least get a 4" grinder for some cuts or a full size angle grinder. the splits are the only cuts required and can be done with a chisel. you just use the uncut side towards the inside of the oven. The tile saw can be used to score and then that will help in the break of the brick as well.

Is that you stand for the oven in the pic? is it dry stacked or is that just a veneer layer?

Texman

[oblertone]

Re: 90 vs taper

I built my dome using standard bricks split with a hammer, no grinding or tapers but lots of homebrew (3-1-1-1). It isnt pretty but it works well and was quick to build.

[Paul150]

Re: 90 vs taper

Wow, great responses and kudos to your builds. I feel much better about diving in with what I have. Tile saw, grinder, hammer and home brews. I would like to show my progress in case I run into issues and need more good advice/support. Should I stay on the Newbie site or start a thread somewhere else? The dental work is not dry stacked it is mortared. Once I know where to make my home thread I would be happy to share how I got to where I am today. I actually started with a clay dome....twice. Now I am doing brick.

[texman]

Re: 90 vs taper

just start your own thread under pompeii ovens. Good luck and keep the pics coming.

Texman

[SableSprings]

Re: 90 vs taper

I also built my oven without tapering brick cuts. As mentioned previously, the oven will work just fine but as also mentioned above you will need a lot more mortar than called for in the Forno Bravo plans to fill in the "outside brick gaps".

In looking at your first picture of the base, it appears that you are laying the hearth bricks down on sand. Just checking, but I hope there is ceramic board insulation or perlcrete/vermicrete underneath that sand. The sand itself will not provide the insulation required for efficient heat storage & operation of the oven.

Consider laying the hearth bricks in a herringbone pattern as it will really help to keep the edge of your pizza peel from catching when cooking. I used both the hammer/chisel method and a borrowed a tile/brick wet saw from a friend during my build. After I returned the wet saw, I used a diamond blade on my Skilsaw when I just needed to make a few angle cuts--like the front few pieces of the herringbone pattern where it meets the entry/landing. Do make sure you wear a mask to avoid breathing the dust if you use a grinder or make dry cuts with a saw.

[Paul150]

Re: 90 vs taper

Continued on

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/p...tml#post185141