Mortar

[Gulf]

Things have slowed down a little. Just setting around now waiting on the weather and was thinking about your build. I think that a lintel would carry more of the load of the lateral forces than the rebar. This a quick diagram that I throwed together. It is not to scale. You may have to find a size of angle iron that will work instead of an actual brick lintel.

[Lozbian]

Hi there , that's good to hear about the storm. Nice diagram that , my friend has offered to weld a steel frame around the top two courses held in place with two more straps that go over the top of the vault , almost like a whisky barrel ....would that be sufficient and ok directly on the heat bank ie firebricks ?

[Gulf]

Sorry for the late reply. It is my understanding that soft steel and masonry expand and contract at about the same rate in the normal (gradual) ambient temperature ranges. But, that is not true for the rapid change associated with firing a WFO. I remember that some have done something similar with the steel on dome ovens with high soldier courses , but I don't remember any feed back on how well they worked.

[Lozbian]

Hi no problem I appreciate your knowledge in the matter , I think I'll go down your route of angle iron / rebar as I'm sure that sounds the best option ....cheers andy

[Gulf]

The diagram was an edit. You should skip the rebar on the course with the lintel. There wont be enough room for both.