Dome bricks not lining up advice ??

[paul600rr]

Hi can anyone advice just doing a dry run with IT tool to check bricks and when I seem to move up courses they don't seem to be lining up seem to be out by 5mm ish at inner dome on each course can anyone advise a solution assume something not right thanks

[UtahBeehiver]

Need to see the pivot end. There are some critical design elements on an IT to make sure the brick face in perpendicular to the center of the dome, otherwise you get stepping and it progressively worse as you move up.

[paul600rr]

Hi Utah thanks for reply here's my IT tool do you think it's off centre not square ??

[UtahBeehiver]

There are several design flaws in the IT set up. The most important one is that the projected line from the pivot point on the floor along the IT to the "L shape bracket needs to intersect the center of the dome brick in order for the brick face to be perpendicular to the center of the dome. If this is not done the bricks step and it get worse as you go up. Second, the pivot point is offset by the caster from the true center as well and the pivot point is off the floor level. This will affect diameter as you move up. With and adjustable length rod you can compensate for this but the current rod is a fixed distance. I have attached a IT that was done by one of the members that shows the correct alignments.

[paul600rr]

Thanks Utah

[david s]

A simpler system you may want to consider, that gets around the problems of an offset pivot and misalignment is to remove the centre floorbricks, replace it with a wooden one that you carve a divot in at the floor centre. Then use a plastic conduit that has a sufficient bend so that it can be easily shortened and moved aside for laying the next brick. With one end of the conduit sitting in the divot in the wooden block and the other end with an angle bracket attached to the end to hold the brick. The conduit should be pointing to the centre of the brick as Utah has explained.
Using this simple system works pretty well, but the flexibility of the conduit varies according to its length, so the selection of the conduit diameter: length required needs to match.

[paul600rr]

Thanks David will look at that too

[JRPizza]

I second david s recommendation to use a "wooden brick" to attach your IT. It was a trick I learned from Gulf and it make is easy to get your pivot point at floor level. This will ensure your dome height equals it's radius.

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...553#post380553

[Giovanni Rossi]

This is when I like to remind new builders of the wealth of information on the Forum. All builds are unique, but there are certain "rules" and techniques that pertain to most of the projects. A little time spent researching a topic can pay dividends down the road by saving both time and money. Members are more than willing to provide answers to direct questions and will offer suggestions if they notice something, but that depends on the right person being on line when you need help. This aspect of a community site is invaluable, but there are ways to exploit the already available information and focus your questions.

If you're new to the Forum, it's not practical to read hundreds/thousands of posts, but you need to read some to understand the lingo. Once you do, don't underestimate the power of searching the Forum for a particular topic. Granted, sometimes using the built in search function can be challenging, but it can yield good info.

Another option that works well is a direct web search. If you type the url site:community.fornobravo.com "indispensable tool" or whatever term you need in your web browser, you may get better results. Now, as with any search, the results depend on the people adding the content. In this case, you would miss posts with the misspelling indispensible. Also, the results of one search will lead you to search more focused topics.

Thanks for indulging me this public service announcement on your thread.

Also, you may want to consider starting a build thread in https://community.fornobravo.com/for...n-construction so you can have all of your questions and info in one location.

Looking forward to following your progress!

[david s]

A simpler system you may want to consider, that gets around the problems of an offset pivot and misalignment is to remove the centre floorbricks, replace it with a wooden one that you carve a divot in at the floor centre. Then use a plastic conduit that has a sufficient bend so that it can be easily shortened and moved aside for laying the next brick. With one end of the conduit sitting in the divot in the wooden block and the other end with an angle bracket attached to the end to hold the brick. The conduit should be pointing to the centre of the brick as Utah has explained.
Using this simple system works pretty well, but the flexibility of the conduit varies according to its length, so the selection of the conduit diameter: length required needs to match.

This is what I meant regarding the yemporary wooden block in the centre of the floor and the plastic conduit.