Chimney height

[MarkJerling]

Great photos! What's evident from those is that your door arch is slightly too far "out". But, it matters not: The pizzas will taste just as good! LOL

[Sandieego]

Well, this was a productive weekend! I must admit I was a little leary about my technique of shaping bricks. While I have seen the amazing engineering that others have crafted with exact details, I must admit I finally understood it this weekend. So while I do not have the patience to make such exact tools, I did my own, which was what I call the brick edging technique. I basically had a brick I had cut act as my lift and a thinner brick I used to act as an angle, I then cut a few starter bricks for the row of bricks I was building. Then, I made some cuts as needed on the fly.
Then, what I figured for the last brick in the chains above the arch is that it had to be hammered (tapped) into place. This way I figured my bricks were in with pressure rather than with the mortar, so the last brick was tapered out a bit and fit in nice and snug!

[Sandieego]

Here is my 10th row. It is really cool how you get used to working with these materials. I learned to eyeball the consistency of the mortar to the point where it took the shape of a pile. This alone was keeping my bricks in place at this level for me with the littlest of help of the angle irons, which I actually adjusted per brick by just bending them into the shape I needed per location.
The really shocking thing was at the end of this row, I actually measured it level!!! probably just the luck of the location I picked!
The funny part of this was how I adjusted the IT tool. I realized my measurements were off and I need to shave a 1/4 of an inch. So I grabbed a saw, handed it to my son and away we cut! I must admit after that redo, I am happy with going with the wooden IT tool, imagine if I had to that if it were metal....

[Sandieego]

Okay, so row 11, this one was fun. First brick, fell twice. I got so mad, I took a picture of it and told it not to move.
I got away with keeping it in place, by placing the next brick with the IT tool sharing the weight of both bricks, then as the mortar hardened and the grace of the gods, THEY STAYED THERE!!!
Was so happy after this and the fact that we could not go any further with the tool, I climbed in and pulled it out. NOTE TO SELF, do not let your 11 year old assistant use your camera.... I placed the fourth photo, which is of her taking the photo of me going in. By the way, that space is tight!!!

[Sandieego]

Looked like my bricks did not line up with each other from the inside, but with my last brick pounded in theory, they did not move, SO I guess it is working...

[Sandieego]

This was cool to get to the end of the light stage where the IT tool is out and you are almost done. Feels exhilarating. (Did I spell that right? No wavy spell check on it)
So the neat thing was how close to perfect our circle was as you can tell by the shadow projected to the floor. I couldn't believe with all this fudgery going on that we were at a perfect circle on the 11th row!

[Sandieego]

So there are lots of examples of how to get these last rows set up for support. As I am not technically inclined, I went with what is simple. I screwed some left over 2by6s to form a T to make a table. Then, I just simply laid my piece of plywood over that (no screws). I then placed cardboard over the white plywood and wedged it past the bricks so it made a barrier.
In a last minute wise thought (occasionally I have these, unlike the beliefs/comments about my thoughts/ideas from certain other people...), I decided to cover my cardboard with saran wrap to not interfere with my mortar drying out too fast onto the cardboard.
Besides not being technically inclined, I am also not gifted with grammar. believe me, it makes sense when I write it. Then, after a day or two, I read it and it makes no sense to me....

[Sandieego]

So I planned my row 12 with 12 pieces over a cardboard template I got from the oven. Then, I went to build it and had about 2 inch gap left. Then, I realized I needed one more, which is 13, then my final row would be 13. WHAT Does this mean!?!? So I went again to the mallet theory, pounded 13 in, then grabbed a bunch of wedges and left over scrap and pounded this row in. From the hammer, I could feel the vibrations through to the lower rows. All the time, I was thinking, "Dear God, please do not fall apart".
I then closed off the dome in the final row, lucky number 13! I have seen many beautiful designs with the last brick, like stars and initials. I would like to submit mine as the first sailboat added to the top. If you imagine it, you can see it.
Yes, this was raised, maybe a half inch above the others, but remember, the mallet does not care. These were pounded into place so I think it will hold.......
maybe....

[Sandieego]

So we celebrated for a minute, cleaned up and ate hot dogs for dinner. I was too tired to make anything else.
Then, while she was sleeping, I went out and got to see if this thing stood up.
I was a little nervous because in the excitement of putting in the support table I pointed the T base away from the opening so I would not reach it with my drill.
However, taking out the support was a breeze, I just tilted the 2by6 T table and it fell over. The plywood did too, the cardboard was stuck to the ceiling with the saran, which came off easily.
Then, I had the fun of cleaning it out! That is hard. After looking back at the other people's builds, I think they took photos after they cleaned up. That way looks great, but it does not let a novice feel good as their product looks not as effective. it is the clean up thought that really starts to let the build shine! So if you are a novice and seeing this build, don't let the sloppy mortar look put you off, you clean it and it starts to look better.

[Sandieego]

So here it is cleaned up. Actually looks decent (maybe?) then from far away.
One thing you may notice on my oven's lower rows are white drips. this was in the beginning of me using too much water to soak the bricks before mortaring. BIG mistake as far as looks go. I suggest getting a sponge moist to not dripping, tap the bricks then apply the mortar. much less mess as noted on the higher rows. Wish I new that beforehand!
once I cleaned it, I got my crowbar, pulled up my original circle and cleaned this puppy up.

[Sandieego]

Nice and tidy! Looking much better. Especially when from far away.
Wanted to give a shout out to my tools, took a picture of them.
Also, I am thinking now that my final row looking from the inside looks like a heart, probably a first? Love this project!
Will take a break for a weekend as we are going on spring break, and I need to order my chimney. Which from what I understand with a 40" oven, I should go with the 8" chimney tube? I will go for the 36" pipe length and get a cap for it, unless someone has advice towards something else...

[MarkJerling]

That looks lovely. Well done!

[Sandieego]

Thanks for the kind words. after taking off my platform I noticed a small gap, let's say 1/8" between floor bricks near the front right of my dome. Awesome how the gap shows really nicely in the shadow of the iPhone, right?
I am thinking of taking my firebrick paste, the material from cutting the bricks I have left over, and then fill it in somehow with my trowel. Do I need to do that? Or will ash fill that in and not worry much about it?
Also, anyone else with the drip stains of mortar? Will these burn off, can I wire brush it off or do I just need to accept them?
Thank you!

[MarkJerling]

I think ash will fill those gaps so you need not worry. If the mortar stains will brush off, then that will be good. In my case, I just left it. (But then, my oven is not nearly as tidy as many people's!)

[Blairt]

Looks great! We are at the same stage - although I need to make my chimney VERY tall in order to go through an overhead roof. I like your idea of smoothing the floor with another brick. I’m going to try that today. I had a heck of a time pulling out my center floor brick yesterday so I know they are tight! I had to pull it as I had screwed my IT into it and didn’t want the screw holes to show....