Who knows the trick....?

[mleuck]

I am trying to create my oven door arch template. My opening will be 20" with a height of 12.5"( my brick is 9x4x2). I have spend time trying to "fit"my bricks into these dimensions and creating an arch with acceptable mortar joints. So far, I have had no success. I seem to have a "black hole" in my visual perception and just cannot visualize what I need. Is there a "way" to do this without going crazy?

Thank you for the help!

Michael

[deejayoh]

you need to cut Voussoirs to make it look good - this article should give you all the info you need

http://www.mathisfunforum.com/viewtopic.php?pid=213542

[UtahBeehiver]

General Tool has a program for the Angleizer which is on the attached link. You do not need to buy an Angleizer and can just use the program to help you determine your arch bricks and joint size.

http://www.generaltools.com/836--The...ter_p_247.html

[NCMan]

There is usually more than one or two ways to accomplish this. I simply adjusted the width and height of my opening to make it work. I neither cut tapers or used a keystone. I wanted nice, tight joints, w/out tapering the bricks and it took an easy, slight adjustment to make it work. Very easy to do. It's really all up to you, deciding on how much work and time you want to put into it and the final appearance you desire. If, however, you are dead set on those exact dimensions, that limits your choices.

[Toomulla]

If you draw your arch measure the top and bottom device the top to work a ful brick plus joint and cut the tapes (both sides) to suit the bottom length simple

[david s]

Plenty of ways to skin a cat.
With the voussiers pre cut and all the same, using a jig, if you work from each side towards the apex of the arch it will be symmetrical. Then the keystone can be cut accurately to fit. If you want all the voussiers to be identical i.e. no keystone, then accuracy and mortar width are more critical.

[JRPizza]

Michael, what kind of arch are you going for - semicircular, segmented, ??? Also are you planning on cutting/tapering your bricks (uniform mortar joints) or trying to build without cutting (tapered mortar joints)?

[mleuck]

I am trying to make a semicircular arch. As for tapering, I would if I needed to.

[JRPizza]

Something has to be tapered - either the bricks or the mortar line. I had laid out bricks for my arch without tapering but after seeing it I realized I wanted a more uniform mortar line/appearance. Without cutting the bricks, the mortar line is "triangular" so the mortar will be relatively thin at the inner portion and much thicker at the outer portion. Tapering the bricks seemed to me to be more structurally sound, although I have nothing to support that and some have built the other way. I ended up cutting bricks twice as the first time I had messed up on my angles.
I think you posted that you were planning on building a 42" oven, is that still your plan? If yes, I am guessing you are using the Forno Bravo recommended door dimensions of 20" wide and 12.5" high? If you give me your brick dimensions I can show you how I would calculate the taper and mortar thickness.
Also, have you started your build thread yet?

[admin]

Another option is getting Cored Brick and using rebar through the cored holes to crate the arc you want. Then use mortar joints between the brick segments. Done properly, the amount of tapering is minimum.

That is how we do our Casa arches.

Tim
Forno Bravo

[JRPizza]

Michael, I sent you a PM on brick size. Did you figure out your arch already?