Oven Floor and First Course

[TomYork]

Hi all. So I've got my 4" of perlite / portland mix and am ready to start building the dome. Few questions as I'm getting started:

1. I've laid out a some of the blocks and will be adding 50/50 sand/fire clay to level out the floor. Do the pictures look reasonable and am I missing anything?
2. I cut the first course and tapered each brick to get a tighter fit; is it worth it to keep doing this or should I just use half bricks and slam a bunch of refractory mortar in the gaps?
3. It's my understanding that I should not adhere the oven floor to the insulation layer but I should be adding mortar to the first course surrounding the oven floor. Just looking for confirmation.
4. I'm a little uneasy about the arch int he front and where to start that. I'm thinking that my oven landing may be a bit too short? Any thoughts would be very appreciated.

Thanks!

[UtahBeehiver]

Good start, one item, the bottom of the front arch should intersect the ID of the dome bricks in order for the dome to fit properly in the upper courses. This is particularly important for tapered inner arch which IMHO is the best interface for an effective dome/inner arch joint. If you are not familiar with a tapered inner arch there are dozens of builds on the blog showing the process.

[TomYork]

Thanks for sharing. The arch is one thing I haven't thought through yet, so I'll definitely check out the tapered inner arch. Quick question, what does your reference to 'ID' mean?