Home Slice

[Hendo]

Re: Home Slice

I tried laying out a 43 inch dome layout, and realized there is a reason for the 42. Duh.

Nick,

A bit after the event here, but can you please explain this? I'm looking at 1100mm internal diameter, which equates roughly to 43", so wonder what you're driving at?

Cheers, Paul.

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Hendo. When I laid out the forty three inch dome on a piece of ply, the sizes of the bricks didn't allow for a clean layout of an eighteen inch ceiling'd oven.. There was a half inch gap on either side. I made it forty two, and it fit perfectly. What size fire bricks do you have in Oz?

[Hendo]

Re: Home Slice

Nick,

I'll probably end up using tapered bricks, which are 230x115x76/63mm (9x4.5x3/2.5" ). I've done some calculations, and a minimal 1mm of mortar on the inside (63mm) edge and 1.4mm on the outside (76mm) edge will create a 1100mm (43.3") internal diameter exactly. No mortar on the inside (preferred) and I end up with only a 1000mm (39.4") internal diameter, but importantly, the outside diameter messes up.

However, until I lay the actual bricks out myself, I'll probably not know whether it will end up exactly the same as the calculations.

Cheers, Paul.

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

So I set the arch three days ago, and left a moist piece of burlap on it for three days. Removed the form last night and she's hard as steel. Refrax really does set the hardest of any mortar I've used, refractory or not. Thanks James. I'm going to use the remainder of the Refrax I have to cast the suspended vent. I'm sure with a good rebar armiture with additional rebar support from the rear of the oven the vent will hold up for centuries. I'm still out to lunch on what to use for a chimney. I got some discarded terracotta drain pipe which I'm going to run a heat test on when I get the time.

[Marcel]

Re: Home Slice holes in bricks

(M) Looks very good!

(M) Did you buy the bricks for your arch predrilled? ___

(M) If you drilled them, what did you use? ____

(M) Why didn't you turn the bricks 90 degrees so the rebar would follow the arch? ___


Ciao,

Marcel

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Thanks Marcel. I drilled the bricks with regular masonry bits, pre soaked the bricks, and pre drilled the holes with a quarter inch bit before going for the three quarter. It was like butter.. The rebar isn't for arch support (physics does that for me) it's to support my future cast vent, which will have no walls.

As a side note, I did consider making an internal rebar support for the arch, and decided it wasn't needed. Arches are self supporting by nature. It is completely plausible to drill the arch bricks and thread rebar through them if someone wanted to do that.. DMUN did a cad design of an arch which was made up of fire brick splits, mortared together LEGO style, and built as a separate unit which was genius.. I'll try to locate the pic he sent me if anyone is interested..

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

Time for an update. I laid the first complete ring today. I was very much inspired by the no form brick oven series of pictures, and am trying to go that route. My intersecting joins on the dome/arch aren't as pretty, but they work. No one will see it anyhoo. My grinder is my favourite tool, and my neighbors least favorite tool. It's well after 7pm in this photo.. I'll have to give away a lot of pizza in the future i'll bet... The wood in the photo is recycled 2x6 i'm going to run through a thickness planer for a privacy wall behind the oven. Hopefully it'll keep out the majority of the new friends i'll be making when the smells of fresh pizza start wafting through the neighborhood...

[noosab]

Re: Home Slice

Seems to me that you would need one heck of a flue velocity to keep even slight side draughts from diverting the oven exhaust far enough to miss the flue opening. Otherwise I think it would look really great and, indee, make for easier access.
Earl

[james]

Re: Home Slice

Nick,
If you want to stick to scored products, you could pour your vent, and then build a complete chimney using bricks and mortar. I am thinking your terracotta drain pipe might crack.
James

[maver]

Re: Home Slice

Redbrick -

Nice work. You'll be closing that dome soon. These next few rings are the 'fun' ones if you are building without forms.

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

O.K. so I'm a little scared, a little disappointed, and kind of ashamed. I've done some more work on the dome, and it's almost complete. The thin mortar joins I dreamed of are far from a reality, and I'm wondering about the integrity of the dome. I've built it with no forms, and not having the patience, I didn't custom cut each brick to fit perfectly. Some gaps are huge, as you see in the pics. It seems very solid, and most of the bricks touch in some places, but will it stay up? I'm considering knocking it down. Doesn't a dome's inherent strength come from the bricks pushing against eachother? I have bricks pushing against mortar, which will cure as hard as a rock, but... If you all say it looks solid, i'll take the time and freehand cut trapezoids for the plug, and take my lumps with the shoddy masonry as no one will ever see it.. Except the people who watch the documentary..

[johnrbek]

Re: Home Slice

Nick,

Looks like you were doing pretty good till those last 3 courses... personally I'd take down those last 3 courses and cut them up nice to reduce your mortar gap... I know you don't want to hear it, but when you take'em down and start cutting, you'll feel better that you did.. I made a few screw ups along the way and ended pulling a couple hours of work several times and each time I did, I knew I was doing the right thing as soon as I started doing it.. If you continue on, it'll plague you the entire way... just my opinion..

[RTflorida]

Re: Home Slice

Nick, i know you don't want to hear this.....I would be more than a little concerned. You were doing such a fine job until those last 3 courses. I too, would pull them down and cut them to fit better. If for no other reason, you will have piece of mind. Good luck

RT

[redbricknick]

Re: Home Slice

If there is any lesson to be learned here, it's don't date a twenty year old girl. Because you'll lose your mind, and do bad masonyr work. Hows about I scrape the mortar from where the joins are, and custom cut triangular plugs to fit in there..

[RTflorida]

Re: Home Slice

Nick,
You are the man.......I am not worthy
Twenty year old - Oven, twenty year old - Oven. Decisions, decisions.

Seriously, scraping out enough mortar to fit plugs may be more time consuming and frustrating than removing the courses.
I'm basing my opinions on what others have experienced, if there is going to be a problem (caused by the thermal expansion/contraction as well as load, gravity) it will expose itself at those extra wide mortar joints. Your plugs would need to fit all the way in (inside as well as outside of the dome), otherwise at the very least you will have mortar chunks falling in your pizza over time.
I hope you work this out, don't get any more frustrated. You've come too far not to finish.