I'm getting closer to my Dome!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

In short, yes!!

I never did find a comfortable spot while working on the dome. It pretty much ripped up my old worn out body. But I figure it is like a woman and child birth, a year later you are drinking wine and have forgotten about it!

The wet firebricks TORE up my hands beyond belief also.

Keep up the good work and get those pics posted! (I need to go fire up my WFO tomorrow!!)
Eric.

Well here are a couple of pics with the sixth course done and a couple of rare side shots from the walk out basement. In getting ready for course number seven, I am not pleased about the next courses being compared to child birth! I am not "that old" but it is the mileage that has me worried!

I have been using vinyl gloves to help with the lime/skin combat and they have worked very well. Tough enough to put up seven or eight firebricks, and still thin enough to feel the front of the bricks for alignment.
And I hope you are sending some of the bounty over from your oven!

Thanks
John

[EricU]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

OMG! Do I need rock climbing lessons?

In short, yes!!

...Or some anti-gravity firebricks! I think I can handle the bevel cuts ok, but the bending over is getting tough now and I'm not even close to the top!!...

I never did find a comfortable spot while working on the dome. It pretty much ripped up my old worn out body. But I figure it is like a woman and child birth, a year later you are drinking wine and have forgotten about it!

The wet firebricks TORE up my hands beyond belief also.

Keep up the good work and get those pics posted! (I need to go fire up my WFO tomorrow!!)

Eric.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Finally got back to the oven build.... Wife NEEDED the house and deck pressure washed! Well that was ok yesterday as the temps got pretty high in the 90's. So playing in the water was a cool way to work. THen we got the thunder storms which promptly took my pop-up tent off the ground and turned it upside down in the woods about fifty feet away. Brick oven didn't move!
Finished the sixth course except for the keystone which is the last piece for the dome transition. I did mortar the transition pieces and just to the right I need the keystone plugged in! Have to run to send time with wife and neighbors, I'll take some pics and post tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone for the help and encouragement!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Looks great.
After you get above the arch it gets easier for a couple of chains.
Then the fun starts, as things get steeper the first few bricks of each chain like to slide and the angle of the bevels get trickier. Your chains look level and circular so that will be a big help.

Mark

OMG! Do I need rock climbing lessons? Or some anti-gravity firebricks! I think I can handle the bevel cuts ok, but the bending over is getting tough now and I'm not even close to the top! I was thinking of having my wife winch me up by the ankles and work upside down. But that would be too tempting of an opportunity for her to pass up!
Your build looks great, even without the lake! My wife asks why I am drooling, I tell her I just need some water!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Aegis - the dome is looking great. Keep pushing . . .

Thanks for the encouragement and push, I just have to work my day job at least a couple of days a week. After working a 10-11 hour day getting home and taking care of some yard work or other item that can't wait, I have to slow down a bit on the oven. But it is encouraging to be getting the dome to look like an oven!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

I don't know what a craftsman level is but a mason's level is traditionally made of mahagony with the brass end caps. The wood is squared and doesn't collect mortar like an "I" beam carpenter's level does. There are also a lot of box levels out there now that also work fine as a daily mason's level. For a DIYer any level is fine, just take time to check it (make a mark and spin it 180 degrees, and mark again) and clean it. One of the best levels out there is still the oldest, that being a water level which is just a clear tube with water in it.


For those angle cuts, I just used a board clamped to my brick saw (very handy big item!) and guessed on the first one, then made adjustments.

Keep at it, You are doing great so far!

Eric.

Thanks Eric for the lesson in levels, I have used a plastic tube for leveling things across a large area.
I have been cutting some bricks at the proper angle for a home made jig. To lazy to walk over to the workshop for wood! lol
You certainly out work me for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AtTheLake]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Looks great.
After you get above the arch it gets easier for a couple of chains.
Then the fun starts, as things get steeper the first few bricks of each chain like to slide and the angle of the bevels get trickier. Your chains look level and circular so that will be a big help.

Mark

[Cheesesteak]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Aegis - the dome is looking great. Keep pushing . . .

[EricU]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

...btw: what is the difference between a 48 mason's level and a craftsman level?...

I don't know what a craftsman level is but a mason's level is traditionally made of mahagony with the brass end caps. The wood is squared and doesn't collect mortar like an "I" beam carpenter's level does. There are also a lot of box levels out there now that also work fine as a daily mason's level. For a DIYer any level is fine, just take time to check it (make a mark and spin it 180 degrees, and mark again) and clean it. One of the best levels out there is still the oldest, that being a water level which is just a clear tube with water in it.

...One Christmas my friend's wife asked him what he wanted as a present. She had trouble buying tools etc. for him. He told her he could really, really use a metric adjustable wrench..... She shopped for weeks asking for a metric adjustable wrench. Of course all the hardware store clerks laughed!

Back when I was a young contractor (aka a carpenter with his brains kicked out!) We used to send the newbie hot shots out for a board straighter or a metric straight screwdriver!

...I also am suffering from that extra age syndrome! And I am trying to shed some stress with a little less perfection and more function!

Now to figure how to cut my brick thirds in four cuts with proper angles and bevels...

Yeah, it sucks getting old as my back keeps letting me know! I am down in Pasedena this weekend with my boys and I think I will take next weekend off and just install my new sprinkler controls (I put in 5,500 sq. ft. of sod and a small vineyard over Memorial day weekend) then back to the WFO dome and chimney the following weekend. Though it cooks just FINE right now!

For those angle cuts, I just used a board clamped to my brick saw (very handy big item!) and guessed on the first one, then made adjustments.

Keep at it, You are doing great so far!

Eric.

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Here is the latest pics, nothing dramatic here for sure. Just some slow steady progress. My wife thinks I am just cutting the bricks into real small pieces and rearranging the dry stacked ones without any change in the project. I have to say looking at the pics she could be right! Fifth Chain completed!
On a side note the place I have been writing my blog (yahoo pulse) will no longer support blogs, photos and guest books! So I have to make a decsion to find a new blog host or abandon the blog altogether.
"So much time, so little to do!" (Willy Wonka)

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

I found that by using "the tool", my 48" mason's level and one of those cheap three way laser levels on a cheap camera tripod, I was able to keep my dome in check and make small corrections as I progressed.

I am using a 48" level also to help in this end. btw: what is the difference between a 48 mason's level and a craftsman level?
One Christmas my friend's wife asked him what he wanted as a present. She had trouble buying tools etc. for him. He told her he could really, really use a metric adjustable wrench..... She shopped for weeks asking for a metric adjustable wrench. Of course all the hardware store clerks laughed!

I also cut a few extra bricks each time into smaller widths to keep my joints staggered as much as possible. I just threw them in when I needed them. A few times when I was tires (I am OLD!) I did miss a few, but oh well it seems to be working. So don't stress and keep an eye on your dome height and joint staggers.
Again, Looks great! Eric.

Thanks Eric, I also am suffering from that extra age syndrome! And I am trying to shed some stress with a little less perfection and more function!

Now to figure how to cut my brick thirds in four cuts with proper angles and bevels...

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Hi John,
Nice build, I've really enjoyed your thread. Good job: I like the way you tied your arch into your dome. It'll make for a strong dome (not that it's ever a real problem; Vesuvius is sooo far away ). Also, your reveal looks quite substantial and that's a good thing. My oven width is 20" and I've got a 7/8" to 1" reveal around all of it (thanks to the FB communtiy) so yours is about right.

THANKS for the compliments, they mean a lot coming from one of the people, whose work I have been admiring for over a year now. I have used many of yours and the rest of the FB community's to help this masonarily (new word?) challenged guy

You will probably be cutting bricks into 3rds or less by now so take the time as RT said and offset the vertical joints as much as you can.

I have been mindful of the vertical joints and am doing a little better with them overall. Thanks for reminding me, they creep up so fast!

The play dough was a great way to get the brick cuts right. I'm always impressed with the ingenuity that crops up on this site.

I don't know about it being a great way, you still have to eye ball the cuts from the mold to the brick. But it did certainly helped me!

So what row are you at now? Are you on-track for a 19 to 21" final dome height? It's easy on the upper half of the dome to let it slip away and get too high (it seemed for me at least, to be something to work at and I did succeed).
You and Linda are doing a great job.
Cheers, Dino

I am at the fifth chain and I am thinking about going to third bricks today. I will note and be very watchful on the dome height issue. (another thing to watch )
Again thanks for the compliments!
John

[EricU]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

...The play dough was a great way to get the brick cuts right. I'm always impressed with the ingenuity that crops up on this site...

I agree, and wish I had seen that before.

So what row are you at now? Are you on-track for a 19 to 21" final dome height? It's easy on the upper half of the dome to let it slip away and get too high...Dino

I found that by using "the tool", my 48" mason's level and one of those cheap three way laser levels on a cheap camera tripod, I was able to keep my dome in check and make small corrections as I progressed.

I also cut a few extra bricks each time into smaller widths to keep my joints staggered as much as possible. I just threw them in when I needed them. A few times when I was tires (I am OLD!) I did miss a few, but oh well it seems to be working. So don't stress and keep an eye on your dome height and joint staggers.

Again, Looks great! Eric.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Hi John,
Nice build, I've really enjoyed your thread. Good job: I like the way you tied your arch into your dome. It'll make for a strong dome (not that it's ever a real problem; Vesuvius is sooo far away ). Also, your reveal looks quite substantial and that's a good thing. My oven width is 20" and I've got a 7/8" to 1" reveal around all of it (thanks to the FB communtiy) so yours is about right.

You will probably be cutting bricks into 3rds or less by now so take the time as RT said and offset the vertical joints as much as you can.

The play dough was a great way to get the brick cuts right. I'm always impressed with the ingenuity that crops up on this site.

So what row are you at now? Are you on-track for a 19 to 21" final dome height? It's easy on the upper half of the dome to let it slip away and get too high (it seemed for me at least, to be something to work at and I did succeed).

You and Linda are doing a great job.
Cheers, Dino

[EricU]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

...I fortunately have a day job that takes up quite sometime, but it pays for the firebrick,...

They do tend to get in the way of home DYI projects, but you probably have noticed that you use more bricks and more mortar and takes more time than you originally estimated! But at least you don't quit.

...I have been taking some time off to make some headway looking for a summer pizza party! Hopefully I am not dreaming too BIG!
Thanks
John

I did the same thing last year, used to spend most of my weekends, most weeknights until dark and a few vacation days on my dome, which turned into a HUGE zipper effect as I just laid about 6,000 sq. ft. of sod last weekend just in time for a Memorial Day weekend pizza party! And my dome's surround is not even started. I got to the point of insulating my dome with vermiculite concrete and started using it for cooking everything as our winters don't get too cold. I need to get back and finish my dome and outdoor fire pit as they are real close now.

Stick with it and try to not get side tracked with the food when you get your dome complete! But that is easier said than done.

Good luck,

Eric


p.s. keep those pics coming. I love seeing other people's progress now that I have been through it (at least part of it)