I'm getting closer to my Dome!

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Wow! Very nice.

It's all coming together, and before you know it you'll be at the top.

The transition was slow going for me. I ended up with a few cuts that just didn't work and I had to re-do the angles. Keep them at the correct level compared to the rest of each ring and you'll be on your way to the finish.

Brian

Thanks Brian, How did you figure out what angles to cut? Trial and error? I am befuddled with this concept. Maybe a day off from the brick yard will help get me mentally back in the game!
Thanks
John

[brianventura]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John,

I used the eyeball method on what looked good to me which ended up being frustrating until I got it right, or at least close enough. I did put in some fill in pieces for the areas that didn't fit as good as I would of hoped for. In the end it worked and I continued to the top.
Good luck,

Brian

[pizza_bob]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Thanks Brian, How did you figure out what angles to cut? Trial and error? I am befuddled with this concept. Maybe a day off from the brick yard will help get me mentally back in the game!
Thanks
John

John,
It was "easy"! I went through about 12 bricks to get the final first one! Not to scare you but I think I aged 10+ years on my transition. My wife loves to tell everyone how I spent four hours cutting one brick. Here is a picture of one of my transition bricks.

It took me awhile to figure out but this really worked well. Read post #105 on my build thread.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/8/pizza-bobs-42-build-7155-11.html

Good luck!

~Bob

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John,
I used the eyeball method on what looked good to me which ended up being frustrating until I got it right, or at least close enough. I did put in some fill in pieces for the areas that didn't fit as good as I would of hoped for. In the end it worked and I continued to the top.
Good luck!
Brian

John,
It was "easy"! I went through about 12 bricks to get the final first one! Not to scare you but I think I aged 10+ years on my transition. My wife loves to tell everyone how I spent four hours cutting one brick. Here is a picture of one of my transition bricks.
It took me awhile to figure out but this really worked well. Read post #105 on my build thread.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/8/pizza-bobs-42-build-7155-11.html

Good luck!
~Bob

Hi Brian, & Bob, Well I hope you all don't laugh too loudly! I took a chapter out of my GrandDaughters' book! Yep, I got myself some play dough and had myself some fun! I shaped it into a close replica of a square brick and then just forced it into the area of transition! Voila! A great impression that I could eye ball and try to replicate on the HF saw! I thought it came out pretty good, or at least good enough to work.
Bob, I see from your pic you went further over onto the arch and cut through the top of the brick. I may follow suit if there is a good reason like making the rings meet! lol

Thanks for the help and I hope I put a smile on everyones face!
John

[brianventura]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

John,

Nice! I like your idea of the molding clay. That would of helped me and I could of saved on a couple of bricks.

Brian

[EricU]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Nice job on the build. And don't worry or stress about the little things.

You wont notice them when they are covered. And once you get past those transition pieces it starts going faster, but it does get a little tiring! Hang in there! It looks great.

On my build last year it took me and my son about three and a half hours to get the last two small rings and the three-piece keystone in! I think my back still hurts, but I am old.

Eric.

[AtTheLake]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Hey, I like the playdough idea.
I could of used it this weekend. We just went through the same thing. My son didn't mind, he went fishing and I kept slowly notching firebricks. They look almost exactly like yours. Had to be extra slow and careful because the there is no way to set my saw to all the crazy angles so I just had to free hand it taking small bites so the blade wouldn't grab. I have a Turbo Rim blade and its fairly aggressive, I think a tile blade would have been better.
And like Brian mentioned watch the level, Mine started to droop at the arch and I thought I would just fix it at the next level. That didn't work so well and I had to tear out a few bricks and redo them. Even then I had to do a little grinding and put in a filler piece.

Mark

[Aegis]

Re: I'm getting closer to my Dome!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and helpful suggestions, both mean a LOT! I fortunately have a day job that takes up quite sometime, but it pays for the firebrick, so I can't complain! 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

[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)

[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!

...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.

[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

[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!

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)

[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.