Determining Angle of Cuts

[davidwilcox123]

Is there a master guide for determing the angle on each row of bricks? My fear is getting to the top and being too flat.....

[moderator]

Re: Determining Angle of Cuts

Hi David,
Have you downloaded the Pompeii e-book? If not, I can email it directly to your email for your review. Please refer to pg. 36 for for brick cutting. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at anytime, info@fornobravo.com I hope this helps.

[Amac]

Re: Determining Angle of Cuts

David
Build yourself a dome guide - or as it is known in this forum an "indispensable tool". It will keep your dome circular and also the angle of each row. In short it is indispensable.
I think the design by jcg31 is the best to base it on - check it out at this link.
He welded it but a similar design can be and has been made without welding:
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...heme-2985.html
best regards and good luck building
Aidan

[davidwilcox123]

Re: Determining Angle of Cuts

AMAC: Thanks! I plan on building some form of the indespensible tool.

What about distance? Do you keep the same distance for each course or do you change the distance on the tool? If you change it, is there a certain percentage that should be changed?

[Amac]

Re: Determining Angle of Cuts

No David - it is beautifully simple - just set it (or make it) at the radius of the dome. If you make the end of it from some kind of threaded bar you can make it roughly your length and then adjust it for precision.
The end should be attached to a pivot which sits at the precise centre of the hemisphere and you just find a way to anchor it there
If it is a hemispherical dome as most are, you never change it. The bricks for the last few rows near the top are usually a bit small for the tool but then you replace it with a small rounded platform.
There is a variation someone on this forum designed which is fixed to the rim of a turntable which makes the dome "flatten" a bit towards the top. Some people like the elliptical shape!

[Mike D]

Re: Determining Angle of Cuts

Some people do change the height of the tool as you go up. It all depends on what kind of dome you are making. Remember if you put a piece of plywood down to protect your cooking floor, you need to account for that in the final height (the side distance won't change from the plywood on the bottom under the tool). Good Luck.
Mike

[Amac]

Re: Determining Angle of Cuts

Remember if you put a piece of plywood down to protect your cooking floor, you need to account for that in the final height

Some people do Mike but really there is no need to make up for the thickness of a piece of plywood. You still have a perfectly hemispherical dome - just raised on a cylinder the thickness of a piece of plywood. For my own build I actually needed to raise the pivot 1.5" above the centre of of the floor so that the arch would tie in properly as I was building the dome. I thought of it as a cylinder 1.5" - which coincided with the top of a soldier course - and the dome sitting on top.