7 years in the waiting i get to start my 42" pompeii

[JRPizza]

Nice door Lee - enjoy the shine while you can - after you damp down a few fires it'll get nice and black on the inside

[leetheldc]

I've had a few drying fires over last week and cooked a few things to try it out I've a had a few problems with wood but I'm getting there.I also had a door made it's going to get tested tomorrow so il post the results it's 4 inch thick filled with left over fibre insulation all from 5mm stainless with detachable handles so I can change if I need I used some 3 year old oak scraped sanded and oiled to fix to them this time see how long they last just takes the edge off the steel look

[leetheldc]

Hey there jr I was lucky enough to get my bricks cut into thin slices for £20 but I supplied the brick.I got 3 square meters of them I just cut them into half brick size. I did run out and had to cut another 1.5 square meters worth I had plenty of brick left so I just cut the ends off to save messing about only getting 2 from each brick instead of 4 it didn't take to long

[JRPizza]

Lee, did you your splits come that way (thin) or did you use your saw to cut them out of full size bricks? I've been debating leaving my dome just rendered or covering like yours. My questionable decision to build my arch on top of insulating board has me thinking I need to bolster the arch, and if I do finishing the dome with bricks would tie everything together nicely.

[leetheldc]

Thanks for complements guys this is just how I envisioned it like you said joe brick inside and out!
Just a door to get made and a bit of wood cladding at the back of the brickwork and back of the oven and that will be it for a while so I can enjoy the food I'm hopefully going to cook in it. I need to go get some wood picked up but the weather here at the minute is awful

[Gulf]

Lee,

It just don't get no better than that!. Great job!

When you have company over that you've told "I have a brick oven", you won't have to say "look inside...........see?" .

[jonv]

That looks fantastic. I was going to tile mine with brick slips like this, but decided to just render it. This makes me reconsider - maybe later...

[leetheldc]

Thanks for all your input guys I was only watching vids of the mortar gun not actual pointing I did purchase the gun but I scraped it after the the first load it was a great tool and the mix came out great but there was just not enough room too use it so I ended up with a 4 inch pointer and a brick trowel brick layer style 11 hours later with a few coffee breaks soon turned into beer breaks I got done at 10 pm well worth it though. The main reason for the gun was to save my back around the hard to get to part of the oven but old school methods beat new school hands down

[Gulf]

Wow! That is really looking great, Lee. I love your selection of brick and you did a very fine job on placement..

I've never used a mortar gun. I did buy a mortar/grout bag once. It was bad about plugging up even with fresh mortar in it. The mortar had to be mixed too wet for my liking. I quickly gave up on it and went back to pointing. Pointing goes a lot faster than you would think, if you have the right hand tools and the right technique. I'll have to dissagree with Mike about treating this particular job like it were glazed tile. Brick are too porous for that. It will be extremely difficult to get all the mortar glaze off of the face of the brick. It will be next to impossible to get the mortar out of all those crevices that I see on your brick. Just point a section of joints with a fairly stiff mortar. It will take about 30 minutes to an hour (even more depending on the humidity) before the mortar in those joints will have set up enough for the final tooling. The mortar should then not smear and be easily swept from the face of the brick after tooling. You can keep working ahead just don't try tooling too green of a joint and don't let them get too dry before the final tooling. Don't worry so much about cold joints with mortar. If you have to do stop for the day and pick back up on another, it will be ok. Just make sure that you complete all the tooling and brushing of any joints that you had pointed before quitting time. I know that you want to see the finished product but, don't take what are percieved shortcuts. If you need a break from the project before pointing, take it. Time is not a real issue here. The job looks great just like it is. If some time has passed before you do the pointing, just use some compressed air or a paint brush to remove any dust from the joints.

[UtahBeehiver]

Lee,

Another inexpensive option is a grout bag, then you can use your regular brick mortar.

[SableSprings]

Don't you think just using a trowel to put the grout/mortar into the gaps and then smoothing/cleaning with some cheap sponges would be just as easy as using a mortar gun? I mean, you're basically just doing "tile grouting" here. Dip into the mortar bucket with the trowel and smear over a swath of bricks to push the mortar in. It looks smooth enough that you would be able to work the mortar in pretty quickly with minimal effort and waste left on top of your bricks. Yes, it would take several cheap sponges and a couple buckets of rinse water...but you'd probably be at least £10 ahead. If you do want to use some sort of applicator, look in the tile grouting section of a large hardware or tile store. There are a lot of tube mortar/chalking options that would allow you to fill these joints using a standard chalking gun (that you probably already have or could use for lots of other projects down the road).

Your dome really looks fabulous! Great work on this oven!

[leetheldc]

Last pic didn't come through

[leetheldc]

Lee,

I had a slight teardrop in the outer shell as well. I worked it out about 5 or 6 courses from the top with one extra course. It is inconspicuous. No ever notices it it unless I show them.

Joe, I took note of this on your build hence the string it worked a treat kept me on bond through again I think it them cuts into the arch that do it they need discipline!

Finally got to the top looking at all them joints I need to fill I think I'm going to have to purchase a mortar gun I've always stayed clear of them but for £15 it's worth a try looking at YouTube vids it might make it a bit easier

[Gulf]

Lee,

I had a slight teardrop in the outer shell as well. I worked it out about 5 or 6 courses from the top with one extra course. It is inconspicuous. No ever notices it it unless I show them.

[leetheldc]

Thanks guys This isn't going bad at all .Russel it is a bit of a twin to the queen but I did take a lot of inspiration From gulfs build and many others even back to 2007 my first thread though was half brick igloo as that was what I envisioned years back gulfs build showed how to do that much easier than I had in mind I'm glad I took this route a slow one but worth it . I got a late start today but I got all my slips cut I don't think I will have enough so will have to cut some myself I luckily have a few full bricks left over bit of a pain but hopefully I won't need many I did get a get a few course layed on the ( great on the back side side of the oven) I love that side! Il have another go after work tomorrow all going well I also tied a gauge string to the breather to try and avoid the tear drop I just marked it at 75 mm points to keep the radius. The Teardrop happens at the arch point where the cuts want to drop level instead of following the curve- radius of the dome. I noticed this back when I built the dome with the laser on inside the dome at the point I was going over the arch. the string I have now used on the outside doing the same thing as the laser inside has confirmed that theory them cuts just want to level out and not follow suit