30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

@ Greenman...haven't given it thought, but I have the room. You think is necessary?

@ Chip...OK, that is very helpful. That is what I did, but I was actually going to ask, "which am I supposed to cut first?"

[mrchipster]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Went fishing in the boundary waters this week. Fishing was terrible...

Got back to work today...man it takes a long time to get those cuts where the arch meets the dome wall. My radius slightly decreased in the first 2 courses curving up...need to slightly reduce the size of my wedges.

Remember to cut the bricks that meet the arch first. That way if there is any positioning issues you can adjust over the next few bricks. And because the location is just inside the inner arch no one will ever see themselves if they are not perfect.

[Greenman]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Have you given thought to buttressing the bricks on the outer arch?

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Went fishing in the boundary waters this week. Fishing was terrible...

Got back to work today...man it takes a long time to get those cuts where the arch meets the dome wall. My radius slightly decreased in the first 2 courses curving up...need to slightly reduce the size of my wedges.

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Well okay. I'll just keep going with the design I've got. Thanks for the input guys!

[david s]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Should I worry about having too large an opening at this point? Unwise to mortar some bricks in to close the width up a bit?

This oven designing is just like boat design, everything is a compromise. On the downside a door opening that is large is subject to greater heat loss, but on the upside the larger door gives you much better access making the oven easier to work and allows you to use it like a fireplace for comfort. These two advantages easily outweigh the negative one IMO.

[mrchipster]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

A wide opening is nice to have I would leave it where it is. A well insulated door will be quite effective.

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Should I worry about having too large an opening at this point? Unwise to mortar some bricks in to close the width up a bit?

[mrchipster]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

I would stay with the 63% height. The oven will breathe/burn better - at that height an insulated door will not lose any significantly more heat with a door 1.5 inches taller.

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

That's a great idea, although I'm glad I didn't do it tonight. After doing some more reading, I came to the conclusion that I think my planned opening is too big and I'm now concerned about heat retention. It's 21" wide, and the plan is to be 13.5" tall, which is 63% of projected height. I don't want to change the width now, but I can make it shorter. I'm going to start the arch now, after three bricks tall on side instead of 4 and make the arch 12" tall.

[mrchipster]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Nice work. You might find that placing one brick on the next row up helps in placing the bricks for the next day's work. It gives you a nice solid place to start.

Sometimes it is difficult to get the second brick in place against a still soft first brick.

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

Started to curve up today and the beginning of cutting non-standard cuts. It went well. That's my daughter Alicia. Gabe helped on course 3.

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

If I cut my bricks at an angle (approx 6 degrees) for this first course going up, then there isn't the large space to deposit mortar in the back behind the face, since the two faces of the bricks are parallel on the side. If I want to minimize the mortar joint in front, then I need to spread out the angle more than the 6 degrees, but then that changes my measurements for the cuts. I'm cutting tilt and side angles.

I think I would prefer a consistent 1/8" mortar joint on all joints, and then the measurements work. But is that OK for the dome? The forum shows ovens with little to no mortar on the inside and some with mortar joints. Is it a big deal either way?

[RandyJ]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

That is what I went for. You want as minamul of a mortar line as possible inside. Good luck.

[gastagg]

Re: 30" Pompeii in Minneapolis

I'll be starting my courses today that curve up. The Forno Bravo plans say this:

"Do not allow for an inside mortar joint, as you will be setting
the edges of the bricks facing inside the oven flush with
each other."

Is that still considered the standard approach?