MY NEW 42"OVEN BUILD.

[UtahBeehiver]

Steve,

Might be a good time to start your own thread. Quick answer, it is possible to change a floor brick but I can't recall anyone ever having to in over 5 years on the forum. I dI'd cut my floor inside (lots of work) but I also did an unenclosed igloo. Just suggesting a time resource saver. Cut away.

[UtahBeehiver]

Need others to chime in. I did hemisphere with no vertical soldiers. Imho, I think you can keep working on the dome as long as you bolster the soldiers in the end product. Do a search under user TSCAR, he discussed the need for reinforcement extensively since he did a barrel oven with very cool decorated brick work.

[SteveB48]

Thanks all. I just finished my pavers and I'm guessing they must be much harder than the firebrick. I'll be getting a new blade before starting the oven dome! I don't want to hijack this thread but I was under the impression that making the floor fit inside the dome was the preferred approach as it allowed you to replace it if need be.

Steve

[ivancito]

Ivan,

What are you plans on the arch? If you are going to do a tapered arch (IMHO you should, it makes the course tie-ins much cleaner. Then you need to be starting to think about it soon. It is much easier to tie-into the arch while doing each course then to try and cut the a complex angle tie-in piece if you build the arch after the courses have been placed. Also, what are you going to do to reinforce the full soldiers from the outward forces of the dome sitting on the full brick vertical soldier? Nice work so far.

Russell, Do you think I can just use hardware cloth and imbed it to mortar cladding just to cover the soldier course thus allowing me to continue with my dome?
Ivan

[ivancito]

How did you cut such a nice curve on your floor bricks?

Steve

Steve, I cut them with the HF brick saw. As Les mentioned just slightly spin the brick or just shave off the big pieces and get as close to your scribed arch line and then spin the brick as its feeding thru the blade.

[UtahBeehiver]

Here is link by Gulf showing how to cut the floor bricks that Les is talking about. Keep in mind that if you are enclosing your oven vs an igloo, you may not need to cut the floor to sit inside the dome but rather have the dome sit on the floor bricks.

https://community.fornobravo.com/forum/pizza-oven-design-and-installation/getting-started/381308-oven-floor-brick-cuts

[Les]

Steve, the firebrick is pretty soft. Just slightly spin the brick as you feed it and they are easy to shape.

[SteveB48]

How did you cut such a nice curve on your floor bricks?

Steve

[ivancito]

Ivan,

What are you plans on the arch? If you are going to do a tapered arch (IMHO you should, it makes the course tie-ins much cleaner. Then you need to be starting to think about it soon. It is much easier to tie-into the arch while doing each course then to try and cut the a complex angle tie-in piece if you build the arch after the courses have been placed. Also, what are you going to do to reinforce the full soldiers from the outward forces of the dome sitting on the full brick vertical soldier? Nice work so far.

Thanks Russell, I think I will spend time today making an arch template and forms and yes I def want to taper the arch for smoother dome transition. As far as buttressing the full soldiers, I'm not sure what to do yet, I did a forum search and several builds were done with only buttress angled bracket on the arch sides and nothing around soldier course perimeter. Still researching the need for soldier course buttress and instructions on how its done. Thanks for all your info and your build is awesome, a one of a kind masterpiece.Ivan

[UtahBeehiver]

Ivan,

What are you plans on the arch? If you are going to do a tapered arch (IMHO you should, it makes the course tie-ins much cleaner. Then you need to be starting to think about it soon. It is much easier to tie-into the arch while doing each course then to try and cut the a complex angle tie-in piece if you build the arch after the courses have been placed. Also, what are you going to do to reinforce the full soldiers from the outward forces of the dome sitting on the full brick vertical soldier? Nice work so far.

[ivancito]

I had a shim dimension of .7". I figured the circumference, subtracted the number of courses multiplied by 2.5" to get the amount of the circumference that would be taken up by bricks, divided the difference by the number of courses, and I had my shim dimension. Then I went and cut some shims with that dimension. Worked great.

If I had to do it again I would have taken your advise on splitting the shim size between several courses/rings but I ended up just shimming my first course so now I should be back on track.
thanks a lot gastagg.
Ivan

[ivancito]

RandyJ and gastagg thanks for your replies much appreciated.
I went ahead and layed my first course on a brick shim then gooped it up with homebrew,set my brick held by the IT tool and tapped into place, worked great for me. gastagg I just made a shim that would allow at least an 1/8 -1/4 mortar joint under the first course. The homebrew is great stuff almost bonds as soon as it touches brick, I used 3:1:1:1 mix with 2parts water.
thanks again.
Ivan

[RandyJ]

I think people have done all of your options. I filled mine with mortar as I went and used a spacer to keep it all the same. For mine the fat end of a wire nut worked out just right. Hope that helps

Randy

[gastagg]

I had a shim dimension of .7". I figured the circumference, subtracted the number of courses multiplied by 2.5" to get the amount of the circumference that would be taken up by bricks, divided the difference by the number of courses, and I had my shim dimension. Then I went and cut some shims with that dimension. Worked great.

[gastagg]

Ivan, sounds like you're already moving ahead, but I affirm the use shims and fill in with mortar. If you can plan how many courses you'll need (find one of the course/brick calculators on the forum), then you can figure out the approximate dimension for the width of the shim. I was able to use about 5-6 shims at a time, stick them in about 1/8-1/4" and by the time I laid 5-6 bricks, I could pull out the shims and use for the next bricks. Do not cut the individual bricks. You'll be there all summer.