Joe's 42" Corner Build

[joeykramer]

Could one of you active build members post me a video on how wet your mortar is? I havent had the chance to work on it recently so i havent made much progress. I am seeing a lot of really thin joints and am wondering if the mortar should be wetter than what im thinking. I saw a video on youtube and it looked real soupy. bricks were tapered so there was not much needed anyway.

thanks in advance.

[joeykramer]

searched the Youtube a bit. which would you say your mortar resembles?

soupy= https://youtu.be/EFnWnlCLsEw

not so = https://youtu.be/gR69JhL7_yQ


thanks

[JRPizza]

Joe, I looked at the two video's and I'd say neither. Are you planning on homebrew? That is what I used. First off, I'd highly recommend power mixing - I picked up a harbor freight half inch low speed drill and have used the heck out of it, mostly for mixing mortar but also for drilling through 4X4 timbers.
The "not so" video had the right formula, and maybe if your bricks were soaking wet it might work, but that mix looked too dry to work with. When I mixed I got to the point of soupiness seen at the first video, then continued to slowly add dry mix till my mixing paddle started leaving ridges in the mortar. I set the drill aside and ran a trowel through on edge to see if the little "cuts" started to hold their own or quickly filled in. When the mix was thick enough for the cuts to not fill in, the mortar was ready to use. I wiped my bricks with a grout sponge till I saw moisture had sunk in 1/8-1/4 of an inch, then used the wettish mortar. With the bricks not being saturated, they will pull moisture in pretty fast and help make a good bond. I usually spread the mortar on the brick being laid, and since I beveled but didn't angle front to back (inside to outside) I added a little more mortar along the outside of the bricks on the lower course where the brick was going to be placed. I tried to keep it off the inner edges so those joints would be tight, then pressed the bricks down using the IT as a guide. If you don't like the look of a brick/joint, don't be afraid to pull it up and scrape the mortar off. With the wet mix you can even throw a few of these "do overs" back into the bucket and mix them back in without becoming too dry. It won't take long for you to figure out how wet you like it, and like I said if not pleased just scrape it off.

[joeykramer]

thanks JR. the mortar i was using was a bit wetter than the 'not so' video. i just wanted to find a couple of videos to show a comparison to. weather is looking good here this week in NJ, i think i'll be able to work on it a couple of days after work. looking forward to it

[joeykramer]

So i scrapped that arch and started again. i really think the second build, if there is one, will go a lot quicker. i cut the arch bricks as suggested ( ) and it worked out great. i noticed some of the tear drop developing, so i'll need to address that the next time im working on it.

I feel like my mortar joints and brick faces are a lot messier than everyone else's here. i do wipe them down with a sponge, but still have a slight grey film on the brick faces... will that burn off when i start firing? is there anything i should do now to clean that up?

i'll need to do some patch work on the FB under the vent area... i fell and my boot caught the edge of it and tore it off.

[JRPizza]

Joe, I made a model of my 8" supervent adapter and it has dimensions so I thought you might be able to use it. The model helped me make sure I had edge margin to anchor the plate to my bricks. Hopefully you will be able to read the dimensions. I had to use a pdf cause the forum is rejecting some of my .jpg drawings. The "down side" of the adapter has a thin sheet metal projection @ 8" diameter. The top side has a thicker projection that is about 9.75 where the pipe threads to the adapter plate. I also included a shot of the dimensions and spacing of my bottom bricks (minus room for mortar) so you can get an idea of how I fit the adapter. The second pdf is what I thought I was going to do, with the bricks standing on edge, but I ended up doing what is shown in the "actual" pdf after seeing how the bricks would mate with the courses below them.

[joeykramer]

thanks JR! this will be helpful indeed. with no menards in this neck of the woods, ( i mean streets) and lowes having limited supplies, i was thinking about just ordering the supervent from Menards.com and getting it shipped to my house. anything else recommended besides the anchor plate, pipe and rain cap? comes to about $220 shipped to me.

[RandyJ]

Don't forget to get the spark arrestor .

Randy

[JRPizza]

Joe, I can't remember if you are planning an enclosure or roof, but if you are you might want consider how to anchor the pipe to the overhead rafters. Lots of different options - I got the wall band but it depends on what you are building. Not sure if I will use it our not, but you might consider if you want one or not. I also didn't order a screen for the cap to keep sparks from flying - I might have to order one, but seeing that they are galvanized steel I might use a left over piece of stucco lathe. Lastly, if you don't have tolerance for dented pipe, you might have to reorder at least once as the first two pipes I received had pretty significant dents - you can see the pics on my build thread.

[joeykramer]

thanks guys, i'll add the spark arrestor to the list. and i'll order it now, so i dont have to wait for a good pipe when the time comes. Im doing an igloo. General consensus seems to be about a 3ft pipe so i'll go with that to get some good draw.

[JRPizza]

Good timing - Menards has a rebate on supervent right now

[joeykramer]

made some progress this past weekend. i made it over the arch! not the prettiest, but it sure will work! i ended up doing 1 more course after taking these pics and laying 1 brick on course #9. figure ive got 3 or 4 more left. hopefully this weekend is nice.

i've called a local fireplace store to enquire about ceramic rope for the heat break and they said they had packages of it in various widths and lengths and referred to it as gasketing. anyone know if thats the same stuff that i can use for the heat break? i am planning on leaving about a 1/4" gap from the inner arch to the vent area. stuff some rope in there and seal it up with some hi temp Kaowool Moldable Caulk.

[joeykramer]

finally took the arch form out and cleaned up a bit. did a half row on course 9. is this the time you start using less than half bricks? took a lot more mortar than other courses.

still need to clean up the inside above the arch, it got tricky in there...

[joeykramer]

Vent arch design. need help. I plan on doing a heat break with some ceramic rope. and have ~16" of CFB coming out from the outside of the inner arch. is this too much of a landing area or should i make it smaller? I have some countertop space in from of that, about 8" when finished. Does the larger vent area cause for major difficulties reaching the sides inside the oven?

since i have a flattened arch, and doing an igloo, i figured i need to buttress the sides in some fashionable way, and came up wit the below design. is simply having an extra layer of brick on the side enough or should i make it a half brick wider and fill it in with concrete and rebar it into the slab? the top down view shows that i will have a 6x15" opening and the darker orange shows the 12x12 vent plate (supervent).

when building up the side walls of the vent area, should i be mortaring these down to the slab? essentially that is where they will stand and not on the CFB.

thanks in advance.

[joeykramer]

hey guys---- any ideas on the questions posed above?