A few questions from Austin TX

[UtahBeehiver]

Only a suggestion on laying out the arch first. I see it quite often where a builder builds the arch as they go and end up with an odd width, either too big or too small. Even though this is the inner arch that is not as readily seen as the outer arch, it will be good practice to get good spacing so when you do the vent chamber and outer arch you golden.

[Lagniappe]

I think I am finally starting to get it. Thanks so much for the explanations and pictures. I had actually seen some of these before and couldnt grasp the idea until I had bricks in hand.

Mocked up the bricks height at center of opening and 21" distance from center and snapped a couple pics.

If someone could take a look, would be great and let me know if you think I need to move the opening closer .

Either way, I will work on the form as suggested.

[patjer1]

Not a good idea to taper the bricks frist and then mark them layer by layer, cut them and mortar them? Without starting with the TDC brick I mean.

[UtahBeehiver]

Just cut on the line. You do not know at this point if these bricks will be in line with the joints on the dome. Each brick is slightly different. You start with the top dead center brick of the tapered inner arch the work your way down left and right of TDC and using the previous brick as a baseline for the next one in conjunction with the IT. You need to use start with whole bricks on a tapered arch not half bricks. If you want even joint lines, then you will need to taper the bricks first, place, then do your cutting for the tapered "inner" arch.

[patjer1]

One question regarding the inner arch transition; with the IT I can draw a line with the inner and outer diameter of the oven and from then on the slope. Do you cut the bricks at that line or a bit lower, minus the mortar joint?
Greetings.

[UtahBeehiver]

Here is one I show people all the time when they are doing opening like yours. It is from Mr Chipster and it also shows how the it is used to do an inner taper arch. The height of the opening of the arch should be abt 63% of the "radius" of the ID of the oven, IE 42" oven = 21" X .63 = 13.25. Width is user preference so 20" wide is fine.

[JRPizza]

While you are waiting for your floor board it would be a good time to make your inner arch form. This will allow you to place the form where you want your arch, then make sure that a full brick at top dead center will intersect the dome or you will have problems keeping it round if the arch is too far from the center of the oven. That's what Jonv is talking about above. Here is a sketch and picture that may help. In the sketch you can see that the brick can move a little to left or right (outside or in) and still make for a good transition and I made mine stick out a little more so I could build my vent arch over it with a heat break. Are you planning on a hemispherical arch or a flat one?

[Lagniappe]

Tried again with the picture format - hopefully this works better.

Original note:

I made some progress. I cut the perimeter of the floor bricks and all the half bricks for my first course. Won't be doing a full soldier course like my initial post showed.

I still haven't sourced my insulating floor board yet, although I haven't looked very hard. Wanted to make some progress and test out the saw.

Anyone see any issues with my cuts before I get too far off track? Really struggled to figure out right way to frame up the opening. It is 20" and will be a 42" oven. I have seen lots of posts and advice on the arch and feel like I need to get my entry correct to get the arch right. I guess it is set up for a half brick inner arch, hope that is ok.

[jonv]

Just remember that if you want to tie in nicely with the dome you'll need the best part of a full brick's depth at the top of the entry arch... worth taking a measurement from the centre of the dome to the inner face of the arch to make sure you haven't got the arch too far forward, if that makes sense.

[Lagniappe]

You are right, the pictures did come through tiny.

I tried several times with multiple devices to load in jpeg format. I kept getting an error about the extension of the file did not match the content. The only thing that seemed to work was GIF format. Let me keep trying or if any advice out there, let me know. Not sure why it worked in jpeg in first post and then not in this one.

[agrasyuk]

I can't answer the arch question as tiny pictures make it is very hard to see details of your entry mock-up. At this point though I don't think you are off-track.

[Lagniappe]

I made some progress. I cut the perimeter of the floor bricks and all the half bricks for my first course. Won't be doing a full soldier course like my initial post showed.

I still haven't sourced my insulating floor board yet, although I haven't looked very hard. Wanted to make some progress and test out the saw.

Anyone see any issues with my cuts before I get too far off track? Really struggled to figure out right way to frame up the opening. It is 20" and will be a 42" oven. I have seen lots of posts and advice on the arch and feel like I need to get my entry correct to get the arch right. I guess it is set up for a half brick inner arch, hope that is ok.

[david s]

Nothing wrong with a full soldier course but just be aware of the outward forces of the dome with this configuration. It may require some bostering around the soldier course.

I agree. As the base of the dome is the structural weak point of the form (think of the vulnerability of an eggshell at that point if cut in half), then a vertical joint the height of a full brick length is going to make that point even weaker and an encouraging place to begin a crack.The big advantage of a soldier course, if your floor is inside the dome, is that you won't be scraping away at a brick joint with your metal peel. The other advantage is that it gives you slightly more height at the perimeter so you could place things like bread loaves closer to the walls.

[UtahBeehiver]

Nothing wrong with a full soldier course but just be aware of the outward forces of the dome with this configuration. It may require some bostering around the soldier course.

[Lagniappe]

Thanks a lot for the advice & for all the tips given to others that I have learned from reading this forum.

I did my undergraduate studies in New Orleans, always liked the idea of Lagniappe. A little something extra.