42" Corner Pompeii in Coastal Virginia

[UtahBeehiver]

Congrats on clearing the arch with no "Dreaded Droop".

[Denamontini]

I’ll be honest, it is in my nature to be more precise and patient than I have been. There have been a lot of moments where I took short cuts, used ill-cut bricks and “slopped” mortar to save time. Originally, I wanted the oven to be perfect, but I am adopting my husband’s, “it’s only a pizza oven” philosophy. Well, kinda...

[Denamontini]

Jay,
Your arch looks great! I will use your advice on my outer arch. I will be using a bigger red fire brick on that part too.

Mike,
Thanks for the reassurance! Your messages are always kind and uplifting!

We’ve been battling cold rainy weather but have managed to make progress.

[SableSprings]

Question for the group... if the bricks fit tightly, does the side mortar really matter? My first 4 courses have practically no mortar on the sides— just a generous amount under each brick.

Dena, if your joints are tight, it is not necessary to have a mortar seam "showing" between bricks on the inside of the oven. Usually when you fit the bricks into place, you have buttered the side and bottom with mortar and then tap them lightly into place (as you already know )...so you get at least a little mortar that squeezes out. If your gap/joints between bricks are that tight on the inside edge, then just having mortar to fill in any gap that exists as you move to the outside of the dome is all that's needed. In fact, if I remember correctly, we've had at least one build on the forum that was done without using any mortar at all. But as most of us realize, mortar is your friend (if you need it) during the build, if for nothing else than to hold the bricks in place until the keystone is dropped in...I certainly would not have the skill (or patience) to create a mortar free dome but it is possible.

In addition, if your inside joints are all (or mostly) brick to brick, the possibility of having a piece of mortar break loose and become a pizza topping it next to nil.

Your build is still looking great and I don't see any real concerns developing at all.

[terratree]

Hi Dena,

Thanks for sharing a "lessons learnt" . Were certainly all learning here, and like you I've never laid a brick in my life - so luckily this forum exists.

I recently cut my inner arch taper (I'm following Russell's/JR's plus other CNR builds where I can) - pics attached, but i'm not 100 % sure they'll tie in ok as I kinda have 2 x TDC's and my course bricks (bought tapered for a huge kiln) are no where near a standard size ( 15" x 5.91" x 2.6"/2.95").

I did make a jig tho, copied from numerous others on this forum for the Angle (taper) cuts (no welding involved ), but is pretty rough. I did find that using a straight edge against the blade (last pic) prior to any cuts, was a positive reassurance. Happy to send some pics, if it helps

Unable to help with your mortar question...yet. Sorry.

Regards

Jay

[Denamontini]

Made a little more progress yesterday. We don't have the arch bricks tapered yet, so we've been working around it. We plan on cutting them today.

[Denamontini]

Jay,

My bevel was too steep— it was about 5 degrees. I think a 2-3 degree bevel would have been better. I also think the angle was too sharp. I was trying for a 4.5 bottom back with a 3.75 bottom front. Many of the bricks were smaller than 3.75 in the front. I made some adjustments yesterday (beveled at 3 degrees) and I was precise about every brick. I might be able to get them set today. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Question for the group... if the bricks fit tightly, does the side mortar really matter? My first 4 courses have practically no mortar on the sides— just a generous amount under each brick.

[terratree]

Hi Dena,

I reckon your oven will be fine.

I've also pre-cut the first 1.5 courses and only dry fitted.

Do you think mortar creep took your measurements out ? How did your IT go ?

I wont taper any more until I start mixing mortar, just to be safe.

Thanks for the help

Jay

[Denamontini]

Thanks for all of the encouragement and tips! My next WFO will be such a masterpiece!

[UtahBeehiver]

The spreadsheet gets you in the ball park, like JR said, do a few bricks and see how they fit, then cut a few more, always checking to see if the angles are still working. One last tip, as you move up just before you quit, lay one more brick on at the back of the next course, it becomes the anchor for that course. Joints look relatively tight and staggered. Remember to do your best work on the back half of the dome and adjustments or oops on toward the front, The back half is the only area that can be seen once the oven is complete

[cbailey]

Good solution to your problem. I actually like the way the bricks line up. As you said, live and learn. Your oven looks great, and will give you a lot of joy.

Cory

[SableSprings]

Dena, your solution to the bevel cuts works out just fine. It actually may help to reduce the cracking where seams align too closely between chains. I think it looks a lot better than my inside brickwork...and the bottom line is that it's structurally sound and will reward you for a lot of terrific meals & fabulous family (and party) memories in the future. (...and nobody except you will notice anything but what's coming off the cooking floor ). Relax, and give yourself a pat on the back for successfully dealing with the issue (and have a nice adult beverage to celebrate your progress!)

[JRPizza]

A tip for beveling your bricks - cut two bricks on opposite sides and see how well they fit. If you still have a vee, adjust your angle, re-cut, and re-check. When the angle is right cut the rest of the bricks for that row. If the angle was too much just save those bricks for a subsequent row as each row takes more of an angle.

[Denamontini]

Dang it!!! We screwed up!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! UGH!!!

Long story short... a few weeks back we bought a new 10" wet saw, we had a WONDERFUL DIAMOND BLADE shipped to us (Pitt Industrial Diamond), the weather was beautiful and we jumped the gun to cut the first 3 course in preparation for a weekend of building. We built these perfect jigs for the angles... we beveled the cuts... we followed the cut suggestions on the spreadsheet... Fast forward to Saturday... Welp, the bricks did not work out like a perfect puzzle piece. It was a huge disappointment.

I don't know how to describe them, they were just too angled and too beveled? So, instead of suggesting to my husband that we RE-CUT 80 1/2 bricks, I just said, "Oh well, we're gonna make it work" (I didn't say "Oh Well" I said lots of bad words) So, using my IT as a guide, I just laid a brick right side up and then the next one went in upside down. I knew it was wrong-- but a happy marriage is better than some jacked-up angled grout lines, right? My neighbors thought the brick work looked grand (they think the fire goes under the hearth inside the base, so I don't trust their judgement )

I know better. Measure twice, cut once. (Measure 3 times, make a mock-up, build it out of cardboard, then cut once)

Live and learn... here it is.

I contemplated burying this secret, but isn't this what the forum is for? Sharing ideas! It is a bad idea to blindly follow the spreadsheet without fully understanding and trying the cuts out first. I want to keep others from making the same mistake.

Mike, Thanks for building my confidence Haha!


Onward and upward,
Dena

Also, I ran out of homebrew with like 3 more bricks to go on the right side... that's why it looks off-center.

[SableSprings]

Dena, you (and the family work party ) are doing a great job so far. I'll be saving a link to this build (for future builder questions) as how to do "the best option" for top slab to cooking floor pics. I trust you are realizing that--although you originally claimed total novice status--you have gained a lot of valuable experience and are now at a point where you CAN advise other people who are just starting. Looking forward to seeing your WFO build progress through the spring.