42” Pompeii in San Felipe, MX

[UtahBeehiver]

I used cut and factory faced towards inside, I choose the best looking surfaces facing in. Also remember to do you best work and best surface bricks in the rear half and make width adjustments on the front have (this area will not be seen once the dome is complete.

13.25" is spot on for the 63% of the dome height ratio.

[modified9v]

Thanks Russell and JR... motivated now. I have 3/4” relief with the legs on my arch template. Initially I had figured on a 20” x 12” inner arch... still at 20” wide but now I’m 13 1/2” tall... probably will just leave it at 13 1/2” unless advised differently. Should work and I do like the taller access. I plan to spend the afternoon making the template clean and get it mocked up. I did get that 1st course mortared in and hard enough mud left and placed a few bricks. Got real close to having mortar joints lined up... I have about a 1/2’ joint to joint. Can’t believe I let it get that close. I will try to not let that happen again.

Question: Do you believe there is any harm in setting one course with the cut face of the brick exposed to the fire side of the oven? Thought it might look cool when the fire is burning.... kind of like a signature course.

Thanks again folks, Mikie V.

[UtahBeehiver]

After the mock up is complete and all the joint marks are in place. Just keep the arch bricks ahead of the dome course, as mentioned before, it is easier to tie into the arch than visa versa. Be sure to factor in at least a 1/2" relief on the bottom of the arch form or you will not get the template out when the arch is complete.

[JRPizza]

Great to see you are getting it all figured out - you will need those skills when you build your fore and aft vent arches

[modified9v]

Yes, thank you, Utah... I’m going to make access holes on the template and paint it. After that I will mock it up on the table and mark it with mortar joints factored in. I’’m planning to make the inner tapers one brick, as needed, at a time. In other words the arch will come as it is needed to complete a course. If necessary I will custom make the keystone... oh, what am I saying, this is all custom and pretty fun now.

Thanks to those that follow, comment and help me through this... it is very much appreciated and I hope to be an asset for someone down the road.

Mike V.

[UtahBeehiver]

Phase one complete. Be sure to mark you mortar joints on the arch template so you can make sure you do not get mortar creep.

[modified9v]

OK... getting stuff done now. I spent the better part of the day getting ready to cut arch bricks and then actually cutting a bunch of them. I cut a few extra so I don’t have to go through that again. Made some temporary mods to the saw and settled with knowing that mortar is my friend.

One thing I learned when making these thin cuts is to go super slow when the blade breaks through... there is a lot of blade deflection when cutting these and by slowing down it allows more time for the side cutter to take some material.

I made some notes in the pictures and I hope that worked.

Thanks, Mike V.

[modified9v]

Perfect and simple... I like it!!! I have a 10” blade too (not HF). I was making it too complicated. I am determined to have the cuts made tomorrow. Also be great if I could get tied into what I already have mortared. You’ve been a tremendous help!!! Thank You!!!

Mike V.

[UtahBeehiver]

I used a 10" HF saw and a simple jig. You need to cut from both sides and use a angle grinder with a diamond cup to smooth out or feather on the wet saw using the side of the blade.
bricks cut offs under the brick for the right angle and a flat piece of brick on the left to hold brick from moving laterally.

[modified9v]

I’d really like to taper them too... I have the angle figured out just struggling with the jig. 10” blade is an issue... pretty sure I’ve seen some killer jigs out there on the forum. Looks as though if I can get them cut I’ll have a solid arch that works out well mathematically. I think I also saw that some have used wedges of brick to fill the monster void as well. So little of that mortar wedge would be visible, but I’d much rather have brick than mortar in this critical location.

Thanks again for the help today... Mike V.

[UtahBeehiver]

I did taper the arch bricks so I would have uniform thickness mortar joints also my bricks were 5.5" wide vs 4.5" std bricks. That said, you do not need to taper the arch bricks but you will end up with a fairly wide mortar joint on the OD if you do not. There is a program link on the forum somewhere called the Angleizer that will calc the brick size, number based on arch size and joint width. You will have do a search to find it.

[modified9v]

Got it... gracias!!! In looking at the 1st picture in your last post... the face of the arch where the door will contact... those look to be tapered too (template)... is that necessary for the build to be strong or for aesthetic purpose. I understand that the inside is tapered to make the intersection cleaner and easier.

[UtahBeehiver]

On it's way, remember you need to start with "full" length bricks with the longest one being at the "top dead center" of the arch.

[UtahBeehiver]

PM me an email address. I have a pdf (which I cannot attach to this forum) to help explain the some of the aspects of a tapered arch. It is a difficult concept to visualize but not too hard to physically do. It is well worth the effort.

[modified9v]

Thanks Utah, it feels good to get rolling. Your explaination for cutting the bevel at the contact point is crystal clear now. Those cuts will be really small... like slivers almost.

Now, about that tapered arch. Ugh, that is a difficult concept to wrap my head around but I will give it maximum effort. I think the next brick going up in the arch will be easy but after that I get lost. I think I’ve read every post here on tapered arches but for some reason it really screws with my head. I’ve seen how the IT is used to determine all the cuts and how it is suppose to look when its done... but I’m still lost. Maybe I need to just do it and quit thinking about it.

Thanks again, it’s starting to get fun... Mike V.