42" build in Michoacan, Mexico

[towersurf]

Today I worked on cutting the inner arch bricks. I had orginally thought it wouldnt be necesarry to cut them but after stacking them where they meet the dome it became apparant that I should taper them. Im cutting with the HF 10" saw so I had to make cuts on each side and then flip over the brick and cut both sides again from the underside of the first cuts. I welded up two seperate jigs in the morning to get the right angles and spent the day cutting arch bricks, 17 in total. While I had the welder out I also modified the IT. I had welded a clamp offset to one side to hold bricks in place but the offset tended to twist the brick in the IT when clamping it tight so I welded the clamp right in the center of the IT which works way better. I also was hoping to lay the third course today but discovered that the base brick for the third course that I layed last night was upside down so I reset it and plan on laying the third couse tomorrow. Im obviously still learning alot as I go and couldnt have gotten this far without the excellent advise in this forum. Thanks to everyone who contributes. Some photos of todays progress, arch jig and modified IT,

[UtahBeehiver]

You are halfway there for doing a tapered inner arch. Be sure to mark the joint lines on the arch form so you do not get mortar joint creep when you start laying the brick. With the tight joints you do not have any wiggle room for any joint thickness increase. Attached is what the tapered inner arch brick looks like from a side view.

[towersurf]

Thanks for the photo and explication Russell. This really helps alot. I shaved a bit off the arch bricks to give me a bit more mortar wiggle room. Im building the inner arch as I lay each course so I might end up shaving a bit more off some arch bricks if needed. Today I marked each tapper line where the dome meets the inner arch and tied them into the first two courses. What I struggled with was the cut for the dome brick tying into the inner arch. Is this cut just taken from measuring the top and bottom gap between the course and the inner arch tapper or is there a better way to mark the angle of the cut for the final course brick?
Attacherd are a few photos of how I tied the inner arch into the first two course. Please let me know if this doesnt look right. Thanks

[modified9v]

So I’ve never laid a brick anywhere other than in this climate, San Felipe MX... but what I will say in regards to the Homebrew is for me, wetter is better. I was also soaking bricks till the bubbles stopped. if I did not spritz the brick prior to putting the mortar on the brick I only had about 10 seconds before it got so firm I couldn’t adjust the brick without compromising the joint.

Lookin’ good! Have fun. I’m gonna enjoy watching you build your oven. The view is spectacular.

Mikie V.

[towersurf]

Thanks Mikie, I hope I dont disappoint.
Yesterday I finished the third course. It seems to be getting easier as I get through the learning curve. Here is how it looked as of last night.

[UtahBeehiver]

Great job, nice brick work with good joint staggers. Hint, make any adjustments on the front half of the dome with best work and bricks on the back half. No one will see adjustments once the dome is complete. Also like you are already doing, keep the arch bricks ahead of the dome bricks, much easier to tie into.

[towersurf]

Thanks for the tips Russell

[towersurf]

Today I laid the 4th course and tied it into the arch. With hindsight, I would have spent more time laying out the inner arch in the beginning of the build. I struggled in the beginning with how to square up the arch into a circle, like what is the best reference point. Its now obvious that I could have used the IT to square it up. Im also noticing that I have to adjust the IT as I move up courses otherwise the new courswe doesnt sit right on the course below. The adjustment Im making is one complete turn every course which seems to be working well. Here are some photos of todays progress.

[JRPizza]

Watch the height of the bricks adjacent to your arch relative to the height of the same row in the back. It looks like you might be a little low and heading for a case of the droop. Not sure as it is hard to tell from the pics, but you might want to measure.

[Chach]

Your doing great and looks real clean and tight.

Ricky

[towersurf]

Watch the height of the bricks adjacent to your arch relative to the height of the same row in the back. It looks like you might be a little low and heading for a case of the droop. Not sure as it is hard to tell from the pics, but you might want to measure.

I had read about the droop on another thread but didnt know what causes it. Once I tied the 4th course into the arch I checked it with a level as you pointed out and it appears to be level but Im going to double check in the morning and keep a sharp eye out for potential droop. Thanks for the tip. Im actually following alot of your ideas from your build thread.

[towersurf]

Your doing great and looks real clean and tight.

Ricky

Thanks for the encouragement Ricky.

[JRPizza]

I had been checking my build side to side and didn't catch the droop forming till it was too late and I had to compensate. Good news is if your arch is in the right place you can do some custom cuts and get back on level. I posted some pics and ideas on why droop forms at the links below - hopefully you don't have a problem brewing.

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...820#post403820
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...405#post381405

[towersurf]

I had been checking my build side to side and didn't catch the droop forming till it was too late and I had to compensate. Good news is if your arch is in the right place you can do some custom cuts and get back on level. I posted some pics and ideas on why droop forms at the links below - hopefully you don't have a problem brewing.

https://community.fornobravo.com/for...820#post403820
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...405#post381405

Excellent information in the posted links. Thanks for posting these. Its now easier to understand why the droop can develop. Im going to add a spacer bar to the IT for the rest of the course to arch tie ins so I can try and stay ahead of this potential problem. As of now its close to being level with the back but to be perfetly level it would have to come up about 1/2 inch or so. Here is how it looks right now.

[UtahBeehiver]

Spread out the adjustment over several bricks. You can make small adjustments by tipping the front bricks up a little more each course until you work out the droop.