36" Pompeii in Indiana, US

[Chach]

You are making great progress. Looking good.

[GreenViews]

Meeting dome to inner arch: Happy Father's day all! I'm anxious to get out and build, but wanted t o share a few pics of my process of figuring out my best way to meet dome and arch. See my description and video above for part of this. In the end for my build: (remember everyone's build dimensions and shape will dictate how these meet and more than one way to do this even if exact same dimentions)

• I took a roughly dome shaped taper out of the bottom inside corner of each of my arch bricks (for better or worse, this was my opening move, lol)
• I took this one course at a time until a clear path presented itself. I didn't want to cut too much until I could fully visualize it.
• 1st segmental arch section met dome row 3 brick with a dome radius cut
• 2nd segmental arch section met dome row 4 the same way, so extended into the arch further and above first arch brick which I clipped the top of just a bit.
• 3rd segmental arch section was cut to fit under 5th dome row. I measured the inner edge of the dome brick as well as using the IT to maintain same height of this row. This cut was trickier.
• 4th and 5th segmental arch section were cut for a transition from bottom of 5th dome row to bottom of 6th dome row, so to completed this I have yet to cut a triangle faced brick faced 5th dome row bricks. I decided this because cutting these down to bottom of 5th dome course would have taken too much brick off of these arch bricks and I didn't have enough length to meet up with the dome well up to the 5th row. Might have been different and easier if I hadn't already cut my arch bricks back to 9", so note to future builders, follow the advice that I saw too late and keep arch bricks full length until you know how it works out, lol.
• arch key is cut to fit under the 6th dome course, so my 6th dome course will be the first complete dome circle course

[GreenViews]

Video: completing the inner arch. A good friend came over and I let him help me mortar the inner door arch while I finished making the special cuts for meeting the 5th dome course to the arch. I had been working on this and was almost ready to complete the arch. The only thing left for today is to cut 2 tapering (from full height to nothing) height bricks for the 5th dome row which will fit against the 2nd and 3rd from center arch bricks on each side. The inner arch key brick will be directly below the 6th dome course. I'll attach photos of how it worked for me to meet the dome to the arch. Remember: I have a low dome and segmental arch. Everyone's solution will look different; depending on dome shape/size and door shape/size along with door placement and maximum length of doorway arch bricks.

[JRPizza]

Yep - I can't remember how many courses I used my clamp on but when I realized that just buttering up the brick and using hands and the IT to smoosh it in place was all that was needed and way faster. I even did my steep upper courses that way. I found that I had a better chance of knocking a brick loose when unclamping than I did just pressing and holding for a few seconds. You kind of need to dial in the mortar consistency for holding on the upper courses.

[GreenViews]

Fourth course video: How I learned to relax, stop using the clamp and trust the feel of the brick setting into place. My discovery: For me clamping the brick on the 4th course was not being helpful. Perhaps the front face of the IT is slightly off the correct plane, perhaps my cuts were a little imperfect, but I found it better and faster to use the IT as a guide and set the brick into place by feel and sight without over-controlling exact position by clamping the brick to the IT. The new brick sets nicely down and against the last brick and they hold tight and one holds the other up and they are naturally aligning nicely without clamping. p.s. I'm just using an old phone with a cracked screen to record 32x timelapse for these. I bought a cheap magnetic camera holder online and screwed it to one of my tarp holding boards. Since it was a recent cell phone, still connected to my G account, so uploads video automatically. Simple

[GreenViews]

OK, I did just that on 4th course: started in back and spread out my width changes a little. Next course will be easier to do this as on this course I was dealing with a couple thin brick in the back on lower course and lined up a few cracks. Good suggestions. I may have to break free one of my latest arch brick additions as I notice this morning in pics that I have it at too much of an angle. The perils of not mortaring all at once or perhaps not a careful enough eye. Still, I'm happy.

[UtahBeehiver]

Yes you can start at the back and work forward, Tip, at end of course lay one brick and center back and let it sit over night. Then you have an anchor to work with. Also and move to the arch, plan ahead of any width changes and spread them out over several bricks rather than one to avoid a "chip". Also using the template works fine for the bottom angle. It was done by a builder GianniFocaccia but I can't find his thread any more.

[GreenViews]

Quick pic after 3rd course and cleaning up. I have a few pics of my trying to figure out more precisely meeting of my door arch and dome, but will hold back until I have a full solution. Thanks again for the help Utah!

[GreenViews]

Jamie, Yes, I expect I'll use the little grinder on a couple other spots after cement cures and the trickiest cuts get assistance from grinder in addition to the tile saw! Always glad to help a fellow justify a good tool purchase
Greg, Yeah, I'll definitely get the angle for each level and the arch brick cuts off of the lines of my wood template (which I have now cut part of one end off of so it will fit into the doorway with the arch support template there and in the way. I have cut the bevels for the arch bricks and am now only needing to cut the back cuts to match the dome angle. I only have to decide at exactly which elevation I will meet these two, therefore how much I will cut off of the top of door arch vs cutting off the bottom of dome bricks. I'm figuring out, but will try and remember to take photos to show more precisely. my exact process. Is TDC the keystone brick at top? I do happen to have an odd number. I made cuts and set bottom brick back so currently they are all the same width, but I think by the time I mortar them in, I will be too tight and end up cutting the center brick back just a tad to make thinner. I learned the too tight lesson on my last row. In my last video, you can see me break a couple still curing mortar joint of the brick I had placed in the doorway. I swore, tapped everything back into place and wet it down. I hope I didn't create a permanent weak point.
Regarding starting each row at the back... might work and seems l like a great idea actually and I might try it. I discovered my IT works best in one direction because of the width and how it's center is on one side. I could grind it down, but too busy building for the moment, lol. I guess I'm not that concerned about a perfect uniform look of brick width. I figure if the lines inside look nice and tight, I'll be happy. People who take the uniformity of brick to the extreme (and hats off to them, really) calculate exact width of each row and cut bricks down as required, to keep all the joints perfectly between joints on the prior row. Hmm, still thinking about this for my next course.

[P3 Stoaker]

Tom, I meant to ask, You worked with half bricks at the back of the oven, Russell mentioned where possible having them to the front where not seen. What do you think about starting each course at the back, would that work?
Regards

[P3 Stoaker]

G'day Tom,
Your progress, mathematical application and timelaps video's are certainly impressive. I was wondering, are you setting the adjustable IT to the correct angle by using the lines drawn on the wooden template?
I'm now a fair way behind, just finalising inner arch for floor layout. As you've read I'm getting my head around the tapered arch, with some very much appreciated assistance. I did agree though reading your post that the template you've made for setting your IT, could that be used to mark each brick of the arch, in a similar way as the IT would on a traditional even arch style? Some say cut all arch bricks up front, others say cut as you go. I guess cut as you go has considerations regarding;
1 Will you have odd no of bricks thereby meaning a TDC?
2 Do you want a TDC?
3 Width of TDC once you get there.

Thanks for your comments in my build thread, certainly helped my understanding, and to clear things up.
Regards
Greg

[Jamie Dowdall]

Course #3 and base of arch video

Thanks greenviews, you have justified my upcoming M18 6" grinder purchase. Cords are for cavemen.

[GreenViews]

Course #3 and base of arch video

[GreenViews]

Thanks Utah, that diagram is supremely helpful! The cutting each brick slightly different is what got me still thinking, but I'm almost there. With a low dome the angle changes from the IT angle with each new course. So far I've used my template to figure out how to cut the notches on the bottom side. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to meet the dome to the arch because I think there are at least 2 good options. A) Cut enough off each arch brick to meet the dome well but leaving good amount of brick behind or B) cut enough off the arch bricks so you don't have to cut the bottom of any dome bricks, transitioning to the next dome row when required. Also there would be C) build arch first and do your best to meet the dome to it without any planning ahead of time with lots of tricky dome cuts.... (Already clear that this is not the advised path)

I'm pretty sure the best answer for stability is A and I think that is what I understand you and others saying.

[UtahBeehiver]

Are you wanting to do a tapered inner arch? Here is a little explanation I put together to help people visualize this concept. It is one of the more difficult concept to see until you actually see it fit together. One thing I cannot tell if the arch bricks are already been cut in half. In order to do this type of arch you need to start with full length bricks with the top dead center brick being the actual longest one. Each arch brick is slightly different so you cannot cut them all at once.