36" Pompeii in St Louis

[UtahBeehiver]

IMHO, a full arch transmits the load almost straight down and with the outer brick work you propose it acts as a buttress. I would fill the gap with some p or vcrete.

[plastered]

Wondering if I should put some lentils/angle irons across the front and back for stability? Also maybe some joining the two. (Red lines are the outside of the 'brick box' i plan to build)

[plastered]

I picked up a 2' section of flue liner, and yea it's pretty heavy. I'm worried about how it will be supported, in addition to the brick I was planning on surrounding it with. I built my outer arch today and to line it up with the flue, I had to do a little section of arch bricks out front. I'm worried this will not be strong enough for a 2ft+ chimney.



I plan to add another half-brick red arch to the front, so a little more strength will be gained. I also plan to sort of box the whole vent/arch area in with red brick, as you can see below:


With this plan there will be a gap between the outer arch and the red brick (widening as I go up due to the arch)-- this is on the left and right side of the arch. Do I build the red wall up and then try to connect at the top? Connecting the arch to the wall with a brick in a shape like the ones shown in my sketch (with the angle)? Is that going to be strong enough for a 2ft brick chimney? I feel like the weight of the chimney will still be on this arch, which just doesn't seem strong enough to support 30 or so bricks on top. Or should I fill this gap with more bricks for structural integrity?

Gap is circled in red in my pic below, blue is the brick I'll have to 'bridge the gap' with (I only drew one blue rectangle in my pic below, but they would be from top to bottom of the image, from the wall to the arch).





Here are some more pics of my progress today.





Thanks for all the help!

[Baza]

plastered - you're doing GREAT!! Bashing through and most of all loving it as you figure it out (me too!).
Have to say - I think your IT will become mine as it was here between yourself and Utah that the whole placement piece made the most sense to me (and yours doesn't need a weld!).

To your questions above - there is a great number of threads (just Search clay flue) regarding matters of building one - I think the biggest issue is weight and how you distribute that in your opening ... there are a few designs that direct the outward pressure of the chimney brick down and out along the opening design (most are curved).
Dino_Pizza has some GREAT drawings that tackle this issue. Awesome build!

Keep having fun!
Barry

[Chach]

Looks great!!! It is a big accomplishment when you finish. For sure insulate as Russell sugested.

Ricky

[UtahBeehiver]

Current school of thought is to have the dome insulated but not the final outer coating before firing. This reduces the thermal differential between the inside of the oven the the outside of the oven reducing potential cracking issues. Low temperature curing can be done with briquettes, this gets you around 200-250 F. Caveat emptor, this is where we see builders in their excitement fire to hot too fast and damage their ovens. One extra log on the fire can spike the temperature too fast.

[plastered]

Keystone in, got my floor back in and cleaned up, and created the outer arch form. Need to pick up some red brick for the vent and chimney and order some insulating blanket for the dome.

Should I wait to insulate it to start some curing fires? Or is there any benefit to doing it now and later (after the insulation/crete layers are on)? Also, I'm guessing I should wait until my vent/chimney is in place?

[Chobbs]

Looks great. You’ve managed to keep the inside of your dome looking super clean!

[plastered]

Lots of rain today, two more courses done. I found it pretty easy to hold the bricks in place with scrap wood while moving around. Felt like my cuts were pretty good too.
It was insane working in low 70 degree weather after only working in 100F+ for the past several weeks.
I think I'm ready to do my keystone tomorrow. Pulled the IT out.

[plastered]

Decided to only do one course today (7th), was trickier than the last. I think the next course is going to be a real doozy. I plan on using wooden sticks to hold them in place as I move along, maybe doing like 2 at a time, waiting 10 minutes to help the mortar form up. Anyone have any other tips?

Other questions I have:

1. Does the vent landing and outer arch have to be firebrick? If not, should I still use the flue set mortar? -- I think what I am planning on doing is extending my landing by a half brick, so from front to back I'll have a half-decorative brick (red), then a full firebrick length, then inner arch/dome

2. For the chimney, I'd like to do the clay flue then surround it with bricks, anything I need to consider for this? Once again, do I need to use flue set mortar for this? Do I even need the clay flue if I am using bricks? Please direct me to some pics/posts to help me visualize this if you can. Thanks.

[plastered]

Progress from today (saturday) -- did two and a half courses (6 total). \Feels good.

Since I was sloppy on my inner arch, the 6th course didn't match up (level-wise) too well, so I had to cut a thin wedge piece. Still need another small wedge to even things out.

You can also see my "regular v's" (opposite of inverted v's) because I grinded a little too much off in my 4th course. Oh well. Got the hang of the angle much better in the courses above.

[danhem]

Seems like you are doing a pretty good job of this, reminds me very much of my own build. I’ll follow this thread as you progress.

good luck.

[plastered]

Well the beveled cuts got the best of me and I kind of just gave up. I think I will be able to make it work. Using the IT, it gives me confidence the bricks will lay okay, and I'm sure I'll have to make some minor cuts where the courses meet. I will grind out some of the uglier things you see in my arch, and the front looks good enough to me. Going to give it a few days to set and dry before I go crazy with the grinder.

Thanks for the kind words Kvanbael. This project is a lot of fun for me, this is not my forever home, so this oven is merely practice. I've never done anything like this, but I love it.

[UtahBeehiver]

I cannot tell from the pics on how much of a full brick you have to work with as you move up, it looks like the bricks are already close to full length minus the angle cuts. The top dead center bricks of a tapered inner arch will be the longest length (because this is the dome is farthest away from the arch. I tell builder to layout this brick first, this ensure that the subsequent bricks each side a TDC will be long enough.

[Kvanbael]

Arch tapering looks great in my opinion. What are you uncertain about?
i just held my pencil to my tool in whichever is most convenient. As long as it is locked in position, it draws perfect circles.
Mind for aligned joint in your dome. I notice quite a few that are almost aligned. If needed, insert a thinner brick every now and then.