32 Inch Cape Build

[Neil.B]

Looks very smart and accurate, nice job. You will have the dome built in no time.

[CapePizza]

Cut arch brick today. Was intending to mortar the half header row today but the arch has been weighing on my mind. It was kind of a leap of faith to cut the arch brick now as opposed to waiting till the rows butt into them and cut the arch brick then then. There are a couple of bricks I'm going to recut. And a couple I kind of accidentally cut the corners off. So still a "work in progress". I'm not sure how "perfect" it needs to be since there is the mortar that might cover up some sins, but will probably fiddle with it for another day. After just finished reading a book on Brunelleschi's Dome you kind of get inspired.

Thanks for the comments, Neil B. Seems like things are moving ahead for you on your oven. I see you've got the dome starting to get covered. Nice.

[UtahBeehiver]

Remember, no one really sees the front inside of the dome once it is dome is done. The tapered arch set-up looks like it is suppose to. When laying the dome courses, keep the arch bricks ahead of the dome course. It is a lot easier to tie the dome in or you can completely mortar the arch in ahead of the dome courses as well.

[CapePizza]

Thanks, Russel. When you say "keep the arch bricks ahead of the dome course" I'm interpreting that as, mortar the arch bricks in place as your move along with the dome bricks so the dome bricks can kind of be adjusted as needed (cut to shape) to mate with the arch bricks. Does that sound correct? Thanks!

[Baza]

WOW John! Your arch looks fantastic! The kind I wish I cut - you know - if someone did a video on how to do the tapered brick arch cut/build and linked it in to the newbie or construction tips section I think it would be one of the most watched videos in this forum. You could easily do a guest appearance with your result! Well done! I just mortared mine over the weekend and will finish tying the courses to the finished arch and fiddle with that as they meet

I believe it was Utah that said "mortar is your friend", but I am mindful of wanting to minimize the amount of it on the inside

Again - great job!!! I think some of the toughest stuff was put out of your way today!
Barry

[Neil.B]

Going by how accurate your build is, I would suggest you redo the ones that have had the corners cut off. No-one will see it, but it will bug the life out of you.
Out of my whole build so far, the triangle in the middle of the picture bugs me the most. It's actually the end of the angled brick of my arch but i cut it a few mm to short and looks like It's just filled with cement.


I don't know what you have planned for your final lay, but would suggest marking the centre of the brick. Line your IT with the line to make a nice smooth arch.

[CapePizza]

Thanks all for the tips and encouragement. From reading/reviewing other's postings (kind of a diary of sorts aside from seeking technical know how) I can see how one's inner traits are reflected in their builds.
For me building prototypes has been a part of my work so it's kind of in my blood to strive for a sense of (mostly unobtainable) perfection. It's a double edge sword, a curse and exhilarating. I've never really worked brick before. In my world I expect it to be like milling a piece of plastic to within .010 of an inch and instead I'm having to realize if these brick cuts wind up within .100 they're probably close enough.
This oven building project has really been a lot of fun and such a learning experience. I suppose to take on a project like this everyone has their own sense of perfection they strive for. It's been really great to read of others trials and tribulations..... pains and successes. It pushes me to keep on keepin' on. Well... enough philosophizing.

Again, thank you for all the help and encouragement. When daylight hits it'll be time to reassess those arch brick cuts.

[Kvanbael]

So, Cape. Since you are being so precise. I
Couldn’t help noticing that your tapered bricks are radially cut, hence not always perpendicular to your beautiful non-circular arch-curve. That will give a bit of sawtooth on your “tunnel”.

[CapePizza]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "radially cut".... but I think what your'e referring to is the vertex of one brick does not sit even with the vertex corner of the brick below it? is that what you mean? If so, this is what I'm also questioning. Seems like they should and mine do not. Seems like the upper bricks are okay but as the eye moves to the bricks beyond that as you travel down the curve, they start to get out of whack. see attached photo. I'll look forward to hearing your (or others) thoughts. Thank you Kvanbael.

[Ope-dog]

Cape - your arch looks fantastic! Very impressive! You make the tapered arch look easy for sure!

[Neil.B]

Are you bottom two/three bricks of the arch straight?
They look like they angle the same way the course bricks will be, then you have used your IT to shape from the base. On your type of arch I don't think you need the IT to shape the vertical angle until about row 5, but can use it up to 5 on the inside to shape the circle to the rows.

Hope that makes sense.

You can see by this picture i have the bottom three rows straight and the bricks are smaller in length. As I got towards to top of the arch they were about 8.5" long.

My arch is different from yours so the above might not work.

[Kvanbael]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "radially cut".... but I think what your'e referring to is the vertex of one brick does not sit even with the vertex corner of the brick below it? is that what you mean? If so, this is what I'm also questioning. Seems like they should and mine do not. Seems like the upper bricks are okay but as the eye moves to the bricks beyond that as you travel down the curve, they start to get out of whack. see attached photo. I'll look forward to hearing your (or others) thoughts. Thank you Kvanbael.

This is because you have a complex arch curve where some parts have more curvature than others. Ideally, you would taper your arch bricks more in areas with higher curvature, so that the seams end up being perpendicular to your arch curve. Instead, you have cut all your bricks with a similar amount of taper, and hence when you align them to your nice arch curve, some bricks end up somewhat skewed.

(For the record: I might know the theory, but I couldn't come close to the practice that you have displayed so far).

See also here

[CapePizza]

Hi Neil B. I believe my oven's arch is different in that it doesn't really have a "straight" run in it. But thanks for the thought.

I did spend the morning checking over the arch brick cuts made yesterday. Found some of them to have some high spots as noted in photo with rule (that brick actually wasn't too bad, some others were worse off).

I also put what would be a dome brick on the IT and wanted to see how it would sit on the arch brick. Lo and behold the arch bricks were a bit to long where the 16 inch cut would wind up. I used the IT with a pencil (the IT being set at the radius of 16 inches) and noted where they had to be cut back.

I'm learning when you think you've got things laid out, recheck with another method just to make sure.

[CapePizza]

Hello Kvanbael! Thanks so much for attaching that link. That looks really interesting and will be good reading this evening. And thanks for your sketch. I think I understand what you're saying about the tapers and how they align with the curvature. The bricks do have different degrees of taper which I tried to design with how they would sit with the curvature in mind.

I did spend the day fiddling with the arch bricks, cutting some back and reshaping a bit and being a little more meticulous with laying them out on the form. I feel a bit better about how they are arranged now. There are still brick vertexes that don't necessarily align with the brick below it, which gets back to my post #69 post with the colored areas. I'm feeling like that is okay as when the dome bricks mate in those areas with those arch bricks, the dome bricks can then be shaped as needed.

[Kvanbael]

That looks so much better indeed. Can’t wait to see how this build will turn out.