42” Pompeii oven and Argentine bbq on California Central Coast

[UtahBeehiver]

Plus one of JR's comments. Tapered inner arch configurations are one of the most difficult concepts for builders to visualize. Attached is a photo from Mr. Chipster showing how the IT is used to scribe and mark the inner dimensions of a arch similar to your set up.

Key design components tapered inner arch

1. bottom of inside of base of arch must intersect the ID of the oven.
2. must start with full bricks with "Top Dead Center" brick being the longest final brick.
3. each brick is unique in shape and dimensions, so don't cut all the same, use IT to help determine, see skew bricks in pic

[Michele Enrico]

thanks for the feedback. Mine is laying out at 609 mm or 24” to face of inner arch at floor level. That still gives me intersection with the interior dome using a 9” brick at the top of the arch so I think I’m good. Will keep you all posted when I get to that course....

[Sixto]

Michele, if your photo is showing the true relationship between your IT dome radius and your top arch brick, I would suggest you shift your dome arch closer to the center of the dome by 2" or 3". The reason for my suggestion is that I think a sharp edge at the bottom of that arch brick might be a weak spot that could crack or break in the future. My arch bricks all were cut to have around 2" measured along the inside of the dome, and 4.5" of depth for the top angle cut. (where the dome bricks rest). I also highly recommend not cutting all the arch bricks at once, but instead cutting them as you build up the courses, it is hard to visualize all the angles at once, since each arch brick and angle of cut are different. I had to recut 8 arch bricks after I realized how things were stacking, but then again I had a full arch while yours is a partial arch.

Sixto, Minneapolis

[Michele Enrico]

Michele, if your photo is showing the true relationship between your IT dome radius and your top arch brick, I would suggest you shift your dome arch closer to the center of the dome by 2" or 3". The reason for my suggestion is that I think a sharp edge at the bottom of that arch brick might be a weak spot that could crack or break in the future. My arch bricks all were cut to have around 2" measured along the inside of the dome, and 4.5" of depth for the top angle cut. (where the dome bricks rest). I also highly recommend not cutting all the arch bricks at once, but instead cutting them as you build up the courses, it is hard to visualize all the angles at once, since each arch brick and angle of cut are different. I had to recut 8 arch bricks after I realized how things were stacking, but then again I had a full arch while yours is a partial arch.

Sixto, Minneapolis

Sixto, thank you. I mocked up a little more exactly and I do have better angles then the last photo would indicate. At a 12.5” height at center of the arch, I have cut angles similar to what you are saying.

[Michele Enrico]

Review of compound cut procedure with one jig. Using the “deejayoh” compound cut spreadsheet. (We should all buy this guy a beer. ) This is how I jigged up to make two bricks in three cuts. Jig is built with two pieces of 2x6 redwood hing on one side, and a strip of plywood as a fence on the near edge of the upper board. I used the saw miter fence to set the side angle and spacers and a clamp to set the tilt angle. I made a shallow cut into the jig to help line up the cuts with the blade and the saw fence on the left just to help stabilize the jig. BB means bottom outside corner of finished cut brick and TB means top outside corner of cut brick. Because in the second and third cuts the BB is down and against the plywood fence I made a mark on the plywood fence right of the cut line to speed up lining up the second and third cuts. I hope this is of some help. Michele

[UtahBeehiver]

I would not cut all the course at once. Maybe cut a 5-6 lay them out then see if you need to make any adjustments, then cut another 5 or 6 and so on. This way you can catch any irregularities in the dome shape and correct as needed.

[Michele Enrico]

It’s all about the process, right?

[Sixto]

Looks Beautiful !!!

[UtahBeehiver]

I notice the smaller adjustment of the brick on the back left of the last course. These adjustments are necessary, but if you make these adjustments towards the front half of the oven, those peeking in will never see them. Just an aesthetic observation. Also a the end of the day, set a brick on the next course, back center, and let it set overnight. This provides a good anchor for the next course.

[Michele Enrico]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[Michele Enrico]

Got the inner arch mocked up. Ready to cut the inside of the arch bricks.

[Michele Enrico]

[mongota]

It's difficult to tell from the photo, but are the interior faces of the arch bricks in line with an extension of the IT? Meaning will a ray extending from the center of the floor be inline with those cuts? Your cuts look much more vertical, but it could just be the lighting or the straight on angle from which the photo was taken.

Your dome is coming along nicely!

[Michele Enrico]

It's difficult to tell from the photo, but are the interior faces of the arch bricks in line with an extension of the IT? Meaning will a ray extending from the center of the floor be inline with those cuts? Your cuts look much more vertical, but it could just be the lighting or the straight on angle from which the photo was taken.

Your dome is coming along nicely!

Thanks Mongota for the concern. It’s just a funny camera angle.

[Mr. Slowhand]

I wish the interior view of bricks in my oven are as clean and nice as the exterior view of your bricks Michele. Excellent craftsmanship, looking forward to see this one done!