BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Ha! That's great. My kegerator is approximately 42.5' from my build just across the deck (but who measures that anyway); I too had my son fill my glass a few times with more liquid motivation! A balmy 34 degree draft just seems to make it all better. Of course it completely removes the clean up motivation

Thanks Les,

Bill

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thanks Dino!

I'm on a fast track build in hopes to have it done for my 6th annual Christmas party. I'd like nothing more than to cook pizzas along with the twenty or so guests I have coming.

The wet saw is definitely going to make it easier but until tonight I was using a standard MK-101 10" wet saw. I have a good amount of experience from my old tile and stone setting days so cutting and angles kind of in a weird way just make sense.

I started by cutting my bricks in half, not all, just what I was going to use for each row at the time. Since some of my bricks seem to be a little different in length I gave them (the ones that needed it) a very quick trim to get them close. I made sure that the soldier course I set on my floor was as close to round as humanly possible. Once you have a round foundation and you make sure that each course that goes on top of each other are flush with the ones below it, you just can't get that far out of round. I'm cutting the sides of the bricks (where they will touch) from front to back so I will not use a lot of mortar; just enough to take the large gap out. Up until tonight I have not cut any of the sides to prevent the 'V', I just made sure that my cuts were good and that I could push the bricks together so they are almost touching in the front (facing inside the oven).

Yes what you see is all I'm using, it's simply a mason string tied to a masonry screw that's screwed in the dead center of my floor. I've seen many builds that use the string with a mark on it showing the length from center. 42" inside dimension, half of that is 21", I made a small mark on the string at 21" but to tell you the truth I don't even use it for that reason; I use it to show me the angle each brick needs to be at once set. I found that if I applied mortar to the row I'm about to set the next course on and trowel it close to the angle that the bricks need to be then I only have to flat trowel a small amount of mortar on each brick bottom and then a small amount on each side to achieve both full coverage and proper angle. I set each brick pushing the inside face side down first until it hits the brick below and mortar oozes out. I then take the string and pull it tight against the top of the brick and then while holding down the face I force the back side down until the proper angle is achieved. Wow...My brain hurts now I then take the excess mortar from the back of that brick (that got squished out) and apply it to the next one I'm setting. It goes so fast it's scary. So far I have not had to use any forms or braces. I mix the mortar a little on the thick side(will hold on a margin trowel without sliding off), let it slake for about 3-5 minutes and then remix it but do not add any additional water. This gives the mortar a nice work time and I haven't had any cook off before I was out. I'm mixing mine in a small one quart paint bucket about 3/4 of the way full. I'm sure that gravity will start winning soon but until then I'm going in without forms .

Thanks for the kind words and I hope in some way this helped. I'll take a few shots of how this looks when applying.

Bill

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

You know you're spending a lot of time on a project when your kids automatically come to the build site to look for you:

Bill,

When my son was a four guy, I had him trained to fetch me a "daddy juice" (beer). In the hot sun, it saved me countless hours on any given project.

Les...

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Very nice and thanks. I feel much better and confident that I can make this work. I was keeping myself awake trying to calculate the opening vs chimney ratio to create the low pressure and proper flow...

I think I'll press onward and upward! I hope to have the arch and next two courses completed by Sunday...

You know you're spending a lot of time on a project when your kids automatically come to the build site to look for you

Thanks again,

Bill

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Hi Les,

Thanks for the tip on the pipes. I think I'll taper mine as well.

Yes the new Rigid is a compound miter and it works very well. I was able to use it tonight and while in the dark (still hate when the clocks go back) I managed to cut and mortar the next course in about an hour.

Having the right tools definitely help!

Thanks again,

Bill

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Bill, the oven looks GREAT!!! I keep showing other people the dates on your posts and we're impressed you just started last month. Your build is very encouraging to us.

Also, THANKS for the all the pictures. They really do help. Your recent post about the compound wet saw (show off!) answered my question about tapering top/bottom or also the inverted "v's" on the sides (which I think you are doing).

But my main question here is: Did you do the dome using the "string-method"? I keep going over your pictures and I see that screw with string on it and it looks so good I can't believe it. Could you please confirm exactly how that works?

Great job! and again, thanks for sharing it, -Dino

(P.S.: Dear Santa Clause, I wish for peace on Earth and a 10" compound wet saw for me)

[mfiore]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

I picked up my clay flue pipes today and they only had the 8"X12"X24" and after getting it home it just looks freakin huge. Any thoughts on this one? I don't mind the size as long as it doesn't draw too much or cause something else to not function properly.

Bill

Bill,

For what ever it's worth, I used the same size flue tile. I agree, when I picked it up, it seemed huge, and was very heavy. I didn't want to go too high with my chimney, so I altered it to taper as it goes up. This is lighter, and should draw better with a shorter stack. You can look at builds from Les or dmun to see similar designs.

Although I haven't finished curing my oven yet, so far it seems to draw wonderfully.

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Thanks Mark! I wished I had a compound. I spent a lot of time in the shop cutting shims to get the angle. When I got to the top, the cuts were so small, I had to go back a course to hold onto them. Your saw is the way to go.

Good luck on the build!

Les...

[exceloven]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Les,
The Rigid is a compound, I just got one in preparation for my build. So far I have used it on slate and it is great. The compound was the reason I got it, after seeing the great cuts you made on yours I figured I would need it.

Mark

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Bill - I used 2, 12 inch sections, granted, the second one was trimmed a little because of the taper. I think you will be good. Is your Ridged a compound?

Les...

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Very nice and very clean! I recall the 6th course getting my attention. It looks like you are going to tie the dome and arch as you go vertical. Good luck - if that's the case, you have raised the bar...(again) I think you will be the first to do that.

Les...

Wow, thanks Les!

I'm going to give it a shot. I am attempting to tie them together as I go, or as much as possible I should say. Who knows it may just work .

I picked up a new Rigid 10" wet saw that seems to work better than the old MK 101. It's a shame; the MK is made in the USA, the Rigid is made in China I like the 4 ball bearing roller tray, laser guide, etc that wasn't available on the MK.

Thanks again for the kind words, I took many notes from your build.

I picked up my clay flue pipes today and they only had the 8"X12"X24" and after getting it home it just looks freakin huge. Any thoughts on this one? I don't mind the size as long as it doesn't draw too much or cause something else to not function properly.

Bill

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Looks great! Nice, clean lines. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Mike, a work in progress for sure.

[Les]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Very nice and very clean! I recall the 6th course getting my attention. It looks like you are going to tie the dome and arch as you go vertical. Good luck - if that's the case, you have raised the bar...(again) I think you will be the first to do that.

Les...

[mfiore]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

Looks great! Nice, clean lines. Keep up the great work.

[Bandrasco]

Re: BA's Dome! Let the games Begin!

11-9-08

Today, along with a major job site cleaning that included a pressure washing, I was able to get the forth course set!

So far so good. Everything is going smoothly at this point.

Pizza entry shot

Sitting area shot. So far no supports have been needed. The heat stop-50 has tremendous holding ability. The key is to mix it a little thick like un-stirred peanut butter (but only enough that you will use in four to five bricks). Let it slake for about 5 mins, and them re-mix. Do not add water after initial slake period.

Form for arch

Another shot of the form.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a few more bricks; I think I'm going to need about 25-30 more as I decided to do more brick cutting and use less mortar. So far I have only used one bag and a half of the 50lb Heat stop-50 which includes a nice layer on the back of the bricks as well.

I may be able to get by with just two bags. I may use the tremendous amount of sludge to make more if necessary. I also need to find a place that sells the chimney accessories. Not sure if I'm going the SS Dura-vent, or the clay flu pipe. I cant find either here in Tampa.

More later!