Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Very excited by the end results of a full 8hrs of work. Now that I got the basics figured out, I think my next courses will start going up quicker. Now if I could just stop having to go to work or spend time with family / freinds; I could really make some progress.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

With the basic measurements given by the "Angleizer" software, I worked out a table Jig for the wet saw and raised the brick slightly to make it a compound angle cut. worked out really well. Used 2 door/cabinet shims to give me the right angle cut and a flat piece of metal to get the compound angle.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Made some good progress today. Cut all the bricks for the second course. Used a cool tool I saw on one of these threads called a "Angleizer". Picked it up at HD. It came with a software program to figure out the angle required for each brick in an arch or circle of a set diameter and brick size. The Angleizer itself is pictured below. Four pieces of Yellow flexible yet sturdy plastic with a ruler on each in metric and std. Screen shots of software also included. While i didn't get crazy with making sure all the cuts were exact, it made my starting point for guessing easier to find.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Cut the top of the soldier course at an angle to reduce the mortar used. Set up a little jig on the wet saw to keep the cuts the same.

Used a whole bag of mortar on the soldier course. How many bags did folks go through for the whole project?

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Mark
My hearth is always open, give me a ring if you want to come out and provide some sage advice (and free labor ). I find the more wine I mix with the mortar, the less I care about imperfections.

I think Jim's "indespensible tool" (jcg31) is genius. I haven't mixed my first batch of mortar yet, and I can already tell it is going to make this a no-brainer.....which, in my case, is perfect.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/my-indispensible-tool-variation-fb-theme-2985.html

I suggested he contact a patent lawyer but i suppose the maket pool for WFO tools may not be that big.

Regards
Greg

[exceloven]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Greg,
Impressive! I'm very jealous I didn't have the brick holding tool as a guide. That should be a new requirement for all builders. It will save a lot of frustration 3 or 4 courses up. Keep the pix coming. Maybe I can see it in person next time I'm down your way. I'm guessing your in eastlake.

Mark

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

After tracing the hearth onto the insulation boards to help act as a guide, I mixed up the fireclay (motar clay) and fine sand into a paste and applied it with a 1/4 in notch trowel. Once the hearth bricks were back in place, I cut my template down the middle so it would come out of the finished oven in two pieces; then screwed it all back together to act as a guide for the the soldier course.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

I did my intial layout of my hearth on a piece of plywood. Once all the bricks were cut, I traced the outline of the hearth on to the plywood. I then centered the "indispensible tool" and traced a circle 1/2 inch larger to an exact 42". I traced the center board onto the plywood as well. I then cut out the shape of the hearth and the center board. This board will give me a pattern to trace on the insulation board and will also act as a protective barrier while the courses go up.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Spun up the new wet saw today and cut my first firebrick of the project.......yeeeeeaaa. Cut like a hot knife through butter. A little wet to use but not too bad. Knocked out the cuts for the Hearth floor in just over an hour (41.5" diameter). Soldier course will go on the outside of hearth with 1/4" space for expansion all around. BTW, the plywood under the hearth is just there to protect the insulation board underneath while working on the bricks. Not permanant.

[exceloven]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Greg,
Very good idea for the saw set-up. My area where I cut is still really dirty. You should be able to roll up the plastic and be done with it. Love the wine glass......... perfect for what we are all doing. You'll be using that to go with your pizza in no time.

Mark

[Modthyrth]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Yep, mortar clay and fire clay are the same thing. At least that's what the people at the masonry supply assured me.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Picked up all the bricks from RCP and laid out the pattern for the hearth. Also built a cutting area next to the house to contain dust and overspray during the brick cutting.

When I went to RCP to pick up the fire clay they said they had in stock, the bag was marked "motar Clay". They said it was the same thing. True?
$10 for 50lbs bag

If not, anyone have a source for fireclay in San Diego?

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Nice job Greg. I got impatient so I bought an $8 bag of fireclay and mixed it with the washed sand. It worked OK, but when I had to re-do some front pieces on the landing, I used the brick powder in the wet-saw-water-tray and to my surprise, it works much better. It's creamier and hardens just a bit more than purchased fire clay. If you shave your soldier course to have little mortar (most don't do that) or if you cut the tops of the soldiers at and angle to get you dome starter (like I did) you should generate enough. If you don't, you certainly can cut a bunch of bricks in half or 3rds. Cheers, Dino

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

FB Insulation board came in. Cut it with a hack saw blade and laid it yesterday. No sand or motar to hold it in place like the web site says.

Ordered a wet saw from HD.
24 In, Dual Speed Wet Tile Saw, 2 HP Motor, 10 In Continuous Rim Diamond Blade $398.97

Hopefully it will get here by the weekend. Need to start cutting some bricks to generate the fire clay to mix with the sand for the hearth.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Frances
No pictures of the arches going up. They started with some monster footings, with a couple of 4x4 posts bolted together. 4 arches all together with a balcony over half. arches were framed out with plywood and 2x4s. covered in black paper and stucco mesh wire. concrete scratch coat applied and then the manufactured stone is applied like tile. colored grout is squirtted in joints from a masonary bag. The company that makes the fake stone, El Dorado Stone, is very impressive. they mold 1000s of actual stones of all different types; make the veneer our of concrete and add color/texture.

Same thing I'll be using to cover the WFO.