Jamie's build

[Bandrasco]

Re: Jamie's build

Very nice Jamie!

I agree with Ken; Love the brick base, it looks super cool.

Good luck and keep posting pics.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Ken, Bill- Thanks! The brick facing on the base was kind of a natural, since there was so much other brick in the yard to match it. Plus, I found them on clearance for $40 for the pallet, so I figured what the heck.

Speaking of brick decor, I really like what you did with your facing and chimney, Bill. I love the niche for Hephaestos with the herringbone/wheatstalk brick pattern.

Drake-

Seriously, though, the chisel is both easier and faster than I thought it would be for carving complicated angles. Granted, I'm sure an angle grinder would be faster still, but I'm on a shoestring for the rest of the project. As far as the wrists and whatnot go, I think the strain of lifting and carrying all those bricks and bags of cement back and forth has been harder on me than the chiseling. I wake up with stiffness in my elbows and back like never before. On the up side, except for the stiffness, I'm in better shape than I've been in for at least 6 or 7 years. I've probably lost 10 or 15 pounds and put on a good bit of muscle, all from doing something I wanted to do anyway. Hey- beats going to the gym!

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

A couple more rings up, and I'm past the arch. I had some of the "oval"-shaped distortion that some others have mentioned, where the arch bricks transition to the dome, and have been trying to correct for that. I put in a little partial course at the front of the dome just above the arch to try and take it out, but now the hole is distorted in the other direction; too flat in front. I will probably shave down a few bricks at the front on the next course to try and get it back to good before the final few courses.

I also put in the entryway and front arch. I decided to keep it simple and just made two parallel arches, and will keep the space between them for a full-width vent transition. I figure the more area I have to work with before throating down to the chimney the better. For the curve of the outer arch I used the same form I had used for the inner, augmented with wedges to adapt to the new curve.

I picked up my chimney flue pipe this weekend... there was another sale at my local supply yard, so I got two pieces of 8x13 oval tile. I also ordered the soil for our garden beds, which, since we built them as tall as we did, will require a good deal of fill; but between the sale price and the fact that it's a free delivery for that much bulk, it works out pretty well.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

After trying in vain a few times to cut pieces to fit the final arch transition, I decided to make a cast of the angle with clay and carve bricks to match.

I basically took a brick and cut away half of one face using the wet saw and chisel. Then I put a big glop of fireclay in the indentation, pressed the brick into place, and held it there for a few minutes while it dried. Once it was solid enough to hold its shape I pulled it away, leaving me with this cast which I then eyeballed a copy of out of brick with the hammer and chisel.

Here's a couple of shots of the cast. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the final bricks themselves, as it was getting dark and I was losing light, and couldn't stop to photograph.

[TheOldFox]

Re: Jamie's build

its looking good.. your doing a grand job there with the whole garden makeover...


regards.
Ian

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Thanks- we were hoping to get it done by now, but the unseasonally hot september made the work go a little more slowly than expected. Call me a wuss, but I can't go for more than about 2 or 3 hours when it's 100 degrees outside, and with the kid to watch, I can't even work on it every day. Oh well... it's getting closer by inches, anyway...

We've got seeds planted in starter pots for a winter garden. The soil will be delivered in a week and a half, which should give us enough time to have the garden beds and paths ready for it. By that time, the oven will (hopefully) be close to ready to fire.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

My birthday present to myself was a full day's work on the oven. My wife took the day off work and too care of our daughter while I took advantage of the arrival of fall temperatures to spend the day in the yard. It allowed me to put in the time necessary to close up the dome.

At last! Major milestone achieved! There really is nothing like the feeling of tapping the keystone you've been carefully carving for the last hour into place, and stepping back to admire the whole creation.

There was an issue down at about the third through fifth rings with the angle of the bricks- i had initially not angled them enough, and the dome was on track to far exceed the height I had intended. When I steepened the angle in the next 2 courses, I over-corrected. I would have been fine with the resulting low dome, but my door was already built at 12 3/4 inches high, and I figured that if I let my roof go too low, I would lose a great deal of efficiency through the now too-high door. So, I decided to go with a slightly pointed arch, which is accentuated visually by the fact that the yellow bricks I used for my final courses are slightly larger in dimension, so that when they are flush on the inside they stick out a quarter inch further on the outside. It doesn't look quite as nice to my eye as the perfect hemispherical domes that others have gotten here using the indispensable tool, but I guess that's what I get for dispensing with it. I'm fairly confident that it will hold up, considering that there is still a relatively consistent curve to the walls.

I feel pretty darn proud of it, all things considered, especially considering I built it with no forms, just eyeballing it and making corrections as it went. Let me tell you, I got pretty good at that whole "levitating brick" trick, too! The secret is: very sticky mortar!

Now it's on to the chimney before settling in on the enclosure.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Here's a couple shots of the keystone- it really did take a bit of carving, but in the end it tapped soundly in place and fit as well as I could have hoped.

[kebwi]

Re: Jamie's build

I always love the prideful final-keystone photos on FB.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Yeah, me too. I figured, it's tradition, I might as well!

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

I built the vent transition the other day, and am contemplating chimney issues and design styles. I am torn between a high-sloped igloo, a brick enclosure, modified gabled house, or some hybrid combination of the different elements. It's hard to put into words, but I am envisioning a prominent chase protruding from the front of the oven; behind that, things are a little murky. Our design vision has altered over the course of the project, but now we need to nail down the details.

I think I mentioned before that I wanted a full-width vent transition, since the area between my arches is rather shallow. So, I built a sloped-sidewall box to support the chimney, with the weight being taken primarily by the two arches and to a lesser extent the front of the dome (although I suppose, really, that ultimately transfers to the inner arch as well). The main goal was to get as smooth a transition to the chimney as I could.

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

Dry-fit of the flue tiles. I am hoping that this will be tall enough, but the proximity of the garage makes me unsure.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Jamie's build

are you going to enclose the dome ? If you are I would go a little higher, if not it looks like your fine,, you are far enough away from the garage the smoke shouldnt bother it... Building code however might be another issue,, Nice brickwork,,,

Cheers
Mark

[dmun]

Re: Jamie's build

I love the alternating color arches: very Alhambra-like:

[cynon767]

Re: Jamie's build

dmun- thanks! that was a huge part of the inspiration.