Freddie's Fun Dome

[Neil2]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

"Something's really wrong."

Good call dmun.

[Freddie]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

I spoke with F.B. the other day and they confirmed that the mortar I received in my kit is the correct stuff. They are now trying to figure out what is going on and why I can’t get it to work.

In the mean time I decided last night to break apart the rest of my soldier course. I figured enough of the joints had broken that I didn’t trust those that were still intact. I am so glad that I did this. None of the seams were very strong. I was able to pull the mortar clean off the bricks by hand in most cases. Others I used a chisel and a slight tap. The mortar came clean off the bricks – leaving only a dirty residue on the bricks, but that’s it – the mortar was coming off in whole sections without adhering to the bricks.

I’ll call F.B. later today to see if they have any ideas as to what is going on.

I'd like to hear some input from others who have bought their Pompeii kits which includes the high heat mortar. I got three bags (about 165 lbs.) of the stuff. It looks a lot like chocolate milk powder and has the consistency of flour – there is no grit at all to it. I’m wondering what others who have used this stuff did to get it to work.

Lars - thanks for the recipe you used for your mortar mix. I'll give that a try this weekend.

Thanks

Freddie

[Lars]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Freddie,
It sounds like you were using pure fireclay. That would clean off the way you described. Hopefully you can get a partial refund for the mortar and trouble it has caused you.



L.

[jmhepworth]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

The HS morter also has a very fine, powdery consistency as well. No grit to it at all. It's just light grey instead of chocolate

Joe

[Valan]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Hi Freddie,
I noticed that you are in my neck of the woods. I live in Salt Lake, and am almost done with my oven. I used a pre-mixed refractory cement which is sold at Buehner Block here in Salt Lake (2800 South West Temple). It's sold in 25 lb buckets and is pretty pricey, but it sets up fast and sticks to the brick really well. It may help you with the trickey sections.
For my oven, I used it for the initial bond of the dome bricks, then filled up the remaining large spaces between the bricks with a home-mixed refractory mortor. The home mix was also used as the final 1" skim coat over the dome
Maybe you could do a similar thing, and use use the FB stuff on the outside of the dome.

Good luck!

[Freddie]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

I finally unwrapped the oven and got started building my first and second courses today. I've never done brick work before so this is all new to me. I am trying to make the transition smooth between each course of brick, but I'm getting a bit of a lip (overhang) between each course. I've been looking at pictures posted on the forum and noticed that most have a smooth transition between each course. I'm getting a little concerned about the rough transition between courses on my dome. The overhang is about 1/8" - not huge but not perfect either. Will this cause problems when I start using the oven? If so, do I need to take it apart and start over, or just live with it and do better with the rest? Right now I am almost half way done with the second course. Any suggestions?

[Les]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

The overhang is about 1/8" - not huge but not perfect either. Will this cause problems when I start using the oven? If so, do I need to take it apart and start over, or just live with it and do better with the rest?

It's a non-issue. You are working with brick, not machined steel. At the end of the day, you want the brick saturated with heat - the small step is not going to alter that.

Les...

[Freddie]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Thanks Les - that just made my day. I was dreading the thought of having to break apart everything I've done so far.

Freddie.

[eprante]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Fred,
Les is right, no worries about the small step. I had the same thing in my first course after the soldier, after that they lined up well. I was using the Indispensable tool. If you don't have one-get or make some form of it. I was like you, never having laid a brick. The tool helped a lot especially at the start. By the end of the dome I felt that I didn't need it, but at the beginning it gave me a lot of confidence.

What direction did you go with the mortar. I know someone that had difficulty with the FB mortar too. I used the homebrew recipe listed in the plans, it works like a champ( I am curing my dome now-we'll see about cracks).

Good luck,

Eric

[Freddie]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Eric,
Forno Bravo sent me bags of their refrax mortar mix. They were really good to work with and replaced what I was sent without any hassle. Unfortunately, by the time I got the right mix I had only enough time to lay the soldier course then had to wrap it up for the winter. This new mix is much better and seems to be holding.

I don't have the version of the Indispensable tool everyone shows on the forum, but I made a homemade version of it. I just used a threaded rod and put a 1.5" long connector nut on the end. For each course I can twist the connector nut on the end to shorten the overall length and that will allow me to adjust the distance from the center of the dome to the course I'm laying. Probably not as good as the ones others are using but it does give me a good measurement for each brick / course.

[eprante]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Fred,

If you are adjusting the radius often, then you are going to have to do it all the way up the dome. Try to do a whole ring with the same radius, then it will stay constant the rest of the way up the dome. Make sure it is centered.
Good luck
Eric

[Valan]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

I think its going to be just fine. Remember, you are constructing a circle from bricks with straight edges (tangents), so there's no getting around the slight irregularities.

Keep going and don't stress. This is the funnest portion of the construction in MHO.

Valen

[DaveDQ]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Freddie, I'm having the same challenge with my dome. As I reach the top, things are starting to get "jaggy." I have a grinder that I'm using to cut my bricks, and have thought about leveling the interior of the dome off. However, think of this...When the first oven builders were making their ovens, do you think they stood back and were concerned about some minor irregularities? I doubt it. They didn't have a forum like this to discuss different techniques or ingredients.

I'm thinking their ovens had several "issues." Still, I'm sure the food their oven produced was excellent.

[eprante]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Nice perspective Dave, we all tend to get a little obsessive about joint widths, and our overall level of craftmanship. Probably a carry over from our need to be excellent in our "real jobs". I lurked in the site for months and remember seeing some builds where I thought, is that thing going to stand?. The only oven I can remember falling apart is one that didn't use the FB plans, and he then came to this site for advice. Lars cut all his bricks with a chisel and it turned out awesome. Our ovens will outlive us for sure.
Eric

[Freddie]

Re: Freddie's Fun Dome

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. I now have a very basic question about the firebrick. Up 'til now I've been facing the factory finished side of the bricks towards the interior of the dome. Is there any harm in facing a cut side towards the interior? The finished side is smooth vs. porous on the cut side. To get the overall shape and height I'm trying for it would really help cut a little off on the face of the brick.

Thanks - Freddie