excel program for brick angles

[christo]

Does anyone have an Excel worksheet for cutting brick angles for the pompeii oven?

My goal is to cut the bricks in half - on an angle simple or compound angle - and fit them together to make the dome. It would be very effiicient to have a cut list for bricks vs cutting each to fit. Maybe that way I only fit the last brick.....

I was playing around with old geometry formulas and in a single plane it's pretty easy to determine the angle to cut bricks in half to support each layer of the dome. but they would create a step looking dome vs a smooth ceiling.

I'm now playing with compound angles and wonder (I'm sure others have already done this) if there are already tables or excel spreadsheets out there that calculate the compound angle to cut the bricks only once to keep the dome smooth.

My current plan is to cut the compound angles for an entire layer and use the other half for the next layer.....clearly need to put more thought into this.

Let me know what you think. PS. I am now hooked up with 2 6 ft granite countertops! I need an oven to connect them to!

Chris

[Fudugazi]

Cutting weird angles

Hey Christo cant help you out with the spreadsheet but I am now on row 6 of a 36 inch dome and I am cutting each brick individually They are all a little different and its just a matter of scribing a line on 2 sides of each brick referencing the one next to it and then using brick shims on the tile saw to make the cuts. Easy to do a row in an evening after work and the mortarless look inside looks great -probably a little more efficient at heat retention- But the satisfaction part is worth it. A pencil and a little metal ruler are all that is necessary. Cheers fudugazi

[Marcel]

Maybe the angleizer would he helpful?

(M) You might want to read the page(s) about using a cheap program and template for cutting your bricks. Try clicking on:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/show...ight=angleizer

Ciao,

Marcel

[Fio]

A second vote for angleizer . . . with a caveat

The angleizer is very easy to use, inexpensive, and user-friendly. BUT, having said that, you can lay out a perfectly planned dome on paper, and when you get to cutting actual bricks, it doesn't come out as cleanly as it does on paper.

That's because firebricks are not perfect. They are not square, they are not of uniform density (some are crumbly and cut like butter, others are dense and cut like granite). Plus, each course you build is built upon the previous course, which is inherently imperfect due to the native flaws in firebricks, PLUS the imprecision of cutting (don't be looking for woodworking tolerances here), PLUS the variability of mortar.

The good news is that perfection is not required. IMHO, perfection is not attainable, but it's not needed anyway, because bricks and mortar are very forgiving, and the ultimate medium of exchange (heat in the dome) is radiant in all directions.

Disclaimer: I haven't finished my oven yet, and these observations are the result of internet research instead of empirical evidence.

[Fudugazi]

A Vote for the scribe

agree entirely that each brick has a slightly different cut. Nothing fancy required but a ruler, an eyeball , and a pencil. I cut the first brick in each course slightly trapezoidal then worked my way around from back to front on each side , each brick then needs only one special cut-they are of course cut in half first Cheers