The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

[CarlosGregory]

For the life of me even with looking at pictures and diagrams I CANNOT even begin to make one of these ! Anyone willing to sale/ship one ?

[wotavidone]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Mate, it's a stick with a hinge at one end and an L bracket at the other.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Carlos,

An IT is not essential for your build. Cut out a plywood template and attach a base to it so it will stand up. Then, as you mortar each course in place, simply use the template to align each brick at the proper angle. The mortar will hold the brick firmly almost immediately. You only need to check your angles every 5 or 6 bricks or so.

The real benefit is that you can cut your template to create a flatter dome, which is better for pizza and lots of other baked items.

[deejayoh]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

If you're planning to build a round oven out of bricks... an IT shouldn't be a stretch

[CarlosGregory]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Mate, it's a stick with a hinge at one end and an L bracket at the other.

Okay ....the ones i've been seeing are a little more "high tech" than that ...but i like the sound of that idea !

[CarlosGregory]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Carlos,

An IT is not essential for your build. Cut out a plywood template and attach a base to it so it will stand up. Then, as you mortar each course in place, simply use the template to align each brick at the proper angle. The mortar will hold the brick firmly almost immediately. You only need to check your angles every 5 or 6 bricks or so.

The real benefit is that you can cut your template to create a flatter dome, which is better for pizza and lots of other baked items.

Thanks ! It looks like that starter bricker has a slight angle ...I guess that angle will determine the overall shape of the dome ? Plus .....I never heard a flatter dome produces better baking conditions ?!

[CarlosGregory]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

If you're planning to build a round oven out of bricks... an IT shouldn't be a stretch

just checked out your calculator ...might as well be written in chinese for me ...I'm in trouble

[stonecutter]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Or you could build a sand form.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

It looks like that starter brick has a slight angle ...I guess that angle will determine the overall shape of the dome ? Plus .....I never heard a flatter dome produces better baking conditions

I knew you'd notice that! That pic was taken when I was brand new and didn't know anything about vaults and lines of thrust. I since wised up and went with horizontal bricks from the hearth up. Whats nice is that you can vertically lay horizontal courses as if you were going with a soldier course.

I never heard a flatter dome produces better baking conditions

You may want to read through the FB instructions regarding Tuscan oven dimensions vs Neopolitan oven dimensions. Also, look at commercial bread ovens. Not very tall.

[wotavidone]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

There are at least two ways to make the dome lower/flatter whilst still using the indispensible tool.
If you leave a couple of floor bricks out and pivot the tool from the level of the insulation layer underneath, then the height of the oven and the door is reduced by the thickness of your floor bricks, once yopu put them back in.
Or, you can use a T hinge, rather than an ordinary butt hinge, and offset the tool from the centre swivel point by a couple of inches. Then your stick will neccessarily be a couple of inches shorter, and your dome will be lower, with a flat section in the centre. However, first of all, you must check out your bricks and make sure you can fill up whatever hole this approach will leave, as you must obviously have a bigger plug/keystone.

[CarlosGregory]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

If you're planning to build a round oven out of bricks... an IT shouldn't be a stretch

a stretch ? whatcha mean

[wotavidone]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

There are at least two ways to make the dome lower/flatter whilst still using the indispensible tool.
If you leave a couple of floor bricks out and pivot the tool from the level of the insulation layer underneath, then the height of the oven and the door is reduced by the thickness of your floor bricks, once yopu put them back in.
Or, you can use a T hinge, rather than an ordinary butt hinge, and offset the tool from the centre swivel point by a couple of inches. Then your stick will neccessarily be a couple of inches shorter, and your dome will be lower, with a flat section in the centre. However, first of all, you must check out your bricks and make sure you can fill up whatever hole this approach will leave, as you must obviously have a bigger plug/keystone.

Found an interesting set of photos that clearly illustrate how a flatter/lower dome can be built with a simple modification of the IT.
And the way this guy integrated his arch and dome bricks is really very good, I think.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Here's a graphic that illustrates how altering an IT creates a change in a hemispherical arc resulting in a flatter dome. You can get the same result without having to adjust anything by using a template.

[kanoer54]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Not sure if this helps but here is what I did. This is my first WFO and I built this IT so the 39 inch diameter dome only has a 16 inch height. I purchased a cheap lazy susan type set-up from a big box store and fitted the top with a piece of plywood to which I attached my threaded IT. The hinged portion is offset from the center of the lazy susan by several inches which reduced the dome height. The bottom of the lazy susan is fitting inside the wood braces to keep the lazy susan centered on the dome floor. I plan on using the same set up on my next wfo this coming summer.

You'll learn a lot by reviewing the different threads on this site. Everyone is here to help and we all learn by doing. I never laid a brick before I started my WFO.

joon

[kanoer54]

Re: The Indispensable Tool for pete's sake !

Oh, one more thing about the pic in my last post. The dome is sitting on the round insulation board which sits on the round (not rectangular or square) concrete base. The end result is something which resembles a giant concrete old time milk can.