 Re: It's time to go Vertical
1) Your plan for the soldier course sounds good. Since your dome is less than half the height of the diameter of the oven, if I read right, you'll need a steeper slope at some point, hence the thirteen degree angle. You won't need that much angle on succeeding courses.
2) I think the exact width of the slot for your flue is not particuarly important. I think the area of the opening should be larger than the square inch measurement of your flue, ideally twice as large. I know it's not conventional, but I built the back of my "flue funnel" right on top of the dome over the doorway, because I was pressed for width. It made for some fancy brick cutting, but most of them do anyway, or the use of gobs of mortar. Remember that your dome goes in as it goes up, you don't need the full width of whatever you decide as the width between the edge of the door, and the flue opening from the edge of the circle.
Planning helps, but it also helps to lay out this stuff on the floor and actually push the bricks around.  |