Dino's 42" Pizza Oven Starts

[Roadkyng]

Dino,
been following your build. Very good job. I have a question on your ring vs. block size as I see you have reduced the size of your cut blocks as you go up. Did you use a mathmatical formula to come up with the size or the TLAR method? (TLAR = that looks about right.)

I start my stand next week. I hope I can replicate your artistic work here

Gavin

[Dino_Pizza]

Thanks Gavin,.
I did not know when I was going to 3rd bricks. I thought I'd be up 3 rings with wholes but when I layed a few bricks without mortar I was unhappy. So I cut 3rds and they fit perfectly without any compound cut since it almost diminished the inverted V to tolerable. I'm not going to my 4th ring until I finish the inner arch. (took ALL day Saturday just to make the upper arch corners angle in-probably the hardest cuts so far).

The only prelim work I did is draw my dome in section on 2D autocad, and manually placed my ring blocks (in cross-section) with various degree slices off the bottoms that gave me the right inward tilt to progressively make the rings smaller and close the dome. ie: whole brick on soldier course, then 7 deg bottom slice, then 5 deg bottom slice and 6 deg bottom slices for a couple rows etc... This made for a pleasing squished elliptical and vaguely parabolic dome shape versed a perfect half circle (which is perfectly fine too).

Who knows, I would not be surprised this method fails at the upper rings and it will be all artistry and luck to make it come together. I'm looking foreword to that part! Thanks, Dino

[Dino_Pizza]

OK, the inner arch bricks and arch wall angle bricks have been the most challenging to date. Do-able, but challenging. I went with the "wedge" method of creating my approx 40 degree angle instead of just cutting the 4th brick at an angle. I'm not sure I can explain it (or the reason I did this) but here are some pics. I made the mistake of starting my arch wall bricks too soon before the wedge bricks dried and it pulled the wedge bricks out. Don't be afraid to remove any bricks you just mortared, scrape and toss out the old mortar and redo it better and more secure.
As slow as this part of the arch work has gone, it feels very secure and solid.

PS: last photo is last Fridays birthday party I had and I received the Forno Bravo Tuscan Grill, the high temp oven gloves and the Caputo 00 Rosa Flour and Imported Tomato sauce, all from Forno Bravo of course. Can't wait to use them! Oh, and the olive oil that FB ships with the package is awesome!-Dino

[egalecki]

I had some really oddly shaped bricks too- there were two that really tried to fry my brain! I ended up sending them with my husband to cut them on his chop saw with the masonry blade- I just couldn't do them with the baby wet saw. This was before I got the angle grinder. If you don't have one, you may need one. They're great for those little touch-ups. Like when you didn't quite cut the v you needed deep enough...

Wait until you really need it to buy it, though, unless you think you'll use it for something else. I just bought a cheap one at Tractor Supply- and you need a mask and eyewear too. It's a messy beast.

You're going to love that caputo flour. It's amazing. The grill is also fabulous. When you get to using it, you probably won't go back to the old gas grill often...

[jrparks]

Happy Birthday Dino, I’m sure the Caputo 00 and Olive Oil is a great motivator, and/or someone it try to tell you that they want some pizza!
I also spent the weekend working the arch opening. I can appreciate all of your compound cuts. It took me a better part of Saturday to cut the brick, but the results were worth it.
Cheers,

[christo]

Happy Birthday Dino!!! I gotta get me some of those gloves!!!

Christo

[Dino_Pizza]

Thanks for the B-day wishes Christo & JR. Hey JR, I really enjoy looking at your build pics. Our builds look really similar so it makes me feel in good company.

And Elizabeth, I do have a grinder and you're right, it comes in really handy. I use a light touch, even add some water and it can save an off cut or less than perfect brick placement. I've learned the hard way how messy it can at the eyes. And I can definitely see the gas grill getting less used after the oven is done. The FB store is great. Lot's of cool stuff. Can't wait.

I'm trying to decide if my inner arch should be 8 full bricks and 1 wedged keystone or to tapper all the arch bricks (like keystones) and have 10 of them. I'm going over everyones photos to decide tonight.
thanks, Dino

[Dino_Pizza]

I've finished my 3rd and part of 4th rings. I got a little sloppy and forgot to use the grinder before I placed the bricks (to get any high spots out) so it is not as round and smoothly level as I'd like. Oh, well, I'll try to be more careful as I go.
I'm a little stuck on 21.5" away from the center of the dome. I was hoping my 4th ring would bring it in but it stayed the same. I really don't want a 22" high dome so my next 2 rows will have to bring it back in. My 5th ring will have to be more aggressive in the bottom angle cut. I'll have to try using more mortar too, to tilt it the dome over a bit but not using that method on the lower rings has made me not very good at it I've found.
The arch wall and arch corners have been really mentally challenging and time consuming. But I'm glad I did it this way, so far. I'm going to complete my inner arch by this weekend. Since I am tying the arch bricks into the landing walls, I have to decide now if my next arch bricks will have the 90 deg, vertical (or almost vertical) cut that will be my vent opening or would that be too wide? It will be a full brick deep so I need to check this forums pics to see if I'm on track and if I can transition that width and depth into the anchor plate.
It still is amazing to me to step back & see the oven taking shape & getting over these little, seemingly impossible humps and moving on to the next challenge. Longer daylight hours will be great. Love this time change.
Ciao, Dino

[egalecki]

Practice makes perfect on the increasing mortar joint on the bottom. After all, if it's ugly, you can always scrape it off and do it again. Mortar is your friend, not your enemy. Maybe if you put a dry brick on, prop it up in back to see what the gap needs to be, and then put some on it might help.

It's probably heresy, but I scraped stuff off into the pan and used it over lots. the oven's still standing....

[jrparks]

Great work Dino. I've scratched my head over the same issues. The angle of the brick on each course is where I paid most attention. It never appeared to be enought angle on the low courses. My 42" pompeii will have 20" interior height. Though I'm not cutting my brick bottoms at angles (only the sides), I am using expensive mortar to set the angle and maintain small mortar lines on the inside. I used a porpedo level with digital readout and angles generated from CADD. So far it has worked well and I'm only off 3/16".
I'm also glad for the daylight savings...more time to work. But, now it's in the 30's here in Washington State. Sometime I wish I was building in warm S.CA.
Cheers,