Pizza Bob's 42" Build Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Pizza Bob's 42" Build in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Originally Posted by Lars Don't even ask me about my 'transition'. Oh man. There is one time when a saw ...

[pizza_bob]

Originally Posted by Lars

Don't even ask me about my 'transition'. Oh man. There is one time when a saw would have come in handy. Any day now I expect those bricks to come tumbling onto my pizza.

To ream out those inside angles, I rubbed the chiseled out cuts against the concrete block edge of the base. At least they have a bit of a key way or grip to them. If there is to be a test of the 'homebrew' mortar, that is it.I'll have to tap around up there and see what comes loose.



L.

Lars,
Don't tap around too much! I'm quite certain I would not have been able to do those transition cuts without the Harbor Freight tile saw! What you do with that chisel is an art that I don't think I would have the patience for...

[pizza_bob]

It's disappointing to see leafs and acorns piling-up in the pizza oven! My target date of November 17th isn't gonna' happen if I keep up this snail's pace. But some progress is better than no progress...

I cut the bricks and mortared in the fourth course yesterday. The arch transition bricks really haven't given me any trouble on the last couple courses. It looks as if I should have one more set of bricks to tie into the arch and then I should be over it. It appears as if I'm not getting the tear-drop shape but we'll find out soon.

One of our three chihuahuas (Pedro) is anxious to get some toppings that might fall off the pizza...


~Bob

[Dino_Pizza]

Bob, yur killing me! Your brick work is fantastic!
That 2nd, 3rd & 4th pic show the most amazing, precision cuts I've seen! It does look like you'll be doing some aggressive angle-ing in on the next couple of courses. And don't worry about a mortar gap nearing 1/2". I suspect (guilty ) when we say we never go over 1/4", we often end up with near 1/2" and we are fine. But do try to tapper the bottoms a bit even if it means having a "thinner" ring as viewed from the inside if that's what it takes to get the dome-over.

I'm with Pedro, hurry up and get the pizza's going

Nice work, Dino

[pizza_bob]

Thanks for the advice and compliments Dino!
I wanted to try to avoid tapering the bricks in that direction but if I need to I will on the next course. I'll dry stack a single brick for each remaining row to see where the dome ends up. I was shooting for a 19" dome height but I'd be happy with 20". My CAD layout shows if I keep a .350" - .500" gap on the remaining courses I will hit the 19" height.

[KINGRIUS]

My CAD layout shows if I keep a .350" - .500" gap on the remaining courses I will hit the 19" height.

Cheater!!! I see there are others who have Autocad aswell. I don't know what I would have done without my cad.

Bob- really nice looking build. Your dome is making mine look like one of the ancient ones James posted in the photo gallery!

Darius

[pizza_bob]

Originally Posted by KINGRIUS

Cheater!!! I see there are others who have Autocad aswell. I don't know what I would have done without my cad.

Darius,
Thanks for the compliments. Your oven looks fine and once you start eating pizzas that were cooked in there you'll forget there is even a dome in there!

My SolidWorks CAD program is great! It allows me the opportunity to print out the ends of the compound tapered bricks as a 1:1 scaled template. I take this shape aand cut it out from the printer paper and then trace the shape onto the ends of a brick. Then I use clamps, scraps of wood and plastic shims to create a "fixture" to cut the compound angles. The wood on the sides gives me the angle which goes from back of brick to front of brick. Then the plastic shims (black in the picture) tilt the brick to give me the side tapers so I don't get the dreaded "V" gaps in the dome. This "fixture" is set-up so I only have to handle the brick once - cut the right side first then slide it over and cut the left side. It's really been working-out well. I don't think OSHA would approve of my "fixture" but who cares!
These are the bricks for the fifth course and ready and waiting to be mortared in...

[pizza_bob]

Originally Posted by Dino_Pizza

It does look like you'll be doing some aggressive angle-ing in on the next couple of courses. And don't worry about a mortar gap nearing 1/2". I suspect (guilty ) when we say we never go over 1/4", we often end up with near 1/2" and we are fine. But do try to tapper the bottoms a bit even if it means having a "thinner" ring as viewed from the inside if that's what it takes to get the dome-over.

DIno,
It appears as if I was mistaken! I thought I was on a "crash course" with the dome and that it was going to be taller than the planned 19" so I dry stacked to find out. If I make the gap 1/4" - 3/8" wide in the back of the brick the dome will stay on target for 19" without tapering the bricks in a third direction. I just have to make sure I maintain this uniform gap for the remainder of the courses. The edges on the inside of the dome basically touch each other and then the gap gets wider as it approaches the outside of the dome. So to say a 3/8" inch gap is misleading. The gap starts off at zero and tapers back to 3/8". So the majority of the gap is less than much less than 3/8".
I plan on using 1/3 cut bricks as opposed to 1/2 cut soon - probably around the 8th or 9th course. I don't have my SolidWorks model configured like that but will probably change when the time comes.
Thanks again for your comments/help with this. And by the way your oven and slate roof are looking GREAT! I still don't know what I am doing for a roof. I plan on doing thin stone veneer on the outside and a pergola over the oven but not sure about the roof...

[pizza_bob]

Here are a few pictures of the completed fifth row. The arch transition bricks did not come out as clean as all the previous ones did but they'll do. The cold weather is quickly approaching. Is there any concern of leaving uncured masonry exposed to temperatures below freezing? Someone please say yes so I will force myself to work on this thing for two weeks straight!
The next course should be challenging to figure out how to get by the arch. It appears as if I will have to notch the backside of two bricks to fit on the arch. Then after that it should be smooth sailing until the keystone! The keystone seems as elusive as the Golden Ark of the Covenant!

~Bob

[kebwi]

Man, that's some nice brick work.

[Lars]

Depends on what type of mortar you are using.

Try not to let a portland based mortar freeze within, say 48 hrs. of mixing it up.

It isn't really the most critical because the portland eventually fails in the heat anyway, but that cold weather is definitely coming your way! ( it's already here 22 degrees tonight)

If you have a touch an go situation, it might help to cover it with some insulating blanket and then leave a 100 watt lightbulb going inside. That would probably keep the temp in a great range for setting.

Lars.


ps. I see your weber grill in the background looking longingly at the new 'oven' project