Soldier Course & dome angle advice

[DimTex]

Les,

If you did not mortar your soldier course, did you just apply mortar to the outside gaps. I was thinking since my soldier course set up so nicely dry I would use a mason's bag, akin to a bakers pastry bag, and squeeze mortar into each gap but I was not sure if that would be strong enough. Any thoughts or opinions?

Thanks all

[Les]

Absolutely - the grout bag was my friend. Go to the photo gallery or my thread "Les' build" It's like watching grass grow but you will see the result.

Good luck!

Les...

[Roadkyng]

Originally Posted by bernerdog

Thanks Les--I`ll soldier on. John

Pun intended?

[Neil2]

"If so, anything I can do short of tearing up a weeks work?"

You are fine. There are two schools of thought on this. I mortared my soldiers onto the hearth bricks - no problems so far (two years on).

[bernerdog]

Yes to Roadkyng and thanks to Neil2. I also mortared the flat bricks for the landing to the floor before putting up the inside arch so I`m going to just trust the oven gods to protect me going forward. I will get some pictures up when my kid bother next comes over to help and shows me how. john

[Dino_Pizza]

John, I've already sent pizza oven smoke signals to those "pizza Gods" assuring your ovens complete success . It was the least I could do after worrying you about mortaring the soldier bottoms. I did some searches on this forum and it does seem that the bottom mortar will just make a clean break to allow for expansion. No harm to your oven above it. Happy building -Dino

[Roadkyng]

Don't worry Dim, if it develops a crack you'll have company. I mortared my soldiers too. One thing to consider is the fact that the insulating layer is fairly spongy. It should give a little under heat expansion.

[dinoforno]

Folks,

I am just checking but in all the pictures I have seen in the forums I have seen variations to soldier course with fireclay mixture and mortering to the hearth floor. My question if you are using the FB Board or equivalent boards why not put the soldier course on the board as well for insulation? Won't the heat escape thru the gap of the floor and the solider course? Did I miss something in another post or the directions?
I had plan to use the board and use the fireclay for leveling the soldier course as well as the floor on top of the board. With the 2" board on top of 4 in of Cement for the heart. I would think it is enough to acieve the right thermal mass if not overkill. Any comments on this ?

I am about to begin I have my slabs poured and took pictures so I just have to figure out how to post properly while linking to my blog on Windows Live as well.

Dino

[Dino_Pizza]

Dino from RI (this is really going to get confusing, name-wise)

Yes there has been some variation lately on the soldier course. BUT, the "official" Pompeii plans say do NOT mortar the soldier course down. There is no need. In fact, there is a thread somewhere here on people who've put paper or aluminum strips beneath the soldiers to make SURE that no mortar seeps below the brick bottom. Don't worry about that. Proceed the standard way. Your only option on the soldier course is if you are going to put it ON TOP OF THE FLOOR or SURROUNDING THE FLOOR.

Here is pic of my FB board that I leveled with sand on the 4" concrete. Then, my herringbone floor is set with fireclay-water-sand just to make each brick fairly level with no big corners sticking up. You can see the white board sticking out 4" around the perimeter because I then put my soldier course SURROUNDING my floor. Just mortar the sides of the soldiers. The soldier course will not move, it's really strong. The final oven wieght is so heavy it will never shift. Good luck Dino,
Dino from CA.