Tapering bricks with a chisel. Tools, Tips and Techniques Discuss Tapering bricks with a chisel. in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hi, I thought I would explain how I am doing my tapering, and perhaps ( if this is not posted ...

[Lars]

Hi,

I thought I would explain how I am doing my tapering, and perhaps ( if this is not posted in the right place, just move or delete)

By cutting each standard fire brick at a 11 to 13 degree angle down the center, you end up with two pieces that taper in either a clockwise or counter clockwise 'swirl', so to speak.

Since I see many images on straight cut half bricks making up a dome, I figured, with this small taper, at least the bricks might stay in place when/if the mortar were to fail. Hopefully, that won't happen, but I just don't know.

Meantime, you also do not want the mortar joints to line up, so on each chain, I 'swirl' the opposite direction!

Now, I KNOW this is not perfect like some of those cool perfectly tapered bricks, or like those cool guys who make each brick taper with a diamond saw, but the joy of making it fit together a little nicer, with no dust, no noise but the plink of a chisel, really makes the building process kind of timeless for me.

I am attaching a photo. ( perhaps...)

Well, that's all for now... Thanks for all the suggestions and interesting pictures I have seen on this forum!!

[cynon767]

I'm very interested in seeing how this comes out... I have been working with the chisel on my garden bed project in preparation for doing this as well, and have found that it is possible (at least with standard red brick) to cut a crude compound bevel. I have not yet perfected this, but wondered if you had tried it and if so what your results were.

[Lars]

ps. My 16 year old daughter had gotten quite good at marking and cutting the bricks. I use a 1/2" block of pine ( 1/2" x1 1/2" x 1 1/2" ) to lift the back side of the brick piece, and I am up 7 chains with no forms and, as far as I am concerned, the inside of my oven will probably not ever get the kind of scrutiny that would demand a perfect dome shape.

Oh, and another thing. Rather than measuring, or laying out the bricks in advance, I just cut them and lay them up. To mark, I carefully cut a piece of masonite with the right (not a right angle, mind you, the correct angle) angle on it and draw a line on both sides.

My 2" chisel taps gently along the line on one side, then on the 2.5" side, aiming toward the cut face ( tilting the chisel at about 12 degrees) then along the other face ( straight down) then on the other 2.5" side. After one, maybe three times around the brick, it snaps.

Another thing. To get thinner joints, I rub the cut face against a concrete block on the base to take off and highly erose bumps. This becomes less critical as you go higher because the mortar joints will all be tapered unless you totally taper your bricks ( on all 4 joint faces)

Sorry for all this verbosity... I am a complete brick novice, so please let me know if this method may be problematic down the road.

[Frances]

I think it sounds fascinating, thank you for explaining in detail!

In fact, if I'd read this post before building my oven I think I would have tried your method. Probably in a lot of cases you're just as fast with a chisel as if you had to get out the extension cable, angle grinder (change the blade like as not), ear plugs, protective gloves, mask, and goggles (many of which will have been put somewhere unexpected by other members of the family)....

[Lars]

Ah, here we go...

My filter made this post lapse... Obviously it was so good that no one needed to comment on it!!!



Lars.