advice needed on time needed to build oven dome

[builder brad]

I am planning to build the oven dome over the next weekend and have hired a water fed stone cutting machine. If all goes well I want to cut each brick to fit on the bottom and sides as I think that this gives the best results and imagine that once I work out the angles ect. for each course I should be able to cut the bricks quite quickly in batches. I do have plenty of bricks now so I am not worried about wastage and the base is already laid out so I should be able to start cutting straight away.

The question is am I being realistic expecting to get this done in a weekend? I dont want to hire the stone cutter for another weekend.

when I get going I tend to work from early in the morning until late at night 12+ hours easily.

Brad

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by builder brad

I am planning to build the oven dome over the next weekend and have hired a water fed stone cutting machine. If all goes well I want to cut each brick to fit on the bottom and sides as I think that this gives the best results and imagine that once I work out the angles ect. for each course I should be able to cut the bricks quite quickly in batches. I do have plenty of bricks now so I am not worried about wastage and the base is already laid out so I should be able to start cutting straight away.

The question is am I being realistic expecting to get this done in a weekend? I dont want to hire the stone cutter for another weekend.

when I get going I tend to work from early in the morning until late at night 12+ hours easily.

Brad

It took Les.... about a year to custom cut all of his!

I suppose if you know all of the angles and are just cutting bricks you can do it.

Do you plan to cut bricks and build the dome?

[dmun]

I think if you are planning on three cuts to every brick you need more than one weekend. Remember: every level is different, and as you approach the top, the tilts of the side cuts get more pronounced. Pre-planning every cut would be a job in its self.

Most makers who have done this have bought a cheap saw, and did the cutting one layer at a time as they went up.

I pre-cut all my bricks, but my geodesic plan meant there were only two shapes to cut.

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by dmun

I pre-cut all my bricks, but my geodesic plan meant there were only two shapes to cut.

You still happy with your oven performance?
Have you had any problems with cracking or anything?

Just curious....

Oh.. one more.. Do you think it was easier or harder to build the the "traditional" Pompeii?

Thanks

Nosy Dave.

[DrakeRemoray]

If you are not worried about a perfect fit, you could probably do a pretty good job. But the problem is, you don't really know how the angles are supposed to be on the upper rings until you actually get up to that level and start fitting them in.

Also, if you are renting a saw and blade, beware of blade wear charges. For what I paid in blade wear, I could have purchased a cheap saw...

Drake

[Puy de Dome]

Originally Posted by DrakeRemoray

you don't really know how the angles are supposed to be on the upper rings until you actually get up to that level and start fitting them in.
Drake

This is what amazes me about you guys who have done the Pompeii dome - how can you make a form for the dome when you don't know the angles until you approach them ring by ring?

A weekened to cut all those bricks? I doubt it extremely very much. pls keep us posted how it goes. I am also amazed at the learning curve involved.

PdD

[dmun]

Have you had any problems with cracking or anything?

Just curious....

Oh.. one more.. Do you think it was easier or harder to build the the "traditional" Pompeii

I have the usual hairline cracks in my dome, and a slightly more than hairline crack at the center of the inner, firebrick, arch that spans my wide-spread entry. Nothing structural that I can see.

If you define the "traditional" pompeii as the cut-bricks-in-half method, then the geodesic was much harder, as each unit had to be pre-assembled and angle cut. Mine was harder than it needed to be because of inaccuracy in making up the triangles into pentagons and hexagons. If I were doing it again, I would lay up the triangles as I went. The pre-assembled pieces were too heavy to easily move, and trim when they didn't fit the first time.

On the whole, I think it was easier than the cut every layer of bricks into exact wedges plan. I'm not sure I'd do it again, though. I'm now convinced that semi-circular brick arches that thin are structurally suspect.

[builder brad]

wow!

those replies came in thick and fast.

I want to use one of the water pumped saws to minimise dust. I already have a 1200 watt angle grinder which would cut through those bricks like butter, but I am concerned about the dust from those high silica bricks - that stuff is likened to asbestos - I know that you should avoid breathing any dust but from what ive read you really want to avoid this dust.

I will cut each course of bricks so I can make adjustments as I build the dome. From the responses here I may end up just cutting the vertical faces and use wedges of motar on the horizontal joins - i do not have a year to spend on this!

Brad

[Breven]

Brad-

I chose not to taper the first couple of courses of my oven- I'm not patient enough. But before starting the third course I decided to go ahead and taper the bricks, it will jsut look cleaner. Took me about 1 1/2 hours to cut that course- and I know it's not even close to "Les" perfection. Can't imagine cuttign the entire dome in two days. One course at a time seems to be the easier way to go so you can make adjustments along the way.

[SpringJim]

If you are just cutting bricks in half, you can cut a bunch in a weekend.

Realistically I found it took me a day for each chain I laid up. I did not use any forms and just eyeball cut some individual bricks for a better fit as I laid up each chain. Mortar fills a lot of the holes and covers up well!

I was tired too!

I'd really suggest that you buy a wet saw for this project if you intend to make a lot of cuts to your bricks for more of a custom fit.

I'm on my third diamond saw blade for this project! (but I think my bricks were higher duty as the new floor bricks cut a lot easier than my recycled firebrick used in the dome!)

Good Luck
Jim