How to mesure cuts Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss How to mesure cuts in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; I have decided im going to try and cut the (vertical)sides of the bricks in the oven to avoid getting ...

[3G_]

I have decided im going to try and cut the (vertical)sides of the bricks in the oven to avoid getting the wedge shaped mortar lines.
Im using sand, cement, lime, fireclay mix and will fill the backs of the bricks(top and bottom also) as i dont care what the outside looks like.

Is there a way to measure the vertical angle on the brick so i can set the saw and cut the whole course the same to get a uniform look?
Sorry if this question doesnt make sense.

[christo]

makes good sense.

There are some really perfect ovens here - but imperfect ones work quite well, too.

Many of us used Hendo's dome guage or a variation to help deternine the angle cut required.

search for it and I think it will give some clarity.

Good luck!

Christo

[3G_]

thanks Christo.
Ive made a dome guage with a castor and quick clamp to hold the bricks in place. I havent read how to use it for the cuts though. Will have to go back and read the thread.

[3G_]

Ah, i can use the guage to give me the line for the cut. then use the guage to hold/set the brick in place.

[SCChris]

The process I finally settled on was to.

1 cut the bricks, for the course, for max width. This will be the dimension of the bottom outside of the cut brick. I found that I needed a few wider and a few narrower to stagger the joints.

2 cut somewhere around 3/8ths to 1/2 of an inch off of the front top face of the course bricks. This helps to set the top of the course bricks on plane with the center point of the hemisphere, where your caster is. It also minimizes the amount of grout used on the outside to slope the cut brick. If you use a 10" saw you won't be able to cut completely through the brick, I had about a 1 inch flat area on the top outside of the cut bricks. This created a change in slope from the cut area to the un-cut area on the cut brick. This minor slope change is buried in mortar so no worries here, but it's worth mentioning.

3 cut the side cuts. These should be on plane with the vertical axis of the dome hemisphere, a vertical line from the caster.

You could swap the 2 and 3 without issue, but for me this is what I found worked best.

Also as mentioned above, fit and finish doesn't necessarily affect function, but it does take much more time and more saw blades.


Chris

[SCChris]

3G

In addition to the above, because I’m a bit dyslexic, I found that I needed to build a jig that I could use to help with the side cuts. Being dyslexic, I look at these sorts of things different than most people and so don’t necessarily recommend that you take the time to build a similar jig, but it might help you to know how I solved this. Look in the tools area and look for “New brick cutting tool – old cutting tool??”. You’ll note that there are specific changes I’d make to the jig to beef things up and make it more stable, more stable is more safe and faster. You’ll note that I make a point to caution anyone about using this tool, accidents happen in a hurry and accidents with power tools can really make for a bad day in a hurry. If I can help with answers about this, just let me know.

I also recommend that if you haven’t yet, look at Christo’s, Dino’s and Les’s builds. Les’s build is unbelievable. Also look for JCG31 and his brick cutting chart, it helped me to verify where I was in the dome build.

Sincerely

Chris

[3G_]

thats for the detailed responses guys.
I suppose i need to work out if i want a thin(maybe 6mm) mortar line around the whole brick or if i want to try and achieve a near mortarless look from the inside. If i go the mortarless look i suppose i would need to cut the bricks slightly more than the guage shows to enable me to get some mortar on the backs of the bricks.