Stupid floor question?

[rwiggim]

I am getting ready to lay the oven floor and I like the idea of cutting the outer edge bricks so they fit the dome shape and don't protrude. Here's the question and it might seem it's about laze but it's more about being disorganazized (taxi driver). Would I lay the all the bricks down trace out my circle pull them all back back up cut the outer bricks then spread the fireclay/sand slurry down and lay all the bricks or could I spread the slurry out and then trace the bricks and cut them and replace them without the sluury drying out. Or should I lay the slurry out to say 38" (42" oven) then lay more slurry all the way out to the edge once the bricks are cut?

Thanks darren

[wlively]

NO absolute method. If you go dry then no worries about time and you can do it anyway you want. If you go wet, then who needs the pressure of having to get everything cut and fit with a small time window? Better to fit first.

I drew my circle on the hearth, then laid out the bricks and cut them to fall just outside the circle. No reason to be exact since my dome sits on top.

[rwiggim]

wlively,
that's where the lazy part comes in. I also don't like my chances of lining all the bricks back up the way they were when I marked them. That was the basis for my thought of laying the slurry out to the row of bricks that are just inside the edge bricks so I could pull just the edge bricks and replace them as I cut.
thanks

[wlively]

I got you.

Well one thing the floor pretty much lines itself up once you get the first brick in. I used a 2x4 propped up on some bricks, way outside my circle as a reference straight edge. If I understand you about going wet, then you can use no or very little slurry where the bricks you want to remove are, and then when you put them back, "butter" the bottom of the brick, then place it down.

Good luck, have fun.

[nissanneill]

Hi Darren,
With my Pompeii condstruction, I laid the soldier course of bricks and a couple of other layers before I ran out of my first mix of mortar. It goes further than you think.
I then laid mu hearth bricks, starting in the openning and working my way back, ensuring that the brick that has my thermocouple copper tube in it, was correctly positioned. )I tried to get it in or near to the centre of a full brick).
See the build and pictures at:
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...-4-a-2045.html (Neill’s Pompeii #4)
I laid all of the full sized bricks in a herringbone pattern and then cut the remaining perimeter bricks to suit. A few bricks when put in place and needed a little packing, I put in a handful of dry fireclay, smoothed it out and tamped in the cut brick. The small gaps were then easier to fill with fireclay.
This method is a lot easier than laying the hearth and then getting the first layer of bricks to meet evenly (with full uncut bricks) at the opening.
I personally can't see any advantage of cementing them in place as you may?? require some to be replaced at some stage and they will be easier too raise if they are not cemented in.

Neill

[rwiggim]

Thanks Neill,
For your input. I wasn't planning to cement the hearth floor bricks in; I was just concerned about laying the layer of firecly/ sand mixture down, getting the bricks leveled and then having to pull off the outer edge bricks to cut them and putting them back on the dried out mix. It's probably not a huge deal and I'm just overthinking it.