Wooden wedges Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Wooden wedges in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Can you leave the wooden wedges in, or do they have to come out....

[Sipper]

Can you leave the wooden wedges in, or do they have to come out.

[michelevit]

where are these wooden wedges located?
are they shims to hold up the bricks on the outside of
the dome?

maybe atattch a pic so we get a better idea.

[dbhansen]

Normally the shims used in dome construction are taken out and replaced with mortar. Otherwise they'll burn! And the extra mortar makes it stronger.

[kebwi]

You could make your shims out of fire brick I suppose...but that's a lot of very precise cutting.

[KINGRIUS]

I was going to use the wooden shims but I was able to do without. I gobbed extra mortar on the top back of the brick already set and tapped the new brick down 'till it was in position. The mortar was able to hold it without the shim. Then I would spread the extra mud that gushed out the back into all the voids.

[Roadkyng]

Originally Posted by KINGRIUS

I was going to use the wooden shims but I was able to do without. I gobbed extra mortar on the top back of the brick already set and tapped the new brick down 'till it was in position. The mortar was able to hold it without the shim. Then I would spread the extra mud that gushed out the back into all the voids.

I do the same then take a pointing tool to compact the mortar. Haven't had a brick fall out....... yet.

[cynon767]

I tried using shims at first, and abandoned them after the first 2 rings. They were actually less accurate than just shaping the mortar with the trowel by eye.

[jmhepworth]

I also tried using the shims and decided they didn't help much after the first couple of courses. I just put a bit more mortar in than I needed and tapped the brick with the back of the trowel until it matched the string. That didn't work if I got the mortar too wet, but learning how much water to put into the mortar came pretty quickly -- during the first couple of courses.

Joe