Post by colin on Feb 26, 2012 20:39:40 GMT
A 42" Pompeii low dome.
Reinforced base with water and electric services ( no idea why - but why not!?)
A mixture of thermalite blocks and vermiculite - inspired from other builders on this forum and because I has some lying around. At this point I scaled back to a 41" due to space on the slab.
No fancy angled machine cuts here - a gauge, chalk line, bolster and lump hammer work great on these brick - sure the joint isn't as tight but I'm not convinced it'll make much difference - Oh.. not one brick scrapped with all my bashing...
Notice the thermal break at the hearth - I used a fibre board material left over from installing kitchen cupboards next to my aga. The aim is to keep the heat inside the dome and not leak out through the landing.
Dome transition - this bit gets you scratching your head and the photo diary's on the forums were a godsend - This was one of the few places where I needed to use the angle grinder - I was pleasantly surprised how easy the firebricks cut after reading comments on UKWFO and forno bravo - anyhow didn't need endless supplies of discs on this job - was dusty but easy.
The forno bravo inspired indispensable tool - this one was made from the foot peg of an old cb100, some threaded bar and angle iron. My dome profile was not a constant radius - this mean that each course was a different setting on the tool - I wanted the lower neapolitan style dome with a lower roof. I drew a scale section of my profile and set the gauge to the radius at each course. Getting to the top is tricky but just takes a few beers in between while the bricks set.
More of the thermal break to separate the dome from the hearth and vent chamber - keep the heat in where I want it.
My first and worst brick arch - it's uneven and ugly but it was late in the day and I couldn't bring myself to trash it - instead I vowed to make a decent job of the outer arch - that's the one with the wow factor and this one won't be seen.
This time I did the job properly with a decent former and a nice curve.
Reinforced base with water and electric services ( no idea why - but why not!?)
A mixture of thermalite blocks and vermiculite - inspired from other builders on this forum and because I has some lying around. At this point I scaled back to a 41" due to space on the slab.
No fancy angled machine cuts here - a gauge, chalk line, bolster and lump hammer work great on these brick - sure the joint isn't as tight but I'm not convinced it'll make much difference - Oh.. not one brick scrapped with all my bashing...
Notice the thermal break at the hearth - I used a fibre board material left over from installing kitchen cupboards next to my aga. The aim is to keep the heat inside the dome and not leak out through the landing.
Dome transition - this bit gets you scratching your head and the photo diary's on the forums were a godsend - This was one of the few places where I needed to use the angle grinder - I was pleasantly surprised how easy the firebricks cut after reading comments on UKWFO and forno bravo - anyhow didn't need endless supplies of discs on this job - was dusty but easy.
The forno bravo inspired indispensable tool - this one was made from the foot peg of an old cb100, some threaded bar and angle iron. My dome profile was not a constant radius - this mean that each course was a different setting on the tool - I wanted the lower neapolitan style dome with a lower roof. I drew a scale section of my profile and set the gauge to the radius at each course. Getting to the top is tricky but just takes a few beers in between while the bricks set.
More of the thermal break to separate the dome from the hearth and vent chamber - keep the heat in where I want it.
My first and worst brick arch - it's uneven and ugly but it was late in the day and I couldn't bring myself to trash it - instead I vowed to make a decent job of the outer arch - that's the one with the wow factor and this one won't be seen.
This time I did the job properly with a decent former and a nice curve.
