help with a few questions

[timberland]

Hi guys, just starting to get things in place for my pompeii oven so a few questions please if you could help with.

1. I'm using clay red bricks for the dome so can I use a angle grinder for curing the bricks in half and shaping them?

2. I've seen a few people use a indespensible tool where can I get one from? never used one so I know I can use sand or foam but which is easier, would sand be ok to form the dome?

3. For the insulation the concrete where the firebrick would sit on what material would be best? There a special foam you can but but need a bit more advice on that.

Thank you guys.

[kstronach]

hi

yes you can use an angle grinder no problems but you'll get a lot of red brick dust everywhere, most of the half bricks can just be cut with a lump hammer and bolster chisel then use the two original outside faces of the brick to the inside with the cut edges to the back, you'll need the angle grinder when you get to the dome to arch transition and maybe for some of the higher courses when you might need some quarters to keep your bond. that being said if you're planning to angle every brick to fit perfectly then theres going to be a lot more cutting and you'd probably be better using a wet cut chop saw to cut down on the dust!

my IT was just a piece of 2" 1" slate batton cut down to 16" (because my oven was a 32" diameter) then i just used a ordinary door hinge screwed to the bottom which was fixed into the dead center of my oven floor just with 1 screw, but not over tightened so it would still rotate 360 degrees, then at the top another short piece of batton screwed on top sticking past the 16 inch piece to create a lip to set the brick against i was laying. this was ok for the first 5 or 6 course but after that i found it too slow going so i made some forms and a dome shape and closed the dome out that way, cleaning the inside off the next morning when i pulled the forms out. yes sand will work for forming the dome shape but you'll just need to damp the sand a bit to get it to hold together, then i would probably lay some thin plastic or cling film over the sand before you build over it.

most people in the uk use theralight blocks (aerated concrete) as the insulation under the floor, this is probably the cheapest and easiest way to do it but there are other ways too if you didn't want to go that route.

all the best
keith