Now I have, that's a pretty nice example. I think it's slightly bigger than mine though. In regard to cutting bricks, it's arguably easier to make a bigger oven as you'll have to cut less.Originally Posted by tod evans
"I am a bird"
I'll make a pic tomorrow. It's the cheapest wetsaw I could find. 350mm/14" blade, 3.5HP.
"I am a bird"
This is a dry cut blade that'll last a long time in water.....
I have one of those on my large angle grinder. The wetsaw has a different blade though, no expansion gaps. It's the blade that came with the machine. It works well, as you can see. The only downside to the one you pictured above is a very loud high pitch whistling sound that comes from it. I sometimes saw through something small without ear protection but not with this machine..This is a dry cut blade that'll last a long time in water.....
"I am a bird"
The wetsaw, I must say this blade gives less chipped edges than the other blade. The whistling noise it produces is absolutely abhorrent though. But it's LOADED with diamonds and a new one is 100$+ so I'm still stuck with this one for a while.
I dry stacked a couple layers. It pretty much fits the profile exactly. So I tapered them at the correct angles. Also the amount of weird gaps in between/underneath stones appears to be minimal up to at least the 6th course. Out of 15 or so. Looks better than I had expected. I'm impressed with myself, having never done this before.
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 10-22-2015 at 08:25 AM.
"I am a bird"
2 Courses done.. 14 to go ?
I'm quite satisfied with the tight joints, however it does take a lot of time to get it neat.. Cutting the bricks to size actually takes much less time than sticking them into place. I'd have thought it would be the other way around.
Oh and that white thing there is a heating cable. Used in terrariums etc. I'm using it overnight to slightly heat the floor. Covered with wool blankets.
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 10-24-2015 at 08:35 AM.
"I am a bird"
Well, it's not easy. I can say that much. It takes time. I do like the result.
Just sticking them on there is not a problem.. Getting them at exactly the right angle while also completely filling the joint is.
"I am a bird"
Not too much time to work on the oven at the moment. I did cut some bricks and stuck a couple on the dome. The worst part is having to wait for the bricks to dry after cutting them.
Slowly but surely though it's starting to look like something. (the stains are water soluable)
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 11-13-2015 at 05:36 AM.
"I am a bird"
It's spring!
I took the cover off, put the saw back together and cut some bricks for the oven opening.
"I am a bird"
It's about $#@!ing time!It's spring!
I took the cover off, put the saw back together and cut some bricks for the oven opening.
Yeah well, this job pays nothing and the boss is an $#@!.It's about $#@!ing time!
"I am a bird"
Believe me I understand......Yeah well, this job pays nothing and the boss is an $#@!.
Just wait until you've got a split-tail driving you.......
^^visible ?
Right, so this is the situation. I cut all the beveled blanks for the opening arch. Tying that into the dome is a bitch however. So far my method of complete form-free, guide-free sticking of bricks is working just fine. I only have a straightedge to check for the right elevation angle and a level to check if the bricks are level... Then just to double-check I use a tape measure every now and then to check if brick-centerpoint is still 50cm. (it's at 25degrees right now so a total of 18 courses will be needed to make 90)
The white stuff, dunno, doesn't seem to interfere with anything. Falls off cleanly when brushed. Not sure what it is. Might be from sawing all those bricks (we have pretty hard water here) in combination with the pH of the refractory glue (which is high).
I'm pretty satisfied with it so far.. I must say, making a dome isn't that complicated, even if you want to cut bricks to size. I've found that the best way to do it (with this kind of thin joints) is to saw all the bricks for a single course in 4 groups. Vary the width of the bricks slightly. This way it's pretty easy to manage any creeping up on the joint of the brick below or to stop tapered joints from occurring, especially the ones tapered the wrong way.
Working on it is pretty cool though. Especially those arch bricks are awesome. Takes a load of concentration though. It's really easy to forget which side you have to cut from when bricks are tapered and cut in several different ways.. I started using paper to transfer the shapes I need, that works pretty well.
And yeah, it's true, there's absolutely no reason to build an oven like this. I've only seen one other example of an oven built this way, it's posted somewhere earlier in this topic.. But I like a little challenge.
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 04-16-2016 at 05:24 AM.
"I am a bird"
Do you own a bevel gauge?
Multiple. However, they are not easy to use on this project as a lot of stuff gets in the way one way or another because of the curvature. So I'd need a tiny one, which I don't have lol.Do you own a bevel gauge?
I mark where I want my brick to end with a pencil. Then I put a piece of paper over the spot I want to cut the brick for, moving it next to the adjoining brick with enough space for the joint. Then I mark the pencil line on the paper and press the shape of the front into the paper. I cut out the template and trace it on my brick. Then I check, recheck and triplecheck to make sure my angles are correct. This because my saw only bevels one way, so I have to saw some angles backwards, if that makes sense. The saw isn't 100% straight so I have to take that into account as well (it was a cheap saw lol but it works fine).
Sounds complicated but it works.
Oh and I'd never use nice tools like the ones in your pic on a project like this, they're gonna get messed up.
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 04-16-2016 at 05:34 AM.
"I am a bird"
By using parallel blocks or even a trained eye angles can be transferred using one (or several), I find them indispensable when doing double curvature work...Multiple. However, they are not easy to use on this project as a lot of stuff gets in the way one way or another because of the curvature. So I'd need a tiny one, which I don't have lol.
I've known nuts over the years who will plot compound angles mathematically for curved railing...
I must say, I prefer the majority of bricks for which I simply calculate the angles and cut a whole bunchBy using parallel blocks or even a trained eye angles can be transferred using one (or several), I find them indispensable when doing double curvature work...
I've known nuts over the years who will plot compound angles mathematically for curved railing...
"I am a bird"
That works painlessly plotting angles on a spherical dome but try plotting angles on differing points of an ellipse.....I must say, I prefer the majority of bricks for which I simply calculate the angles and cut a whole bunch
Are ya getting close?
Well sure, that's a bit more complicated but it can be done with piece of paper and some math. However, these days, I prefer using a CAD program that I will feed the ellipse information and it will draw it for me. If I then want to subdivide it with angles or whatever, it's a piece of cake. I wouldn't say it's massively more difficult to do on a piece of paper than it is with a circle. The math is pretty much the same, the formula for an ellipse is a bit more complicated but that's all.
"I am a bird"
Well I've got 6 courses down.. 12 more to go.Are ya getting close?
Luckily they are getting smaller and they will have fewer bricks in them at some point. The difficult part is the opening arch. Once that's out of the way, the rest is a piece of cake. I've become pretty good at cutting bricks, in my humble opinion.
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 04-16-2016 at 05:56 AM.
"I am a bird"
I'm glad to be able to access the interwebs with a 'puter.........
Drawings are still done by hand in my shop....
A time will come when people can no longer draw by hand. I'm glad I still canI'm glad to be able to access the interwebs with a 'puter.........
Drawings are still done by hand in my shop....
"I am a bird"
Kind of funny how there are 17 pages to this topic but only the last two are on the building of the actual oven part.. I'll stop talking about that before someone points out that's because of me.
Anyways, found this pic as well.
"I am a bird"
Now I know this is taking a long time but I've got a life as well. I'd have loved it if this thing was done already but I'm not someone who cuts corners. At least not easily. But yeah, the actual oven isn't going to take too much longer. The weather is clearing up a bit, temps are up, which means my bricks dry faster and that in turn means I can stick them onto the oven faster. As opposed to regular cement where a little bit of moisture is necessary to get a proper bond, the stuff I'm working with works best when the bricks are bone dry.
Anyways, I'm working on the arch you can see in the post above. This is the most complicated part of the entire oven. I made a new mould for the arch, re-tapered the bricks I already cut because they were cut too steep. Things really get complicated when you work within such a small tolerance. It's quite a challenge. Once the arch is in, the rest of the dome is a piece of cake. About 55% of it is done now. The chimney section should be a walk in the park on a sunny day compared to that as everything is straight.. Conclusion; the oven will be finished before the summer.
Pics will follow later.
"I am a bird"
Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 04-30-2016 at 04:43 AM.
"I am a bird"
Quitcherbellyachin!
You'd only eat one piece and fill up on wine anyway........
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