Hi All, I’m ready to build my oven and need an answer to my question. When trimming brick for the rear or flume, do you “pre stage” bricks then trim or cut as you go? My concern is taking the time to trim brick while I have wet motar that would dry and end up wasting the motor. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Don
Hi Donald and welcome to the Brickwood forums!
You certainly could prestage the brick cutting for the arch or barrel. I would not for the back, even though you COULD calculate the shape of all the end pieces before you start. The reality is that small variations in mortar thickness will inevitably throw you off.
Also, in practice, taking the time to trim a brick won’t have too much of an impact on your mortar. For practical reasons (and reasons you hinted at in your question) the mortar does eventually become unworkable. You want to mix up enough to do a course, maybe with some left to start the next course. That’s going to be a heavy batch as it is.
I think you’ll find you are keeping ahead of your mortar in practice.
Congratulations on starting your oven, Donald, and please visit here often!
1 Like