The Dome

Building the dome seemed like it would be the most difficult part during my planning stage, however, it went pretty smoothly.  Once I realized that the bricks would hold once the form was removed it was smooth sailing.

First was a rough layout of how I wanted the arch.  I needed the dome height to be 16 inches.  I then sketched that onto 2 pieces of plywood.

Cut the plywood with a jigsaw, used some scrap 2x4 pieces to attach the 2 pieces of plywood together.  I then used firebrick with a shim to hold it in place. I then added the bricks.

The moment of truth was taking out that form the first time. It held.











A few more arches were added, until i needed to angle down to the doorway.

Now it was starting to look like something.  My family still wasn't quite sure what it was going to be, but it was getting there.

The doorway has a piece of angle iron spanning the opening. It is 10 inches high and 16 inches wide.