Random thoughts from the moose cave.

Herringbone does sound nice.

herring bone




seem a bit small, but I'm not THAT handy

sounds fishy to me...

this is more along the lines of what I had in mind

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/timplandscaping_2091_93263812&imgrefurl=http://www.timplandscaping.com/jul20besoffi.html&usg=__ZSg8FsdhQTJl2XuQAOnU-QoTyE8=&h=380&w=304&sz=89&hl=en&start=9&zoom=1&tbnid=HVhoihGWSWQsIM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=84&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dherringbone%2Bpattern%2Bbrick%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Ds%26biw%3D1016%26bih%3D534%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C331&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=555&vpy=160&dur=1611&hovh=251&hovw=201&tx=115&ty=131&ei=gqO0TI-fK4vonQewsKj-BA&oei=d6O0TOiMNMT6lweqkvzDCg&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:9&biw=1016&bih=534

(now that's a link...)

Bet the cats would like it!

that's cool. and prolly pricey. most of my materials are gimme's.

I'm gonna play with mosaic in the kitchen, I think.

I gotta get the important stuff done pretty soon. If I can seal it, and heat it, then I can slowly work on making it uniquer...

If your bricks are all one colour then a pattern probably would look really nice. I hope you're going to post pictures!

here you go...

i'll try.

i'll prolly be off-line before it is worthy of that, though...

gotta go work now.

Here's a video from Bob Villa's show where a mason is laying a herringbone brick hearth for a fireplace. He shows how to start the pattern and how to deal with some of the tricky parts of it.

http://video.bobvila.com/m/21319618/salvaged-brick-hearth.htm

That's pretty cool, Butrflynet. (I confess I am neither that smart nor that ambitious.)

got the barrel rolling again today.

gonna purge the last 10 years of my life tonight. poof. up in smoke...

got the stove out of where it was encrusted. getting the brick laid out like I want it. (haven't practiced breaking them yet, I don't have lotsa spares)

think Ima bring it over here and sandblast it before I install it.

it's verra cool. I can heat my tea on top of it.

the crapper is gonna be a snug 4 x 5, with shower...

I'm guessing you have an angle grinder....if so, they sell a cheap {Skil brand} dry cut masonary blade at Lowe's, I bought one for 10.00 a few weeks ago. My usual blades cost about 25.00 {DeWalt} and I can tell the difference, but that might be an option for you.

Any tool you use, you will need a masonary blade on it.....chop saw, skill saw, angle grinder...etc....the brick will burn up any other type of blade in just a matter of seconds....and be prepared for dust, lots of dust....you can always use a cup of water or a sponge to drench the blade as you cut....but that can get pretty messy, but will make the blade last longer.

Wish you were closer, I'd fix you up in a jiffy.....my biggest tile saw....2hp....loves nothing more than eating brick.

how many cuts do you get from a $25 blade...?

and I have all 3 tools. which is my best choice?

I've never counted, but a lot....I usually have to switch them about once a year, and I use them all the time.....4 inch angle grinder is what I use, and would prob be the best bet, as the blades are cheaper...if you are handy with one, it would probably be a bit easier to work with vs a circular saw, since a circular saw is bigger than the brick....kinda hard to see what you are doing....if you can find a cheap enough blade for the circular, and your comfortable using it....it's really up to you....either way, I'd make some sort of jig to hold the brick, that way you have both hands free....and fingers out of the way.

If you could make all your cuts....say in a day or half day, it may be easier to just rent a brick saw

I've never priced a masonary blade for a chop saw, not even sure if there is even one out there....but probably is, and if so I'd guess it to be in the 75.00 range.....about what I pay for my tile blades.

angle grinder it is...

thanks.

hold the phone...

We have reinforcements coming.

tomorrow I will have a sliding deck 10" 2 1/2 horse wet tile saw to use for the project.

10" masonry blades $6 each at the depot. he said his tile blade doesn't go with the saw...($$$)

now I'm contemplating doing the pattern up the wall.

got good weather till Monday.

hmmmmm.

Could you make a fire pit in the yard for cooking in decent weather, or are the bricks not the proper type for that?

I have a little smoker for that.

and I expect to Never have visitors, so prolly a wasted effort on a social level.

and my 200 bricks are barely gonna do what they need to do to keep me warm...

I got the shop cleaned out enough to start moving.

Big shop stove is gonna be the first thing. then workbenches and tools.

tomorrow I go shopping for brick accessories...

I appreciate the vid. I haven't laid a brick in almost 25 years.

I always thought if I had to work for Bob, I'd prolly wind up punching him in the nose.

He's kinda annoying in a way that grows worse as he talks.

but his helpers usually rock...

dunno 'bout dry mix. don't think I wanna go that way.

my sympathies to 2pax.

boiling up a shower to get rid of all the brick dust.

really fine yucky dust. hadda put lotion on, too.

mortar next...

(i cannot imagine doing it without a wet saw...)