Starting the forno dome

Today I started the actual dome for my forno. Feels like it's taken forever to get here. I started off by settin the insulation down to position the soldier course of bricks down. Those were set on a 1.5" thick insulation board. 

Once I had that all figured out, I mixed some mortar and started to mortar the soldier course. Once it was setting. I started to cut and lay down the floor tiles on 3" of insulation board. I used a 4.5" angle grinder with a turbo diamond wheel to cut the bricks. It was like a hot knife through butter!

I figured since I wasn't tired enough yet, I would start the first chain. I used the indispensable tool for the first couple bricks, but used a measuring tape after to stay level as the mortar held very well. 

I'll continue the next chains when I have some more time. Pleased with the results so far!!