Building the Dome | Part 2

Once the dome has got to this height, the bricks won't stay up.

I had to build a platform inside the dome, on which I could build a dome mold out of sand.



To do this I used a couple of lids off meat tubs, set up on a couple of layers of limestone blocks. Turned out to be just the right height.

I then packed the gaps with some fertiliser bags, and shaped the dome. The dome took two 10kg bags of sand.



Postscript: In hindsight I should have used a light (8:1) mortar mix to make the mold as suggested in Russell Jeavon's book, or covered the sand in wet newspaper or plastic. There is now a loose layer of sand on the ceiling of my dome that I am going to have to get off somehow. I think this is going to have to involve getting the top half of me in the oven with a wire brush on the end of a cordless drill!