Building a wood fired bread and pizza oven - Hearth completed

My little project to build a wood fired bread and pizza oven is well on the way now.  There is much work still to do before any fires will be lit, but a few late nights with the help of my Dad and we have completed the hearth.  It has not been easy, the irregular shapes and inconsistent sizes of the brick have made job as hard as I thought it was going to be.  

The hearth bricks finished

Next time I build an oven I would sort through all the bricks before starting and pick out the most consistent sizes and undamaged ones.  There are a few locations on the hearth where there are local height changes due to some deformed bricks.  Before the brick dome is built the hearth will be smoothed with a diamond grinder to make it as flat as possible.

The next step will be to cast the over-door lintel on its brick supports.  This will be done in place as it will fit better that way.  Then the steel braising will be welded to fit what has been built so far.