Joints too wide on round brickwork! - Brick structure

[giltedge]

Joints too wide on brick Dovecote!
Hi, I'm trying to build a 15' high 'Dovecote' similar to the one shown in the attached picture just not as fancy, the size of the circle I'm building the structure means that when I lay the bricks around the circumference the joints are really wide as seen in the attached picture. short of cutting every brick or possibly every 2nd brick does anyone have any better ideas to build this structure short of increasing the circumference and If the joints need to be this wide what's the best mix of sand p/s, g/p,lime and cement to use?

Any help would be much appreciated.

http://tinypic.com/usermed....o4jytEY

This is what I'm trying to achieve just not as fancy, it's going to be about15' in height

http://tinypic.com/usermed....gYjytEY
Thanks

[digerjones]

Snapping the bricks in half will help, then see what you're joints are like.
Tony (lll) is our resident brickie.

[country boy]

you can lay them as brick on edge (face of brick on top) this will reduce the size of joints,it will only be a handful of brick more but look better, good luck with project.
Jim

[lutonlagerlout]

sorry to say Jim but brick on edge unless they are chopped into batts is a last resort,it looks pants
most circular features under 3m diameter are built using 2 skins of 4 inch batts and wall ties
you need to be careful plumbing your perps and your brickwork as any variation will looks horrible on this stuff
on small radii its a good idea to have 2 or 3 plumbing points and a former to work with
cheers LLL

[digerjones]

What's a batt tone, is it a half brick

[giltedge]

Hi LLL, Thanks for your reply... Tried the bricks on their edge as you said it looks terrible, It's not ideal but I think I'm going to need to go with it as per the picture with the wide joints. What would you suggest re: the mortar mix 4:1? Not sure whether to use G/P sand and brush it up to give it a stoney effect or whether that will look worse? Plus it'll help hold the mort in the joints because of the wide joints.

Thought about putting a weak red dye in to lose the width of the joints but it can be inconsistent using the dye.

I get the 3 'plumb' points but not sure what a 'Former' is though?

Thanks

[country boy]

If the look you want is as your picture your best bet is to cut each brick to suit otherwise you may regret it later.Tony take on board what you say i am also a bricklayer and have built bullseye windows in past usually only 1 ring of half batts/bricks,i was only pointing out an alternative to someone who may be a novice at bricklaying,we would have cut the brick, anyhow it will soon be covered by pigeon crap.
Jim

[lutonlagerlout]

hi Jim,nice to get a fellow trowel on the forum
I always prefer a double arch ,but with a bullseye it become a bit sticky as you start at the bottom we used to do 4 tiles at the 12/3/6/9 o'clock position for a bit of character
back to the OP
anything much over a 15mm joint will look rough
you could always use some 30mm hose pipe to joint as it gives a rougher finish
depending on your bricks 5:1 is usually sufficient,if you use a strong mortar with soft bricks it can crack the bricks over time
cheers LLL

[lutonlagerlout]

Dylan yes a bat (correct spelling is half a brick) I was eating some batts mustard on a cheese roll as I typed :;):
LLL