Radial brick progress

The first batch of pressed earth radial chimney bricks are partially cured and hard enough to handle now. So I thought I would lay them out in a circle to get a feel for how they will look in the chimney this spring.

The steel ring in the inside diameter is about 14" dia. It takes 8 bricks to make one ring thick at that diameter. I have some room for adjusting their positions to make larger and smaller ring diameters. The base of the chimney will be this thickness and will taper as it gets taller. I am thinking of the top having an inside diameter of about 10". To do that I will have to use some half bricks with the others to get a smaller circle. If I do it right, it should be a smooth transition from big to small at the top.