tiling period fireplaces

hi all,

I'm currently restoring a federation house, and am after some advice on how to go about tiling the fireplace hearths. I have the repo glazed hearth tiles, the insert picture tiles and the cast iron inserts. I gather you stick the picture tiles in the cast iron with cornice cement, and also seal the cast iron to the wall with cornice cement. I also understand that i need to tile heath first, then place the insert on the hearth tiles

I'm wondering what you should use to stick in the hearth tiles ? and also should I chip out the existing concrete/cement hearth so as to get the tiles level with the floorboards ?

cheers
Moray

I'm think of using sand and cement to glue the hearth tiles.

would this work ?