Wood Stove Build

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Ok Here Goes!!!  Wanna build my own wood stove.  Looking for ideas. Designs Metal Recommendation. Weld/Assembly ideas.  Wanna Make one for my garage and one for my house Basement. 1200 sq ft garage .  Basement 1200 sq ft   in a raised Rancher.   Haven't seen any of these on here. wanna pick some brains.  Have a few people ask me about them and i gotta do my home work and make a test run at one before i can offer that service.  So please FIRE when readyMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Google rocket stove
Reply:Hate to say stuff like this, but many insurance companies won't allow a non-UL listed wood stove in a house, or will refuse to cover fire damage.I've gone over this with my insurance company for my shop - had a barrel stove that worked great, forced to replace it.Having been through a house fire (had a factory wood stove thankfully), and the insurance nightmare that follows, I wouldn't put a shop built one in my house.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Yep the only sure thing about insurances is that they will collect you. Like a one way deal only
Reply:Badfit', not sure how much detail you're looking to explore?  I mean- do you understand if you'll be using thermal inertia for combustion chamber or some form or high velocity (rocket) burner type or some combination?Will you be designing for cord wood, corn cobs, pellets, saw dust, oil assisted or what fuel. Will you heat exchange by gas to gas, gas to liquid or some radiant scheme? Will you rely on convection for heat exchange?  will you be incorporating thermal mass storage or just using direct delivery of the BTU's in real time?Do you plan external electrical controls? Stack VOC monitoring or just a thermal reactive spring for crude damper control? (or even some purely manual controls???? )The topic is fairly well explored in many forums, blogs and sites but not as much focused solely on welding as this is simply one of the several skills usually employed to build "cellulose fueled oxidation reduction reactors" (wood stoves).The definition of what you're trying to get done goes a long (LONG) way to helping others who may be inclined to reply about their builds of different stove projects. Sure is a difference between a big thermal inertia, heated magazine box from a little batch burning high velocity 'rocket' type stove, so I think you'll have to help the Forum close in a little on your sort of open ended question?I've built more than 60 different stoves in 35 years and I started with a whole lot more info than you're giving out!!! CheersKevin MorinKenai, AK
Reply:Kevin Morin wow, you probably have a lot of experience and knowledge from these 60 different project, please tell us a little more.What kind of system are you using now, what's the next one if there is one, and what to stay away from.
Reply:I'm just looking for an old school design like you would see up a mountain house. Maybe throw a pot on the top to cook with.    Not gonna be my main heat source.  Had one at a friends mountain house growing up.  Ever since he passed when I see one it brings back memories.   Just gonna burn cords of wood.Miller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
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Reply:Something simpleMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Kevin Morin.  The part where I said "give me ideas " was to open this room up to a discussion on types and styles. What people like and do not.  Not for your attempt to belittle because you are a master stove builder.  Was asking for thoughts and ideas. If you don't know what questions you need to answer then how does one know if they gave enough information.Miller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:That photo looks an awful lot like a Vermont Castings Wood Burning stove.... they're really beautiful and really pricey. My Dad has a little ranch house with a walk out basement and he heats his entire house with one of these that he has in the basement on concrete, http://www.harborfreight.com/cast-ir...ove-32058.html. His kitchen is directly above the wood burner and he cut a hole through his kitchen floor and added a register right under his kitchen table. He has another register under his coffee table in his living room.  His highest gas bill last winter when it was bitterly cold was only $20. I believe he bought his from Home Depot for around $200 though. --This is what I was looking to add to our garage so I could work out there over winter but, I was told I'd burn the house down, http://www.amazon.com/Vogelzang-Delu...e-gardeners-20--I'd be interested in learning what you come up with.MM 211Smith Tru Lite O/A set, Thanks Bob!Lincoln AC-225--But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium- Ursula K. Le Guin
Reply:Equ. That's exactly how mine would be set up beneath the kitchen. I have oil heat. Just thinking of a little assistanceMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Originally Posted by Equilibrium--This is what I was looking to add to our garage so I could work out there over winter but, I was told I'd burn the house down, http://www.amazon.com/Vogelzang-Delu...e-gardeners-20--
Reply:Well I wouldn't use a fire barrel in my house. I want a legit stove.  I have made bbq smokes with the barrel kits before. Definitely not whatnot would put in my houseMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:I'd give you the phone number to my Dad but.... his English isn't too good. I know one of my brothers used a concrete saw and cut a hole through the foundation for the flue? I think it was called the flue.... My brother would have preferred he'd bought a wood burner that had the flu coming out of the back as opposed to on the top but I don't recall why. I do know they found the best deal on metal chimney that was run up on the outside of the house well above the height of the roofline from Menards because they sent me to go pick it up. Here's two articles I saved on woodburning stoves that might be helpful, http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index...ng_a_woodstove and http://www.motherearthnews.com/homes...z88sozgoe.aspx. --Be careful though.... insurance companies really don't like them unless they're installed by a licensed contractor.... which happens to be why I recognized the wood stove in your photo.... I have one just like it in pieces in my basement that I bought from Craigslist used that we can't install because we were told our policy would be non-renewed. All 350-400 pounds of it is literally in pieces in my basement going unused. --And something else to keep in mind, http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybel...-rural-people/, The Elites' Protection Agency evidently wants to ensure we continue paying our fair share to utility companies into perpetuity.adding something...Oopsie, missed your post Bisteneau. The building inspector who also happens to be the same person who comes out when you want a permit for improvements and betterments to a property. We need a permit for everything we do and this county takes aerial photographs of properties and lines them up with photos from previous years to better enable them to spot law breakers- $$$. Were I live, they don't like wood burning stoves. Yes, I'm still going to get a barrel stove right after we sell this house and move out of Hellinois. I have a 55 gallon drum stashed out in our little barn. I've been on the lookout for another 55 gallon drum. We'll be taking the wood burning stove that's in pieces in our basement with us too.Last edited by Equilibrium; 09-25-2014 at 10:04 AM.Reason: adding something...MM 211Smith Tru Lite O/A set, Thanks Bob!Lincoln AC-225--But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium- Ursula K. Le Guin
Reply:If that one stove was not at harbor fright. I would buy it.  Some things I refuse to cheap out on.  But I guess buying one is going to have to do for nowMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Originally Posted by BadFitUpIf that one stove was not at harbor fright. I would buy it.  Some things I refuse to cheap out on.  But I guess buying one is going to have to do for now
Reply:It's just something I want to make sure isn't cheaply built. Would it be bad to run through vynal siding ?  I know it's double jacked pipe flue. But would wanna make sure it wouldn't melt the sidingMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Originally Posted by BadFitUpIt's just something I want to make sure isn't cheaply built. Would it be bad to run through vynal siding ?  I know it's double jacked pipe flue. But would wanna make sure it wouldn't melt the siding
Reply:Wow never saw that down here at our home desperate.   Like the stainless   gotta decide how to even leave my below ground basement with it.   The stove Will be in The submerged side of my house. Not sure if I should go out the basement wall and up through the ground or up through the floor and out the wall. Up by my vynal sidingMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
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Reply:That's what I'm working with outsideMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Looks like you have a brick chimney on the far end. Any way to tie into that?If you went out the basement wall, it seems to me you are creating a place for water intrusion into the basement from ground water run off. We don't have basements in this part of the country so not familiar with them.Any where your stack passes through a wooden partition(floor, wall, roof) it will need to have the triple wall pipe, so as to not ignite the material it's passing through. You may not have seen the triple wall at HD, but if it's in the online catalog, you can order it from them.
Reply:Well as of now I have a oil fired boiler tied into it in the basement.   Only way I could use that stack is if I replaced boiler with a condensing high efficiency oil boiler. Then run Pvc exhaust for boilerMiller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Outside boiler, no wood, ash, smoke  inside the house & you can heat the house & garage & no chimney fires to be concerned about.REAL TRUCKS DON'T HAVE SPARK PLUGSOriginally Posted by Old SkoolOutside boiler, no wood, ash, smoke  inside the house & you can heat the house & garage & no chimney fires to be concerned about.
Reply:Kinda close to the neighboors. Not sure how they would take to a fire shed in my yard. smoke them out like the skeeters. The garage I don't plan on using it often. Just more for a shut the door work on my projects heater. Kinda going for the nostalgia feel. Might even just do a potbelly in there.Miller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:As a kid I got my hands on a couple of heavy 55 gallon drums, stacked them in a frame I built a virtually airtight door and draft door. the bottom was the fire box, the top, a heat exchanger. Without much engineering I had a monster heater. I would estimate it produced 100000 BTU. I've never again seen barrels as heavy. I could do as well with propane tanks, 100 LB, I'd use three. 120 gallon, do an upright with alternating baffles to lengthen the flamepath. With a little prototype experimenting you might find it possible to admit air to the second chamber for secondary combustion.
Reply:Google Huntsman wood stove, I have one and like it a lot.  Very simple design. Pretty easy to make one like it except the cast iron door.
Reply:badfit, I apologize that you've taken my post with all the questions as an offense, none was intended.I'm glad you've taken the time to post almost all the answers to the questions in subsequent posts, I think that more complete explanation will allow the Forum to help you to your goal of designing and building a wood stove to fit your needs.Cheers,Kevin Morin
Reply:Originally Posted by MinnesotaDaveYep - I'm saving for one myself. Dragging 10-14 cords of wood into the house and shop per year is getting old.Plus I've had a chimney fire, and the giant problems with the insurance company, that I would prefer not to repeat.
Reply:Just an observation on my part, outdoor wood furnaces use lower quality wood, but a great deal more of it. A 7 cord house will need 10 cord with an outdoor furnace. Of course I calculate burning wet green wood wastes 36% of the potential heat energy as compared to dry wood. I'm not sure how to calculate the loss to the air and ground. Lots of times people also heat a garage or shop. It all makes for a lot more wood to process and handle.
Reply:Originally Posted by Willie BJust an observation on my part, outdoor wood furnaces use lower quality wood, but a great deal more of it. A 7 cord house will need 10 cord with an outdoor furnace. Of course I calculate burning wet green wood wastes 36% of the potential heat energy as compared to dry wood. I'm not sure how to calculate the loss to the air and ground. Lots of times people also heat a garage or shop. It all makes for a lot more wood to process and handle.
Reply:My friend was going crazy with the horrible odor from his neighbors outdoor wood furnace at suppertime each day. Wind currents were often just right at that time of day to make the smoke lay on the ground and flow slowly down hill. Wanting to avoid a conflict with his neighbor, he put up with it a long while. He finally couldn't stand it any more, he approached the subject with the neighbor. It turns out his 99 year old mother lived there, (my friend didn't know), he was disposing of her diapers in the most hygienically correct way he knew how. He switched to morning when smoke rises.
Reply:Originally Posted by tbone550A lot of truth to this.  My backyard butts up against the National Forest; a lot of people up here burn wood, including me.  The people who've put in outdoor wood stoves are burning A LOT more wood than they used to with indoor stoves.  Many of them are pretty "open-minded" with what they'll burn too -- not just green wood, I've been around enough to know what burning plastic and garbage smell like.  Talk about a stink that'll burn your eyes....
Reply:you must be slow in the head. heck i'd have it built and getting warm beside by now. ha,ha,ha
Reply:Only comment about outdoor boilers is that regulations in their use is getting ridiculous due to the low hanging smoke. By installing a second section of pipe to get it up to around 12 feet does there seem to be a big improvement. (GOOGLE) I have spoke people that have installed them and found they comment about using 2 to 3 times the amount of wood that an inside high efficiency catalyst or secondary burn stove uses. I have a catalyst stove in our main living area which will drive you out if you aren't paying attention with 1/3 the amount of wood the old pot belly used that was in there when I moved in. I left the 1980's coal/wood combo in the downstairs family room. On Coal it works Great, on Wood it is a Hog!
Reply:This sort of what you are looking for? I've been procrastinating about getting it listed on CL for a while. If it interests you, call me I'll shoot you my cell number in a PM. I also know of a place semi local to me who usually has 3 or 4 old potbelly or kitchen type wood stoves for sale at decent prices..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:For what it's worth, I just ordered a Drolet 1800-I wood burning insert from Menards.  www.drolet.ca  It was $1200 regular, on sale last week for $360 off the normal price.  It's shipping today.  It's a low buck insert, nothing fancy.  But the online reviews are good any my local chimney sweep recommended it.  They've installed several for local folks over the last year, and the sweep was impressed with the quality.  I'll let you know what I think when mine arrives in a few days.  $2500+ for a name brand insert is crazy; but from my point of view $850 for a professionally designed and manufacturered fireplace insert is a reasonable price.I've got a stainless liner kit to install too.  www.rockfordchimneysupply.com  $650 for the kit and insulation blanket with shipping included.  I'm not sure what the rules are here in Ohio.  The sweep i called out to quote the install the liner and insert wanted $1800.  The second guy I called wanted  $2000.  I think both prices are highway robbery.  2 guys, 4 hours and the labor charge is $1100 to $1300?  Outrageous!  So I'm renting a towable lift for $200 and doing the job myself.  I'll trim some trees and paint some trim on the house while I've got the lift.For my own and my wife's peace of mind, I'm going to pay a sweep to inspect the install before I fire it up and close up the fireplace with trim.Last edited by A_DAB_will_do; 10-09-2014 at 10:54 AM.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:I built six of these last winter.  They are designed to be used in a sauna so they aren't really "air tight".  The top is made to hold lava rocks to pour water on for steam.  It wouldn't take much to tighten things up so it would burn for a long time.  Miller Dynasty 200DXMiller 252 Miller 250xMiller Syncrowave 250Miller AEAD200 LegendMiller 375 Xtreme plasmaLincoln WeldPak 100Victor O/A
Reply:Here's my stove that I use to heat my 30x30 shop. I went with it over a cast iron stove as over time cast stoves need to be re-cemented. This is just a steel stove with firebrick lining. With the heat shields in place it can be put within about 8" of the wall.  http://www.pacificenergy.net/product...s-2/truenorth/Also if you end up buying a stove and it's a modern stove that has a secondary burn or catalyst it needs to be run through double or triple wall pipe. The pipe in the room can be single wall (must be further from the wall of the house) but once it goes through a floor or into the attic it needs to be double or triple wall. Different areas have different code there. Also if it were vented into an existing chimney the chimney needed to be lined to handle the increased heat. As for melting your siding, no there are thimbles they make to hold the pipe and keep it far enough away from the siding to prevent this. Frankly the cost of the materials to run a chimney correctly will cost you more than the stove. I know I paid close to double to get the correct materials to run my stove chimney then I paid for my True North.
Reply:That was the idea of what I was looking for.  A custom make my own.  Something makes you feel better when you built it yourself. (Anyone else laugh or feel like others don't get it when people say "you know you can just buy that?" ?)Miller Bobcat 250Miller Maxstar 140strLongevity 140 migSnapon Muscle Mig/tigHypertherm Powermax 30
Reply:Originally Posted by BadFitUpThat was the idea of what I was looking for.  A custom make my own.  Something makes you feel better when you built it yourself. (Anyone else laugh or feel like others don't get it when people say "you know you can just buy that?" ?)
Reply:Bad,This is a custom wood stove a friend of mine built for his basement.  It's a well thought out well built unit.  Turning that handle dumps the ash out a slot in the bottom into a long metal pan (not shown).  With that handle in the 6 o'clock position it closes off the opening pretty air tight so that it doesn't interfere with the way he has it designed to draft.   Wish I had some more detailed pictures showing how it's built but this all I've got.This is a used oil stove built by the same guy for heating his machine shop.
Reply:When I built my hobby shop I wanted to build my own wood stove/boiler as I have acreage that is heavily wooded which really could use a bit of "thinning". The wood generated would have carried me several years without an open purchase but the property is 175 miles distant which is no problem for a semi trailer load, (which I own) once a year. In the end, we built a boiler utilizing wood, fuel oil, waste engine oil, waste gear lube, or anything but a gaseous mixture for fuel. I have since built a simple propane gun should the election be made to fire that way. The simple fire tube boiler was easy to fabricate using 18 tubes made from schedule 40 2.25" steel pipe through 1/4" steel bulkheads with 3/8" protrusions through the bulkheads which were welded solid. The firebox is 1/4" plate rolled to an 22" diameter and 30" deep. This firebox also protrudes through the bulkheads 3/8" and again was welded solid with the bottom of the firebox being almost two inches from the lower edge of the bulkhead. The bulkheads are then supported with three "Z" formed stringers fore and aft bearing against each other and the complete weldment is covered with 3/16" plate which is again welded solid as the entire assembly has water tight integrity. The back of the firebox was closed with a welded plate. The fire tubes discharge into an exhaust box at the back of which the chimney attaches. I also built a box with a Tjerlun fan attached to extract some waste heat from the exhaust stack and pump it back into one of the bathrooms. This idea took a thermostat to regulate the heat output by switching the fan off and on as it was HOT!I used a "Bison" brand, (Minarik) AC/DC controller and matching motor, along with a sunstrand fuel oil pump to keep oil injection at a constant rate regardless of viscosity of the oil. I had planned on about a 400K BTU input rating and actually wound up with a bit more if wanted but I found 350-375K BTU heated the place just fine. The hardest part was sizing the input air consumption rate and burner nozzle size. Being a bum without conventional employment responsibilities afforded me the time to work with it however. It doesn't matter much if you feed this thing straight diesel fuel, or 90 wt. gear lube, it burns consistent and I only need to clean it once, maybe twice a heating season if using primarily automotive derived lubricants. I have burned wood in it but need to remove the ash buildup almost daily.Even after wrapping the unit in an insulatinig wool blanket and then over the top with a sheet metal cover, it burned so hot I decided to reclaim the space it occupied and built another small enclosure on the outside of the building to house it. It's been going strong for eight seasons without a single problem so far.SlobPurveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....