Thread: Pot belly stove/wood fire in workshop

Fire insurance might be hard to get for your workshop. They get really picky ( $$$ ) about woodworking / polishing areas.

Used one for years indoors in a similar space (in a house). That said, you'd have to be very careful with timber, shavings, solvents etc around. Remember, even Chippendale lost all his tools in a workshop fire.
The other point is that safety considerations would mean losing some shed space.
Good luck anyway,
cheers,
Jim

I built one for a previous shed (in a less hospitable state temperature wise) and it was great. An excellent way of using scrap and keeping warm during extended sessions in the shed.
I did a bit of research into using sawdust in a compressed log form but was never able to find anything useful. Not without a 50 ton steam press anyway

I used to have a stove made from a 44 gallon drum, laid on its side, with a commercial stove kit bolted to it. It was capable of throwing out incredible heat and was essential for large veneering jobs to warm not only sufficient glue, but to heat up the ground work.

I have been thinking about doing the same thing. I spotted these on ebay, they look ideal for me.

The only thing stopping me from getting one it that the only place I can put it (about 3m from anything flamable) will only give me about 100mm clearance from the colorbond sides and I am worried it will discolor or blacken the outside of the shed....



joez

Originally Posted by joez

I have been thinking about doing the same thing. I spotted these on ebay, they look ideal for me.

The only thing stopping me from getting one it that the only place I can put it (about 3m from anything flamable) will only give me about 100mm clearance from the colorbond sides and I am worried it will discolor or blacken the outside of the shed....



joez

Could you line the walls behind the stove with cement sheeting and insulation?

As apprentices we used to grrizzle about anything. A popular topic was the weather - too hot or too cold. The old boss would respond on a cold day with "Work a bit harder and warm yourself up." And on a hot day "Go a bit quicker and make yourself a breeze."
A fully enclosed heater is the way to go. If you lay a wall of bricks behind the heater it will protect the colorbond and form a heat sink which will continue to radiate heat when the fire dies down between stokings.

i lucky or unlucky as when I am in the shed my shed has a pot belly in it. When I leave the pot belly goes with me as its around my waist
regards Michael

My mate who lives in Dublin has one in his shed the only problem was that his insurance is more expensive, if you don't inform you insurance company and you have a fire they will treat it as a non disclosed kown fire risk and will not pay out.

I have a Potbellymistakerectifier in my carport.

My shed is 20' x 20' & while there is enough room in there to keep my tools & machines, there is not a lot of room to work.

Most of my machines are on wheels & every Friday, I move the caravan & start woodworking. The fans make a significant difference in both Summer & Winter & at the end of the day, there is nothing better than kicking back by the fire & cracking a cougie or three. Friday night is also BBY night, so a T Bone & salad by the fire, couple more cougies & sometimes I grab the laptop & watch a bit of TV or stream a movie from my server... with a cougie or two.

I think its fair to say, I am a creature of habit.

Steve

Originally Posted by China

My mate who lives in Dublin has one in his shed the only problem was that his insurance is more expensive, if you don't inform you insurance company and you have a fire they will treat it as a non disclosed kown fire risk and will not pay out.

After a fire the company investigators are looking for a way out. Any non disclosed risk or ciggy butt is gold.