Thread: Shed heating ornament

Originally Posted by argeng

Geez DJ you are a nice bloke.
Cheers Bruce

Dunno about that Bruce, quite few people I know wouldn't agree with that, have been called an ugly fella a few times

As Gerbilsquasher has done, a good size flue is required to get the setup to draw well, I only cut in a 3" pipe which was not out the top, but just out the rear, not quite big enough. I also put a baffle in the flue, theory being to dampen down the fire.It does really get going but at times you need to open the front door. Really should have a plate inside the combustion chamber to stop the heat going straight up the flue.

Welding the cast iron drums with the Mig was interesting, I known this is not how it should be done but time and do what you can works. Basically due to the difference in the properties of cast iron and the filler from the Mig they were never going to cool at the same rate. For a non structural weld it works. The first run between the drums will split down the middle, you now have 2 bonded substrates on the cast drums. Run another bead to join the 2, no probs. Have had the unit glowing red and the welds are fine.
It looked so good sprayed black, nice turned wooden handle for the front door opener. Now the elements have taken hold. I see a new project.

That is if the thumb allows me.
Went back to the Surgeon on Monday, took the Xrays that I had done the week before, as he mentioned, we will remove the wires next week. Didn't feel right, Monday I rock up and say well I am no expert but it looks like there is a big black line through my thumb, he looks at them and says, Wow there is a big black line through the fracture, maybe we shouldn't pull the wire out yet. Come back in 4 weeks, that makes 10 since I introduced it to the saw. Bugger is we fly out to Thailand on the next Saturday, looks like I will have the wires in on the trip. That will make 10 weeks the prospect of getting movement back in my thumb is slim. They are still talking about a bone graft , but as they said you will go on a list. So, do I have wires sticking out of my thumb for 6 months?? Time to look up a private plastic surgeon. I must say Red wine does wonders for smoothing out the worries. 3 hours at out patients!!!! When I got home my wife had a glass of wine on the table next to her, I said I thought we we no wine during the week, well you sounded a bit down on the phone, Luckly I had stopped at Dan's for a RED.

Sorry for the Blerb, many have more pressing issue., For me it is hard as I have gone from being very active, big Reno on the go plus ongoing house maintenance, to don't re fracture the thumb.

Well we do have this site/group.

PS Did pick up a nice Rega oil can at Wantirna Trash and Treasure, don't tell you know who.
Cheers Bruce

Originally Posted by rascal

Derrimut or Regency Park

Regency park sounds good for me. I might grab a couple if I can. I will be in Adelaide on 24th june and will be staying at prospect so just down the road. I might be able to make one that will fit in my shed.

Dean

Originally Posted by argeng

As Gerbilsquasher has done, a good size flue is required to get the setup to draw well, I only cut in a 3" pipe which was not out the top, but just out the rear, not quite big enough. I also put a baffle in the flue, theory being to dampen down the fire.It does really get going but at times you need to open the front door. Really should have a plate inside the combustion chamber to stop the heat going straight up the flue.

I have a 6" flue on the pot belly, it has a butterfly flap to close it mostly off. When full open the flue glows red in minutes from lighting......
The other thing that adds to the draw is the length of the flue, the longer the more draw.
And make sure birds can't get down the chimney....Squab is not so good feathers and all.....

Cheers
Ew

The cold weather came in quick so did my drum fire for the shed, light truck drums,and will have to keep a low fire going if I want to work in the shed,Should have made a smaller one,gets very hot very quick,

.

Eddie

building one was on the books until a friend offered me a Metters No5 in near new condition for $100 inc the flue so guess what...yep 1 less job on the list.
Pete

Looks like these things aren't as 'ornamental' as I was thinking. Maybe if you try to sell these on a commercial basis you might get into trouble because they don't meet Australian Standards or have a 6-star energy rating.

Made a bit more progress on mine tonight. Machined up the fabricated 'rivets'....
CIMG0473.jpg
Merchant or black bar it is, cheap and nasty stuff, takes a lot of effort to get a decent surface finish on it and I wouldn't try to cut a decent thread in it. Even though it has been made from melted down Hyundais it should have enough tensile strength to hold the end plates on.

The 'rivets' are inserted from the inside. These particular drums seem to be a universal type which share both five and six holes on the same radius... so I made a total of ten 'rivets' for each of the top and bottom.

CIMG0474.jpg

Here I have poked the 'rivets' through from the inside of the drum and through the hole in the bottom plate and have started to tack the ends of the 'rivets' . It does help having an inside plate to support the other end of the 'rivet' to stop it from falling out... seem to have avoided a Tourette's relapse with a little bit of thinking... As shown in the photo, the length of the rivet has been 'sorta' calculated to be about 4-5 mm below the surface of the plate when clamped together.
CIMG0489.jpg

I kept the clamps on as I worked around the bottom plate with plug welds.
CIMG0490.jpg

All plug welds finished. I did it this way to try and avoid welding the mild steel plates to the cast iron brake drums... I wasn't sure how well they would mix!
CIMG0491.jpg

Unfortunately that is as far as I can get for a few days (work, kids, missus etc) but I should be able to start up again Monday night, and the goal is to get the stove working within two weeks... more to come...

I took care of the heat issue last winter. Considered brake drums to start with but went more elaborate.

6" flue, 1 1/2" fire sprinkler pipes with 2" outside intake for primary and secondary air sources (for secondary burn of fumes/smoke), fire brick lined, heavy duty grate for fire to sit on and hinged framed glass door. I have a 6mm steel plate baffle inside with additional stainless plates in flame path to minimise direct contact with the cut down 44 gallon drum (chopped 1/3 off). Front is completely removable for thorough cleaning and maintenance if required.

Managed to get the air supply/draw ratio balanced for maximum efficiency and so it is smokeless out the flue when up and running. Keeps my large unlined/uninsulated shed up to 10 degrees warmer than outside. Had a ball.

05082012354.jpg

Craig.

Heater builders,
There are 2 sizes of drum available,dimensions are on the drawing.
John.

Originally Posted by Ueee

I have a 6" flue on the pot belly, it has a butterfly flap to close it mostly off. When full open the flue glows red in minutes from lighting......
The other thing that adds to the draw is the length of the flue, the longer the more draw.
And make sure birds can't get down the chimney....Squab is not so good feathers and all.....

Cheers
Ew

For those members that haven't been dealing with slow combustion heaters for most of their lives you should also know that too much flue causes too much draw and makes it hard to control the burn. You wont be able to reduce the heat. Try to keep to a max of 4 to 5 meters. Probably more than you were thinking anyway, but just in case someone decided to go all out.

Happy Heating

Dean

Yeah, thanks for adding that Dean. My Uncle had some ridiculous length of flue on his pot belly on his old property. He use to delight in getting the whole thing glowing.....
I think i have about 3.5m, its plenty actually i have been thinking i may shorten it. The rules here say if the flue is within 3m of the ridge it has to be at least 600mm above the ridge line, otherwise at least 1000mm above the roof. Not that our fires are used or approved...... They are just ornaments right? Mine was somewhat ornamentally warm today!

Originally Posted by Ueee

Yeah, thanks for adding that Dean. My Uncle had some ridiculous length of flue on his pot belly on his old property. He use to delight in getting the whole thing glowing.....
I think i have about 3.5m, its plenty actually i have been thinking i may shorten it. The rules here say if the flue is within 3m of the ridge it has to be at least 600mm above the ridge line, otherwise at least 1000mm above the roof. Not that our fires are used or approved...... They are just ornaments right? Mine was somewhat ornamentally warm today!

Glowing is good, if you want to impress your mates. Control is better. I think 3m or so should be fine. The reason for the warning about excess height is we had a setup that required 6m of flue and we were told to watch the result due to the length. Worked out ok but not really needed generally. If a long flue is needed sometimes a restriction may be required.

The top of the flue should be covered with a conical cap that is raised about 50mm or so above the top edge of the flue pipe with straps riveted/screwed on. The cone wider than the flue so it runs the water off. This can also keep the juvenile pidgeons out.

If you were serious you could make a water jacket to produce hot water so you could wash your hands before going inside to the family. Probably impress them no end.

I kept the door/surround off an old slow combustion stove from the lounge for inclusion in a future project. Glass door. Lovely view of a nice fire. Who wants to work anyway LOL.

Dean

Originally Posted by Oldneweng

If you were serious you could make a water jacket to produce hot water so you could wash your hands before going inside to the family. Probably impress them no end.
Dean

G/day Dean, at my last place the first section of flu was a water jacket type heater and it worked really well, the thing that ornamental heater builders have to remember is that ornamental water jacketed heaters work by thermosiphon and when the fire is out the water in the storage tank will be cooled by the heater unless you fit ornamental non return valves

Originally Posted by shedhappens

G/day Dean, at my last place the first section of flu was a water jacket type heater and it worked really well, the thing that ornamental heater builders have to remember is that ornamental water jacketed heaters work by thermosiphon and when the fire is out the water in the storage tank will be cooled by the heater unless you fit ornamental non return valves

Actually that is not totally correct. If the hot water storage is higher than the heating jacket there will be no movement of water after the fire goes out. Our hot water is supplied from a heating jacket in a slow combustion kitchen range. This is the only hot water heating we have. When the fire goes out the water stays hot. Design and layout is everything.

I have thought about making a flue jacket for our lounge heater to provide more water heating but it is not really needed. We have enough already.

Dean