Does anyone know how one could make a homemade wood-burning stove? I need something that will fit in my 8x8 shack. There's a few real stoves on CraigsList, but they want $100 minimum. I don't have money to toss around at this point. I also do not have access to a welder, torch, etc. (even though I have done minimal of both).
How can I make a small/8x8-compatible wood-burning stove for almost nothing, using not-so-hard to find things? Does anyone have any ideas?
I think if you can find one thats still usable for $100,thats a deal. You won't find any cheaper.
One thing about an 8x8, your gonna need very little heat.
If you can't find a tiny, tiny stove, You can always go with propane
Build one without any tool to do it. I don't know.
I've thought about trying to build one out of scrape ductile iron pipe and use mechanical caps for the ends. Buy a door, weld it to one of the caps. then bolt legs on thought the bolt holes for the end caps.
You might be able to use a cap with a 4'' pipe taped hole and run a stack out of the back. It could be built cheap but would probably have problems and it would be very "hill billy"
What's the coldest outside temperature you'll run into?
How well is this cabin going to be insulated?
What will you cook on? Propane, electric...
Will you be connected to the power grid?
A space as small as 8x8x8 will have a very low BTU requirement given even modest insulation. There are very small stoves available, most are designed for marine use and are not cheap.
A small electric heater could be the best compromise in space use. They do have the advantage of being able to be turned off when the temperature is comfortable. With a wood burner in such a small space you would likely be overheating frequently and throwing the windows open. Add to that if the wood burner is small enough to fit nicely it will likely not be able to carry over a fire very long.
??? ???
As for making a safe one without good metal working tools being available, I believe that would be difficult. Maybe you could adapt/build a rocket stove. Do a forum search on Rocket Stove.
Good point, Don. I made the Cat oven from Clay, Sand and straw. A thimble can be made from clay if going through a wall. Not code of course, so you are responsible for your own safety.
http://www.hedon.info/PortableClayStoveConstruction
Simple? 5 to 50 gallon bucket with a lid and chiseled - sawzall- drill - screws- bailing wire hinges for door openings.
Protect all combustible surfaces as needed for fire prevention and your safety. Just ideas.
http://www.hedon.info/ReducingTheRisksOfPoisonousEmissionsFromStoves
http://www.hedon.info/BoilingPoint38-April1997
Haven't checked them but... http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html
the original rocket
http://wings.interfree.it/html/Elbow.html
It will be a real challenge to find a way to heat 8X8 without blowing yourself out due to heat. Any fire at all in that thing will almost immediately make it too warm.
You won't be able to sustain any sort of flame in your wood burner so that you maintain a consistent temp overnight. The only way that I could think of (for a person determined to do this) would be to have the stove outside the cabin, and run two vents. One through the cabin, and one outside. Control the heat in the cabin by adjusting the dampers for the stove. Sounds hokey, I agree.
Using electric heat is your best option. You need a thermostat. A very small space heater would heat that just fine. I seem to recall that a human body puts out something like 200BTU.
There are small stoves that people use for boats, but those are way outside your budget.
Be careful with CO. Make sure you put in a CO detector.
A rocket stove looks easy to make.
It doesn't look like a good choice for inside use tho.
Electric or propane would due nicely.
I specifically did not mention propane as in as small a heater as you would need it would be an unvented model. I do not think unvented propane heaters should be used anywhere people sleep. The reason; CO. Carbon Monoxide does kill with no odors, no warning.
I knew an old man who lived in a very small trailer when I was a kid. His only heat in that trailer that I remember was the Coleman Lantern he used for light. Maybe others know about ventilation issues or safety with these? There are also small catalytic heaters - again - unvented. CO detector as Frank mentioned would be good.
The rocket as shown was primarily outside but it has improved a bunch and chimneyed. Andrew has a big one, but it would take up most of the 8x8.
Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 25, 2008, 11:31:44 AM
heat in that trailer that I remember was the Coleman Lantern he used for light.
Any appliance that burns a fuel uses O
2 to support combustion. As well they have the potential to produce CO. If the 8x8x8 was built tight enough to prevent drafts one could run into a situation where the O
2 gets depleted enough to cause the burner to produce CO. That's why there's always a precaution on tent heaters and the like to provide air, leave a window or tent flap open. When you are after heat that seems to be not what you want to do.
I know I could find many reports of hunters and campers who die because of the use of a heater in their tent. I don't think it's worth the risk. On the other hand it could be a nice quiet way to exit life on earth if that was one's plan.
Yes - I remember old Louis always kept a window part way open - in the days before CO detectors. Likely not too safe.
I wasn't recommending someone produce carbon monoxide and die in their sleep.
That wouldn't be good.. :)
Heres what I use. It does require you crack a window.
Made for cabins & tents.
http://www.mrheater.com/productdetails_extended.asp?catid=41&id=24 (http://www.mrheater.com/productdetails_extended.asp?catid=41&id=24)
Check the dumpster of your local Harbor Freight. A gold mine of stuff. They sell vented propane wall heaters, as well as a small cast-iron wood stove. I have found some good "broken" stuff out back. If you are handy, should be no problem.
The smallest wood stoves I have seen were in ice shacks. Here is a post to a new one:
http://goodoutdoors.theshoppe.com/wilderness_shanty_wood_stove.html
And a froum where they are talking about making one from an empty propane tank:
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=72050.msg709359;topicseen
Theres one on there made out of a beer keg too!
Google ice shack (shanty) wood stoves
Bill in the U.P.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=389662
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?k=stove&a=search&c=&p=1
A few ideas on the SG links.
I built a stove from a metal 5 gallon pail when I was a kid--used rivets and plain door hinges for the tin door and draft, and used tin cans for the chimney--cut both ends out and nested them together--used about 30. Put a single sheetmetal screw at each joint to hold them together. Made a heck of a stove for a kids forthouse. It lasted until we grew out of the fort stage. It probably would have heated your 8x8 building just fine.
I came across a softcover book about 20 years ago--it described building wood stoves with absolutely minimal tools--hammer, cold chisel, and earmuffs ('cause beating tin is noisy). It was written by a guy who was homesteading in Alaska and built stoves out of whatever was at hand--he made a lot of use of what he called "tundra berries" or some such name--old stashes of empty oil barrels left over from WW2. He shows several different styles, all made with pretty much nothing for tools.
I can't just put my finger on the book in my library but I can remember it was written by "Ole Wik". Can't remember the title or publisher, but maybe you can find a copy by searching the used book stores on the 'net.
It sure isn't impossible with minimal tools--just a bit more tedious. I'll take a closer look and see if I can find the book to post the pertininent information to make it easier to find a copy.
Jon.
w* to the forum Jon. Thanks for that info. I found reference to the books you described.
# How to Build an Oil Barrel Stove
by Ole Wik
Softcover, Alaska Northwest Books, ISBN 0882400770 (0-88240-077-0)
#
Wood Stoves: How to Make and Use Them
by Ole Wik
Softcover, Alaska Northwest Books, ISBN 0882400835 (0-88240-083-5)
http://www.bookfinder.com/author/ole-wik/
Ok, here is an idea that might circumvent the safety issue.
The idea comes from an english friend that heats bricks and then puts it in a protective bag. This is then put under the covers at the end of the bed.
Seems to last through the night with no central heating in the house turned on at night.
So, Set up some kind of stove outside to heat up a container of oil.
Have it so you can push the container of oil into a hole in the side of the house and then close an insulated hatch over the hole.
Some ideas that come to mind is to put the container on a turntable.
When it is rotated outside it will be over the outside heater, then rotate it in and if the hatch is mounted on the turntable it will automatically seal the heat in.
Obviously this is only a kernel of an idea, so you need to fill in the details
which means thinking about safety.
Good luck!
Bruce
check this out.
http://backyardmetalcasting.com/bucketfurnace1.html
I built one of these furnaces. Doesn't require much in the way of tools. If I were in you shoes, I would take a 5 gallon steel pail, make and inner form that is about 1" smaller in diameter than the pail. Bolt some legs made out of angle iron to the bucket so that it sets the opening forward. Cut a hole in the bottom, up where the top will be, and screw in a 6" section of pipe to mount the stovepipe to. Mix up some refractory cement, and pack it into the bucket. Cut a hole in the lid of the bucket, and make a door out of a piece of metal, possibly the lid of a smaller can, with a lip on it for strength, or heavy steel plate. use a steel hinge for the door. The door is now the damper as well. Open it to induce more air (a screen would be a good idea).
With such a small place, you are really just after a few coals to keep it warm. The stove should never have to get roaring, and the stovepipe will probably never even get very hot to the touch. The insulation in the cement holds the heat very well, so if you do give it a flash burn, it should continue to radiate a good portion of the night. I would be tempted even, to use more insulation, add some thermal mass, and use the stove like a masonry heater (this could all be built outside the cabin, with one wall of masonry).
The windows should be at least cracked, and a CO detector is a good idea. People have been heating their houses with fire for thousands of years. With smart practices, and common sense, I don't see why it is any less safe than using a space heater, or gas heater. No system is foolproof, but the UL listings can make you think they are.
Of course, a couple of menorahs may do the trick as well!
Just my thoughts, as I have thought about it a lot lately as we are cold, and broke, always at the same time!
If you want to be able to cook on top, thin down the refractory at the top, and bolt a piece of flat plate to the top side. Countersink the bolts.
Lazy susan for heated stones sounds pretty cool!
Keep in mind too, that Anything you get on here is for novelty purposes only, and is in no way advice to be taken without serious caution. Burn any fuel source at your own risk. With that said, maybe this will work for you.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Cast-Iron-WOOD-COAL-Burning-STOVE-Sales-Sample_W0QQitemZ170289007297QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Toys?hash=item170289007297&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A3|294%3A50
Couldn't resist, seeing as how the place is so small :)
That's cool, Jens. I built a casting furnace like that and a bigger one I didn't use.
The little room shouldn't take much if insulated well.
Well insulated it probably wouldn't need more than a Candle heater or two
http://tinyhouseblog.com/heaters/kandle-heeter-candle-holder/ (http://tinyhouseblog.com/heaters/kandle-heeter-candle-holder/)
Quote from: Bill Houghton on December 25, 2008, 01:09:00 PM
The smallest wood stoves I have seen were in ice shacks. Here is a post to a new one:
http://goodoutdoors.theshoppe.com/wilderness_shanty_wood_stove.html
I like this little stove. For the money I may have to buy one to try.
Just to add to the diversity of available small stoves, do a Google for pack stoves or outfitter stoves
Here's one place with a variety. Maybe some ideas someone can borrow as well.
http://www.walltentshop.com/CatStoves.html (http://www.walltentshop.com/CatStoves.html)
I'm just amazed at how resourceful many of you are in doing research. What a fantasticaly interesting string of messages here. This community is just outstanding...and a core group of you make it happen again and again. Thank you SO much for doing these things. You're helping many people.....I'm of full maturity age....yet I learn so much here.
Frank
I like the small antique laundry stoves (I have a Dandy). Mine cost $35, in perfect condition. They were also used on chuck wagons--you can cook on the surface or remove the two "covers" (don't know what else to call them) and lower big iron pots into the stove. A link: http://cgi.ebay.com/1938-Pioneer-Ozark-Laundry-Coal-Wood-Stove-Vintage-Ad_W0QQitemZ400017375112QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116#ebayphotohosting
This posting will go away soon--can someone post the picture please? I am photographically challenged. :)
Here you go
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/laundrystoveAW380040.jpg)
LOL, Theres my hot water tank! d*
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yukon-Tent-Stove-M1950-Solid-or-Liquid-Fuel-Used_W0QQitemZ360116806708QQihZ023QQcategoryZ588QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/STOVE-MILITARY-NEW-45-000-BTU-WOOD-OR-COAL_W0QQitemZ200292067016QQihZ010QQcategoryZ588QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Here are two more options, all under $100. I personally think they would be to powerful. I would just use an oil lamp or candles and crack a window in my climate. I had a small apartment once (200 sq.ft.) and could heat the apartment until the beginning of winter with a few tea light candles. The hot stones would do better do keep you warm overnight. The other problem with many wood burning stoves in such a small space is clearance. If they are small and thin, they need clearance from the walls so they don't burn the building down. You can reduce this with stones, but they take up space too.
Quote from: Squirl on December 29, 2008, 10:59:12 AM
You can reduce this with stones, but they take up space too.
As far as that goes, just to be perfectly clear, and to follow the NFPA and UL guidelines, placing a "shield" of stones, rocks, bricks, metal, etc. around the stove, against the combustible wall surface, does NOT count as a means of reducing the clearance from a wood burning stove to the combustible wall. Further note: paper covered drywall is a combustible surface, even though a thin one.
When using non combustible materials as protection from a hot stove there must be an air space of at least one inch behind the non combustible material; an air space with provision for air to enter at the bottom and exit at the top. (This works very well; a sheet on 24 gauge steel does an amazing job at reducing the temperature of the actual wall behind it... done it, measured the temps)
The reason given is that if the wood stove is burning long enough the rocks will get hot and eventually conduct heat to the combustible surfaces behind. Over a long enough period of time wood that is exposed to moderately elevated heat levels can change (change to being more like charcoal than wood as far as ignition point) and then ignite from exposure to lower and lower temperatures. Granted this may take a number of years.
Of course if you are not in a code zone and if fire doesn't overly alarm you, you can break the rules. If there's an insurance company involved they might not pay a claim if there was improper installation.
There are cases of fires breaking out form wood framing being exposed to heat from improperly installed steam heat pipes, for example.
Hey guys, I was going to try the 'rocket stove' thing as a last resort, but I found a stove pretty cheap on Craigslist. I think I'm going to get it this weekend, it's $20. Nothing fancy, just something that someone put together with a welder for an ice-fishing house.
Does anyone know a cheap way to ventilate the stove? Home Depot has stove pipe, but it's expensive (like $12 for four feet of pipe). Is there a "poor man's way" of ventilating a stove? (Not including pop cans as mentioned earlier in this thread, haha.)
By 'ventilating' do you mean the exhaust or the inlet air?
If you mean exhaust, smoke and the like, then as far as I'm concerned there is no cheap safe method, unless you can find good used pipe. Yes you could probably run single wall black pipe up through a roof with a hole through a piece of sheet metal, or out a window pane with the same sheet of metal in place of a glass pane. Those have been done before, I've seen old shacks in the boonies like that.
If you are scrounging material do not use galvanized HVAC pipe. Heat can make the zinc off gas and that's not very good for you. Not at all.
The army used to have a "yukon stove" used to heat squad tents (8 man tents)---don't know if they are still to be found----burnt diesel fuel. You can find references to them by googling (see reference below)
M1950 Yukon Stove
Compact and lightweight, the Yukon stove is primarily designed for heating tents but may also be used for heating water, cooking rations and various duties, ...
www.herman-nelson.com/itemInfo.cfm?itemID=727 - 55k - Cached - Similar pages
http://alaskatent.com/products/tents/accessories_stoves.htm
They look good in person too. $220 complete.
Mike
There are vented catalytic heaters available which are not that big because they are designed for RV use.
Start here:
http://www.ventedcatheater.com/2.html
Tom
Those look good Tom. I've never seen a vented catalytic heater before. With a thermostat and auti ignition too!
The 12 VDC half amp power draw isn't too bad I suppose.
Not trying to hijack the thread here, and will work it around into it.
I am sick and tired of having a cold house!!!! Our thermostat has been at 55 or so, while it is 10 deg outside, and we are still spending plenty on gas! To this end, I went scrounging in the basement of the outbuilding that came with our house. Our fireplace used to have a coal burner in it, I think, and I found this little thing that looks like a coal basket. It has a tray, that sits within a folding, three sided framework of wire. The tray has holes in the bottom, with another piece of sheetmetal underneath it, and an airspace. I put it in the fireplace, and built a fire in it.
We tried a small fire in the fireplace before, but the morter in the back kept spalling out, poppin all over the place! I took a metal lid from a barrel, and put it on the back wall of the fireplace. It provides an airspace, and metal reflector for the heat. The fireplace doesn't do a great deal, but does help some, and well, the wood was free. I have wanted a cast iron stove, but lack the funds, so I have resolved to go to the salvage yard and get .250 steel plate to make a craftsman styled insert fireplace. I dreamed it all up last night, and designed a bit of it. It should do a good bit better than just a fireplace, and makes some things easier.
As far as this thread goes, it makes me wonder how expensive it would really be to lay up some block, filled with sand, lined with firebrick in the box (or maybe cob), and a clay liner for the flue going up. The sand in the block would serve to hold the heat, and radiate it. If the firebox were made small, and had a door on it, you could even burn the fire super hot with the aid of forced air, heat up the masonry, then radiate the house all night. Flash burn the wood, close the damper almost all the way once no more smoke, and enjoy the heat.
I know it doesn't help for your situation, since you said you found a cheap woodstove, but it might help others. Don't know for sure, but it might!
If you are tempted to build home-designed fireplaces and/or heaters, please find a qualified professional (perhaps a mechanical engineer) to advise you-----code requirements is only one concern----more important is a safe design and installation for you and your family. Badly designed or maintained fireplaces, flues and chimneys kill a lot of sleeping families every year!
If the mortar was popping out when you built a fire in that fireplace, I for one would be very careful about using it without a chimney inspection. When fireplace inserts or wood stoves are installed using an existing brick and mortar flue more often than not a liner is used. Sometimes that is because the stove or insert performs better, as in drafts better, than with the old brick flue. Sometimes the liner is needed because the brick and mortar is bad. Sometimes it's because local code requires it.
G/L
We are getting a double wall stainless flue. Found it on craigslist, 24ft, with collars, $175!
Quote from: rwanders on January 17, 2009, 02:36:58 PM
If you are tempted to build home-designed fireplaces and/or heaters, please find a qualified professional (perhaps a mechanical engineer) to advise you-----code requirements is only one concern----more important is a safe design and installation for you and your family. Badly designed or maintained fireplaces, flues and chimneys kill a lot of sleeping families every year!
If I asked a mechanical engineer, they would tell me that it is not possible. They probably wouldn't even know that smoke travels upward (most of the time), let alone how to get it to draft, what a smoke shelf is, what a damper is, or how to lay up bricks. They also would have told me that you can't build a car out of scrap, that I should just tear down my old house, and that all of the houses on this website are unsafe.
I have carefully considered the design though, that I promise you. I am even exploring ways to make it airtight, and possibilities for switching from solid doors, to screens, so we can have some ambiance too if we want.
BTW, much of the badly designed stuff out there comes from the desks of engineers :)
I have worked closely with engineers of all disciplines for many years and have found most quite willing and even happy to help out with "outside the box" design and construction---I know there are those who can be a little/lot arrogant but I haven't run into many. A master builder knows a lot, but he doesn't know everything.
As our own John Raabe says; "All of us are smarter than one of us."
Quote from: Jens on January 17, 2009, 04:27:13 PM
BTW, much of the badly designed stuff out there comes from the desks of engineers :)
Unfortunately the engineers are just that, engineers. They are not always the ones deciding on how much money can be spent on the proposed product; the bean counters can force poor designs to be built. That may not be the best way to run a business, but that is sometimes the way it is in the real world. Many products are designed to sell at a particular price point. Also a perfectly good design can be turned into an inferior product if the production facilities or workers are substandard. Not every fault lies at the desk of the designer when you take the big picture into account. Of course there are some poor engineers who should likely be doing some other type of work. That applies to all fields, butcher, baker, or candlestick makers. You painted them all as being the same with your tar brush and that is not right, IMO.
An engineer may plead his case that something is not suitable the way it is, for the purpose at hand, but his objections may be dismissed as nothing to worry about. Remember Challenger?
I can count many engineers among my friends. Every one of them loves to problem solve both in and outside their area of expertise. I find them all to be widely versed in many areas. Maybe I've been lucky.
Well said Don---all designs are indeed formed and built as compromises between the ideal and the real world of business needs----I worked in quality assurance and quality control for many years---I was certified in welding inspection (CWI); in radiography, mag particle, dye penetrant and ultrasound as well as coatings and corrosion control. Also did civil, mechanical and piping systems. The only area I didn't do was electrical. As it takes a village to raise a kid, it takes a whole system from those who write specifications and quality requirements all the way to the craftsmen/women who bang the nails and join the metal. The product or service can fail at any point in the process.
I wasn't meaning so much mechanical, or other engineers, as I was structural, and architectural. While their stuff may have the right calculations in play, much of the time it falls short of real world possibility, i.e., structural members being in the wrong spot to pick up a load properly. IMO it generally comes down to not building things in the real world...things go together a lot better on paper/computer screen sometimes. What I was meaning wasn't as much a sleight on engineers, per se, but was that while engineers have the degree and the stamp, there are a great many people out there who do a better job (or at least are capable) that the powers that be don't even recognize. I have known many engineers, and I have known many people who see, think, do, and none of them have died due to their not consulting an engineer first. Most of the greatest inventions that we take for granted, were prototyped not by engineers, but by these individuals.
That being said, enough with the thread drift here, on my part at least. ;D I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel, just build a cheaper one for myself. My insert, is basically going to be a steel liner for the firebox. I plan on first re-coating (like plaster) the old walls with a refractory mix, then placing the box in there. It will be hooked to a double wall flue, with a damper (air tight if I can manage), and a smoke shelf. Basically it will be able to be used as a fireplace, or a wood stove, depending upon which doors are chosen (the solid doors will basically radiate more heat). I am going to build a convection tube system into it, as well as an air induction (simple, like bellows maybe) that will provide fresh air to stoke the flames. There will also be an inner box, that will collect the ash, and can be easily removed to dispose of said ashes.
It's kinda funny that through the thread so far, nobody started talking about engineers, until I said I was going to build a fireplace.
Let me say again, that there are many great engineers out there, some of my friends included. I have been asked my opinion on some of their designs however, but that may be only due to the aesthetic side of my nature!