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Old 07-21-10, 10:52 PM   #1
bennelson
Home-Wrecker
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SE Wisconsin
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Default Building the ROCKET STOVE

Hi everyone.

In case you've never heard of a rocket stove, it's a simple style of a stove, with a feeder pipe and a vertical chimney, which makes efficient use of fuel by giving it plenty of air.

The rocket stove "self-drafts": the feeder tube is split in half, with the air coming in BELOW the fuel (typically wooden sticks).

This rocket stove is made from metal - in this case reusing an old household water pressure tank (you may recognize it from my solar water experiments...) and some thin-wall steel pipe of about 6" in diameter.

The whole stove should be about 30-33" tall when done, so that it's a good height to use while standing.

Besides using the rocket stove as a replacement for an LP grill, I also want to be able to bake in it. I brought out my cast iron dutch oven to make sure it would fit inside the tank used for the top part of the stove.

I used an angle grinder with cut-off blade to cut off the bottom of the water tank tall enough for the cast iron to fit inside. I had already cut off the TOP of the tank for a previous project.




The tank is a 16" diameter - plenty big for a grill, boiling a stock pot, or baking in the dutch oven.

The first step was to cut two pieces of pipe for the project. I only had to cut one, as I found a scrap piece close enough to the right size in the first place.

The two pieces are:
1) The vertical "chimney" piece
2) The fuel/air feeder tube

Since the feeder tube goes into the chimney tube at an irregular angle, it's a bit of a trick to lay out the cuts. A friend of mine (Greg) already made a steel rocket stove, and designed a tin template to mark the pipes.




When done, the feeder tube looks pointy. Don't trip and land on it. The tin template is in the background.

For a base for the stove, Greg had some old farm implement discs around.


The chimney pipe needs an odd-shaped hole to accept the feeder tube. Here's the template in front of the pipe. The template gets wrapped around, and I mark the hole with a Sharpie.




The two cut tubes, designed to fit into each other. I used a flapper disc on the angle grinder to clean up the sharp edges of the cuts, as wells as to prep the metal joints for welding.

After test-fitting the two parts together, I looked for the high spots to trim down a little, and used a file on the inside corner as well.


Here, Greg gives me pointers on making everything line up and be nice and clean.


The feeder tube was too long, but I figured I could always chop it down later. Here, I wrapped sheet metal around the tube to make a nice right angle I could mark and then cut the tube short.


Then, I set the chimney tube on top of the upside down tank section, and marked where the tube goes. Not sure what's the best way to cut a perfect circle like that in steel. (The tube is an odd-diameter, so that rules out hole-saws!)


I might also be able to reuse the plug from the tank as an ash clean-out.
I also zinged off the base ring of the tank, as it's not needed - the tank no longer sits directly on the ground. I though it looked nicer without that ring, and it won't be in the way for welding.



I've got one afternoon's worth of work into the project so far. Out of pocket costs are nil. I now have a base, chimney and feeder tubes, tank section, and the tank top, which will become a lid.

Still to do is welding all components together. That should be interesting, as my welding experience is rather limited. Also, I will need to fill in the square hole in the middle of the base, and add an ash cleanout to the bottom of the chimney pipe, directly opposite the feeder tube. I still need to design the grate that separates the fuel from the air intake in the feeder tube.

Once those things are done, the simple Rocket Stove is completed. However, the sky is the limit to add to the stove. Here are a few photos of what Greg has done with his.




While I was working on my basic rocket stove, Greg and friends were polishing the steel top of his grill. The custom grill allows the combustion gases to flow THROUGH the grill and out the vent on the left. He was also working on designing a warming tray that would then mount to that. On the right, a simple oak board had its corners rounded off, sanded, and then hand-rubbed down with mineral oil to make a GORGEOUS sideboard.

Hope mine comes anywhere CLOSE to looking that good when it's done!

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