Dan Hampleman

Jan White wrote:If you do use the cardboard bales for anything, be really careful cutting the baling wires.  So much tension.

Yeah, 10-4 on that.

Well, I don't know if they are or not, all I know is every couple of weeks a big trailer truck comes by with a forklift and hauls it all off. By that time there's about 10 or 15 of these pallets. I'm going to have to ask them if I could have some of it. If they sell it to whoever hauls it off, then maybe I could buy it for however many $/ton they get for it. If they have to pay the big truck to haul it off then they should gladly let me have it for nothing. I just need to figure out a way to haul it off and process it first.

My local grocery store throws out cardboard by the ton (see attachment). I'm wondering how much trouble it would be to make fuel for my rocket stove out of this. I suppose you could soak it in 55 gallon drums filled with water and then compress it into logs or pellets small enough to feed into the stove. I'm also wondering if you could mix it with crushed coal since they have a lot of coal mines around here and I can get it pretty cheap.

I have the Evans and Jackson book on my Kindle but it doesn't work on some pages. (I think its the 1st or 2nd edition). I was able to print out the pages that specifies the dimensions of the inner and outer chamber and burn chamber depending on how you want the stove to perform. I should probably hunt for a steel barrel that would work as an inner chamber. I think the tank in my water heater would be too big as an inner chamber. I have a Mig welder but it will only work up to 1/4" steel.

By bell, you mean the outside that conducts the heat to the outside? I was going to use a 55 gallon steel drum. As far as the video, I don't really have access to fire clay, other than buying it on ebay, which the shipping is as much as the actual cost. I was thinking along the lines of concrete and vermiculite and rebar.

Scratch that idea. I was also thinking of making a vermiculite/concrete mould for the inner chamber out of flashing sheet metal. I also have a water heater which I haven't taken apart yet. I don't think the water heater inner tank would be small enough to use as an inner burn chamber.

I plan on using a 55 gal steel drum as the outer container. Would 2 or 3 layers of cement board, overlapping edges, strapped together tight with plumbing strap or the strap used in shipping where you use a special tool to tighten it work as the burn chamber? Even if it would work I still don't know how I would attach the bottom of the J-tube.

Thanks, I did join that user group. I'm thinking the thicker metal will just conduct more heat to the pipes. If its too thick it would act as an insulator, I would guess. 21,000 BTUs for 36sf. Not too shabby.

I went to HD to look for flashing for solar absorbers. Someone at builditsolar.com recommended type 1100. I found 3 types: RV1425 VAAL 1425 : RV1225 VAGA 1225 : RV1010A VAAL 110

I guess it should be thin enough to bend in a jig and thick enough to transfer heat.

Here's a guy that specifies .0086 thickness. I have a thickness gauge so I'll take that in next time I go to HD.

Absorber Plate Construction

It said in the add that they were pressure tested to 60psi for 15 minutes. I guess he does this a lot - find old ones at auctions and sells them on CL. From the picture in the add, the glass looks somewhat opaque. I think I may pass on these and build my own - a small one to start with to heat my 8x12 shed.