Scott Weinberg

I build inventory all winter long  ( I love winter for this reason) and my Stove sure helps.

So while it looks odd, our walls become the display area, but by the end of summer are pretty bare, to start a fresh again in the winter. While in the back of the house we have a bought or bartered for a few pieces, the other 99% I make.  Using alcohol inks, acrylics, some epoxy work, Poly aspartic coatings,  for very vivid colors.  All on metal.  It has been great fun for the last 20 years.

Some are large, I will try to post sizes with photos and add to these as I get time.

Matthias Hacker wrote:

Omg, that are serious prices. There is a shop not too far away from me where they make tiled stoves and handcrafted refractory slabs and bricks, at numerous dimensions. The largest slab is 50x21x3cm for the price of about 8 dollars. They follow the traditional craftsmanship and recipes. Maybe I should start exporting them🙈

$ 8.00 would seem to be a good price indeed.  19" x 8" x 1.18"  but if very fragile?
Where are you located?

Beau M. Davidson wrote:I don't have a crane, so I'm trying to figure the best way to get a straight vertical pull with the best power from the tractor bucket. Thinking of chaining between the arm at tractor center directly behind the bucket, and starting as low as possible. A little tricky, as there's a yard hydrant right by the well.

I used to pull well pumps many moons ago,  What you have there is a "pit less submersible pump connector hub"

You are correct in that corrosion is causing the problem to get it removed . It generally has two large O rings in the hub, And the corrosion, that falls into the crack just  above one of the O-rings  With enough time, it becomes very secure.  

You can try the very hot water and ice trick, to get the unit to expand and contract a bit.  You have nothing to loose by trying. Pour nothing down upon it like oils or solvents as this is your drinking water below, and it will get to that.

We had 3 ton and 6 ton Smeal trucks ( well pulling trucks) that had a lifting range between 3 and 6 tons.  Seldom did we get them broke loose.  And today, I don't know of anyone even trying to get them free.   So we will call this the bad news.   Now the good news.

YOUR far enough south, you can hand dig to about 1 1/2 foot below this hub.  With the  whole unit very securely tied.  The well casing below the hub is cut all the way around, (carefully)  And the whole unit is pulled out, the top casing, hub and pipe below.  if you don't know how deep your pump is your definitely looking at needing a well pulling truck, BECASUSE, if your check valve is working just above the pump, the entire unit is filled with water, and super heavy, and long, and simply said far beyond block and tackle and loader job.

Once pulled, you are looking at a well casing that needs to be redone, with a hub like this
 https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71AgM5SmCML._AC_SX569_.jpg   -photo attached-   Which is connected to your waterline going to the tank.   Your present hub is connected to this same waterline.   This is done by torching a very nice hole for the new connector to be installed. and then a well casing section is rewelded in place.    If this sounds expensive and a big job, it is.  No getting around it.  The new pit less hub is the only thing not to bad.  By the way, I was putting those in the 70's and they are still working good today.  up in Iowa, I know of NO round pit less hubs put in in the 80's in iowa, at least around here,  But that is all behind us now anyway.

You never ever want to loose your pump below the hub, your wires will not hold it, even if only 20 feet, you have to have pipe holding clamps that look somewhat like friction blocks ( your well puller will have them)

The only way I know of, to keep from needing a well puller is if you have a windmill above the well casing, to set up a pully system to pull up the pipe.  You still need the pipe blocks, experience, and two 24" pipe wrenches, new pump wire, water proof connectors and the list goes on.

kees ijpelaar wrote:I have to mortar the stones for the tube, because it is 3 cm think stones I think I need better
and stroung stuf to gleu them together.

The mortar I have is to coarse to use it, need a 8mm gap between stones.

There is also mortar gleu in a bucket, I think this is better, the stones need to stick strong together.

some tips maybe.

thanks.

8mm in most cases for fire brick mortar is WAY TO THICK

your fire brick mortar should indicate a very thin gap  of 1.5 to 3 mm to be used, and in general  this type of "glue as you call it" is very sticky.  I have never seen coarse fire brick mortar?   But perhaps you have something like that over there.

it has been suggested often the use of fire clay and sand mixture, but again, I doubt if that is suggested to be used up to 8mm.  I don't mind to be corrected. But if you do have gaps up to that much, I suggest you cut your bricks to be tighter.

Glenn Herbert wrote:  I have a lot of kiln shelves that I don't use. I saw that Peter used pieces of kiln shelf for parts of his Shorty development core. Would kiln shelves of appropriate sizes be okay to use for all the slabs? How much does thickness of slabs affect the function of the core? Obviously the riser box upper top thickness is irrelevant, but do the ports created with these slabs need to be a particular thickness? (The port at the back of the firebox can be made from standard firebrick.) I can easily double up layers of kiln shelf if necessary.

Two questions here,  Glenn Herbert,  this seems to be a great question concerning products readily available ( excess from potters corners, and all the way up to being available at the pottery shops)  I have never tried to cut those things on my diamond saw?   Does this work well?    I cut granite all the time,  with most working well, but some not so good, being very hard.  And NO, I am not asking if granite can handle internal heat, it can NOT.

second question, There are 24" x 24" x 1.25" thick ceramic paving pads, for sale at some of the big box stores,  Can these handle the inner workings of our Batch box type stoves?  They are actually my bases for any stove I have made, but always with that light layer of ash to insulate. And the heat to this area is never over 300 degrees  I already know that if one area is heated to extreme levels they generally do not do well, (such as a burner pointed at one general area  but have never tested in a more slowly raising and even high temp stove.  ( even that is sorta miss statement as I can go from NO fire to full fire in 15 minutes or so)

Just thinking out loud without testing having been done.  It all seems to take time.   Clapping hands as always for Peter V and his work.

William Bronson wrote:



Hello,
just want to say that I just finished the build of a DSR3 core using exact this method of dry stacking, with strips of stainless steel. I found a sink at the junkyard that I could use for this.

It went quite fine, I used an angel grinder mounted like a table saw to be able to cut grooves to exact depth and at the exact angle.

As a result the whole core is a kind of flexible, which I like a lot. Since it is packed in a metal box with a layer of superwool in between that is just fine, and air tightness is not an issue.

After the heating season I will take everything a part and see what the stripes look like.

Very interesting, and it will be great to see your end results at the end of the season. t looks like you have extended your cuts a bit more than the strips And this should help with the different coefficient of expansion. which is a good thing.  

I did a very quick calculation, and even .125" extra   should be enough for extra length on the cut in the brick.  Looks like it was cut end to end, and that is good.

Now for those of you that are wondering what I am talking about.
The coefficient of expansion is simply the ratio of expansion of one product vs another. In this case, how much a fire brick expands, vs the stainless steel And again in this case, the stainless steel is nearly twice as much as the fire brick.  But, if we have  slightly more room for expansion all is good. Everything expands and contracts with temp. changes.  We just don't want something to try to expand that is somehow constrained.  

And it sure sounded like it was somewhat flex-able.  Which is great.  if it was super tight (solid), it could have problems.

The tension frames are a perfect example, they allow the whole unit to expand/contract to some degree without breakage. This is achieved by  having things barely snug but NOT tight.

Lastly our biggest concern I think will be the longevity of the metal strips, This also will be I think "a test in progress"  To know what will work for a long time vs cost.  There are certainly metals that will last forever but simply may not be affordable.  Think, Ti-grade 5  ( titanium)   And of course if the landfill "finds" work,     Fantastic.  Please note there are at least 4 common stainless steels, with the last one that actually will rust. and the expansion rates very a lot. But for our use, maybe insigniecent.

Steel Stainless Austenitic (304) 17.3
Steel Stainless Austenitic (310) 14.4
Steel Stainless Austenitic (316) 16.0
Steel Stainless Ferritic (410)   9.9

Keep up the good work, and let us know how the testing at the end of the season comes out.

Very nice build Pjeter,

I will have to "second" what Thomas said, about your damper beyond the fire. Actually using it the way you described, I am surprised you wouldn't get into trouble on "heavy air days"   That is simply, being on a edge of a weather front, Everything starts perfectly and you decide to damp it off like you described, and the front moves over a few miles to your area.   This heavy air, tends to be high in moisture, warmer than when you started the fire, and well "not conducive to great drafting"  If your gone for a an hour, you could come back to a house full of smoke.

That really won't happen, if the fire is simply running wide open.   With no restrictions.

If you find this is spiking your house temp more than you like, you may find your self adding more cob, (more mass)  which I think you find as a double win with even more even heat in your beautiful home. Win-Win

Lastly, a barrier at the beginning of the stove will be more effective than one after the stove to maintain heat in your mass.  Thus preventing the saying,  " you will only forget once" on your damper setting.  Better to never forget.

Hope this makes sense,   excellent looking build.

thomas rubino wrote:
Those big bore saws are animals.
They were my saws of choice, cutting tall timber.
However, as I age, I am no longer an animal... those things are HEAVY!
I now run a Huski 550XP with a 24" bar.   A little lite weight screamer, it does all I need.
I should mention my wood is now a long load brought home by a log truck.
I stand in my field and cut rounds from a deck...  
Much easier for an old guy.

I still cut commercially, and honestly there are so many variables, 1st and foremost, Can you easily start the saw, before or after the rebuild?  if the answer is NO, then I tend to call it Problem #1.   If something wears you out before the work starts, it simply isn't fun.

2nd)  The carbs for most saws made in the last 20 years have now become so cheap, (and so easy to replace) that if you value your time, I would replace the carb to eliminate that part of the starting equation.  But, before you do this, you have nothing to loose to full flush the fuel tank and check the suction line. You can't believe how much stuff goes into the tank if your sloppy on the refills ( and those are at least 1 per hour if running hard)

3rd),  keeping the bar oil compartment clean is a must ( this has nothing to do with starting but everything to do with keeping your  chain as cool as possible.

4th, again nothing to do with starting, but everything to do with having fun with cutting, is keeping your chain sharp. I encounter self proclaimed experts almost every day.  often showing me there bag of 10 chains per saw for the day. Changing a chain every hour or so.  Simply no need.  I have two main saws, each with the chain on the bar,  Each starts sharp in the morning, and 4 hours later hinting at a slightly reduced amount of chips being produced.  If your kicking out dust, something is wrong.  if you see the chain getting hot, something is wrong,  if you see sparks coming off the chain, it could be said that the operator might  need tweaking, not the saw.   Nothing wrong with machine sharpening, but I probably get 6-8 times the life by hand sharpening.

Our saws today are so capable, that it is often us ( the operators) that are the problem.

Now to answer the very original question,  Should we do major preventive maintenance or just buy a new saw?  It still surprises me how high worn out saws sell for,  but also how cheap some nearly brand new saws but still used, sell for.  if your saving X amount of heating cost per unit of wood, then how fast you cut and split this wood, would basically be this same value.   Or basically if you can save $150 for heating cost, and can cut and split that in 1 hour, that is what your time is worth.  

let the chips fly.

kees ijpelaar wrote:

Scott Weinberg wrote:

kees ijpelaar wrote:

thomas rubino wrote:Looks very good Kees;
Is that a 200mm core?

The core is 150 mm, and is for a rocket inside a barrel.

Have to look how to isolate the botten where the stones get on, I think this can be done with
a layer perlite or a ceramic board.

all tips are welcome.

What is the standard brick size over there?   in mm's is fine.

Sorry did press the wrong key so a complain is send.

I have use bricks who are for the bottom and the sides are 30 mm thick x 105 mm wide and 21,2 long
the two top bricks are 55 mm x 105 mm x 21,2mm cut in on the corners for adjust to 15 cm tunnel.

Numbers don't seem to be correct, are you sure?  Generally, "long" would be largest number, is the 21.2 suppose to be 212mm long with 105 wide?   But with your numbers a split does now work out to being 1/2 of a full thickness?    Just trying to work it out.