Matt Walker continental stove build

thankyou  Burra and Nancy for pie ,  i have been trying to put down a fire in the stove twice a day now have to force myself not to hang around it all day, and its a whole new booklet of tips to note and learn how to start it up , and how to let it run , best not to crowd to much of a load into it and to keep away from the rear secondary burn tube/nozzle---about midway in the burn chamber seems best---to close up to the rear nozzle and the flames dont start to turn the bend to well ---and the flame path up under the glass is then very low or hardly to be seen --still lots of heat ---but once that red river of fire starts ---heat thrown off the glass is staggering---get the fire started and positioned right and this happens in under 10 minutes----i do have a problem though ---my flue sealing section of pipe ---is a sand seal --this works very well ---but now all the water coming out of the stove is tending to overpower the heat of the flue gas --so it condensates and runs back down ---this is now collecting inside the sand seal tube section ---i might have to drill a small drain hole and connect up a copper tube ---i expect this will stop at some point once the stove is dried out. Heres the door and it seals up very well , so well pleased with that ---been patting myself on the back every time a fire is down ---must stop that now though as its starting to look odd.

I've heard other people have had problems with condensation initially, but I think it does go away in time. Unless the flue gets really hot (so you're losing that heat too) the water will condense on the cooler pipe. I don't know if anyone has fixed that problem yet....

thinking of the condensate ---i dont think it will totally go away as the stove will always produce water vapour and possibly when not in use the stove body will absorb moisture from air ---a lot less than its producing at the moment--current air moisture 75%---which has me thinking that this would have all trickled down into the base of the stove--and would all ways do so---so maybe my sand seal can trap this water ---or some of it and i can add a small side drain off pipe on to it.

I think once you get it dried out well it will settle down and behave.  Not seen any issues with condensation here recently, even with damp wood it's been burning well if not making quite the same heat so fast.  The wood's not green just damp from all the rain.  

I've been stacking the next load on the hotplate to dry out once the stove's up and running. Couple of fattish logs, a few thinner ones and some smallish stick-sized bits which I put up against the hot coals to make it restart promptly.

which reminds me, need a photo of the Tool I made.

at the moment only burning timber offcuts---well dried ---but even with the water steaming out of the stove and flue-- stove is burning hot --i can hear the core moving during and settling afterwards after i had let the fire really ramp up --the river of red pours out over the top of the core and makes it to under the 2nd plate area ---the heat coming off the top is intense---the top layers of brick  clay mortar mix --next to the oven have set up hard ---whilest  bottom 2 layers of the bricks are still damp and mortar is softer . The flue pulls really well even with the wind swirling around in all directions --if its starts to blow a bit ---the draw on the fire picks up really well ---have to reduce the inlets --and it still has a good burn with flame path up and under the first plate area----which have this neat inscription on them

My sodium silicate---waterglass ---that i painted onto  the ceramic fibre board---which became the ceiling roof of the stoves firebox area ---has failed after 3 burn cycles ---it just blistered up and has fallen away ---but along with the 3 to 4 mm of CFB layer that it penetrated into ---a disapointing result but at least there is still 10 mm left of it and the second layer of 13mm board above that---lucky that i did not paint/coat the secondary burn chamber roof with it ---where the temps are even higher --as that would be an area of the core i would nt want to damage ---so once i have borrowed a friends temperature reader---rated to 980 /990 C ---i will check the core s first chamber / firebox area and how  high it gets ----as the waterglass is supposed to be rated up to 1000 C---so if you are intending to build a stove with an all CFB lining ----Do not paint it with a sodium silicate treatment -----i broke my code ---i did not follow the rules ---Matts builds don t feature or use the stuff ----and he does know better---

the failed waterglass experiment , part of the learning cycle ---i have now learnt my lesson ---and i have now also reached an embarrassing position as well---i have run out of dry timber to burn ---i do have a couple of dry logs but these were earmarked to be used on my duckcoop---i did have two of the 1cubic meter bags of logs but gave them to a friend in december ---he has a small wood burn stove and had run out of timber ----the local fuel mrchants only had coal and imported turf briquettes  ---i burn dried turf  in my stove---and have to get through till next cut---so i will have to scrounge up a few old pallets and start on a new program of wood collecting----i will experiment with turf in the new stove ----but i know it will fill up with a lot more ash ---pics of the damage and the blister peels of some of it---both sides

Annoying to run out of dry wood...We ran the whole of our first year on a pile of old (damp) wood that had been collected in a pile outside - leaving it on the top of the range to dry out for a while before burning. It was rubbish! When we actually had good new dry wood to burn life became much easier.
It's good to have neighbours to rely on though when you need a bit of help yourself. Let us know how the stove goes on turf (peat?) I suspect that could be a world first We could cut peat here too, but I've gone for growing coppice wood instead.

chopped up a few dry pallets which were a lucky find being that they were made from the 22mm thick planks for transport of heavy equipment ---a blend of this rough chopped up and the driest turf/peat i could find ---got the stove going on kindling first ---then my blend of bits---yes you can run this stove on just turf once its nicely warmed up ---but the cleanout is double quanties of ash---which i noticed was a fluffy white---my old top loader type stove ---a metal pot belly /small range hybrid ---burns turf hot and steady---but the ash is always tinged with pink and greyish mostly ----the secondary burn on the Matt Walker does happen running turf only but so far its not as pronounced as a timber fire ---and slower to get there---perhaps the moisture level to high ---volitiles too low ---less of them to burn off --
my sandseal of the flue pipe to stove top has started to dry out ---the stove was running for 6 hours today and the top cowl was pumping out water vapour ---dripping out the 3 upright leg sections of it --straight down onto the ground---but by days end ---the stoves performance improved ---the water is leaving the stove finally---a few more weeks should see it mostly dried out

thats it now ---just about done ---just the last section on the bottom of the outside flue pipe --the 90 bend and horizontal section to insulate and sheet over ---i have to remove the scaffolding to do this ---but at the moment i am waiting for a decent morning as i must paint the sheeted top sections and repair a leaky gutter and a down pipe for some re alinement up at that hight on the shed.Inside is done but for the oven insert to make it a complete cooking stove ---running longer fire up times and finally the lowest 2 layers of brick getting warm --still lots of water vapour out the flue ---sand seal still collects water ---i have a plan to drill and tap a brass pipe fitting and run a copper line down to a collection flask ---as i think with the flue running a much lower temperature than an old top loader wood stove---theres bound to be more water vapour not being pulled up --each load of fuel has trapped water ---the air coming in is always above 50% moisture ---currently 70%---maybe there will minimal amounts --and not be an issue----but i am a constant messer ---always tinkering and adjusting things ---mostly for very little to no effect  usually . my observations so far  ---this stove is so different to my old top loader that i have had to readjust all my old habits and ways of thinking to use it properly---big change to inside air quality ---no burnt metal smell ---no pronounced fuel burning smell ---less ash being stirred up ---had to fine tune and get used to more fire starting and having more kindling in stock to use --- the old top loader habit was to close it down and produce a slow burn (BAD) but always embers in the bottom ---enough to load up and get it going with out kindling---it was also slow to get to a cooking heat on top .   I will post up later some other thoughts ---but must dash off now

heres one for Nancy ---running on peat ---turf or sods as we say here ---these are "machine cut " ---last years cut ---but some of it is not completely dry ---my fault ---too long in the bog and rain ---i get it started on timber kindling---then layer up a few sods---few more pieces of what dry wood i can find ---once going add more sods and eventually you get a good flow of fire---i think if the sods were very dry and more dry timber like maple /ash/birch/alder was used---i would get the flaming river to pass under the third plate area-----and if i dropped the c/glass top down  about 10mm---currently i have the glass resting on top of a 16mm stove rope seal with a backing of superwool to make up the gap to the outer metal framework ----the flat piece of 25 x 6mm strip iron on top is just a trim and rests on a tape/ribbon of basalt fibre----to keep it off the glass----i found that the mortar seal kept cracking ---the stove is still moving and settling ---so i am experimenting with just a rope seal ----its all i could get a short notice ----i am waiting for my basalt tape at 6mm thick ----the rope is working ---no leaks ---and copes with any slight movement there might be. ---i also have my self convinced that by running the stove with the primary air intake on a "waxing moon" its does better with the turf

That picture with the stove glass glowing is pretty exciting!

Dry fuel helps all round I guess.

this is the type stove --- a Lachinyaka--that i found the idea of a sand seal for the flue from --there are some others that used this idea as well ,most are bubafonya type stoves from what i saw--

meant to add , its not the glass that glows ---thats the flame path of the gas burning --shinning through ---and leaning over it gives you a temporary face lift of sorts ---tightens up the skin ---nothing is cookable at that temp though---maybe a quick boil up for a brew----any thing else would be turned into charcoal in the pan ---but you can see how Matts concept of the oven built up over the glass works so well-----and now onto my other failure -----the idea i had of trying to use my cartridge gun with nozzle -- to hold a bag of fine clay/sand ,and squeeze out a bead of it for the stove top to rest on -----worked for about 10cm then all the water was squeezed out and it would nt flow anymore---concept would work if you purchased the purpose made tubes of ceramic paste rated for 1500 celsius .

some of my latest observations and the last of my comments as its done now , the stove is performing very well , and my only regret as it is ---i did not find out about them a long time ago and that i had to take almost 3 years to get one ----when i think of all the timber and turf i have burnt over the past and how much effort that all took to gather and process ---to waste so much of it in the old style stoves ---and even more so ---to have been stuck in a way of thinking about solid fuel heating and how a stove should be made ---yes i was able to gather up a lot of the materials to build my old steel range s and stoves and able to weld them ---so the costs might seem lower ---compared to the approx 2000.00 euro i have spent on building my new stove. But factor in all the wasted effort ,work and fuel alone those took ----- i don t want to try and figure out the money cost to add on to this. Then considering how much used to cook on electric for 80/90% of time and the stoves bought and used up ---most of which could never be repaired more than twice in their lifespans ---i have been through at least 5 ---yes i was able to wire up my own connections ,replace cooker rings and stove elements---the odd switch/dial --but mine were cheap and nasty old things ---even so spares cost and get harder to source as time and tech move on---then from first reading about a stove built from masonry/rocks/stone in  a fine homebuilding publication years ago---to wanting one of those expensive top end ranges with the enamel finish  --yes they do look nice ---  but way out of reach for my pocket----well thats all behind me now ---as i was shown how to build what i needed --at my own pace --to be able to space out the costs --no loans or credit involved---no really impossible to source parts ---and nothing i cant fix myself---but mostly i was shown how to adjust and change my  way of thinking ----and all the help and guidance given for free ---thankyou to all of you out there on the forum and to be able to use this permies site ----all comments were helpful in advice from practical and experienced to just encouragement---so thats it ---another big thankyou ----hope some out there is starting on a stove ----tony

Craftsmanship at the highest level and the blow-by-blow accounts have been riveting,  Tony. If I manage to build a similar stove this year, I have your documentation and advice for reference

Thanks , I admire your work and commentary,  perhaps give an update down the line please
Rico

A work of art and most definitely a labour of love! Congrats on your build and lovely, informative thread.

thanks Sarah, yes the labour was in it ---the love part not so much --well i did enjoy building it though---i did surprize myself in the way it turned out---happy with it ---more so that because i followed the rules of building it --and it performs like it should. Had some smoke filled room events as well--- have had weather conditions were there s a temperature inversion and it takes a different start up trick ---some more high wind events also make it blow back when starting up --but i have learnt how to cope and get around that ---a longer fluepipe would solve this but i dont have scaffolding to get to the required work hight ----yet ---another long term plan ---working on it at the moment to connect the hot water jacket up to the hot water tank ---which will then allow me to have my water system connected and usable----happy stoving for now