tony uljee

i bought 2 s/steel drums some years back from a guy who used to supply the "winegum /pastile" making sweet industry with natural fruit juices---from bramble fruits and elderberry---all hand picked by locals in the season--they only used s/steel --no plastic --not even hdpe---unlike the factory i worked in decades ago ---importing mushrooms in brine --shipped by sea  from the other side of the world---took months to arrive ---we had to open up the drums and tip them into vats---foaming up inside ---they were sliced and steam cooked in jars ---for sale at your favourite shops.

quality build , very high standard achieved there and looks a very handsome result ,  congratulations

Phil is in the manuka honey producing country of the world , they might be using s/steel barrels for storing /shipping --as its required for high value medical and human consumption food products---any damaged one would be rejected for further use.

well thats a bugger ---could you knock up an "A frame" with some round pole /trees ---include  a  top and bottom  brace ---to support the tree trunk at the corner--- where its resting on the smoke shed roof ---prevent it from crushing down further with the build up of more snow---and perhaps nail up some upright poles at each roof  corner with cross bracing to just keep the roof in place for now---the trees weight -- is now  keeping it pinned down from the wind lifting at least---when good weather comes round ---cut that tree into stove size pieces --- keep it in a special place to dry out ---and then BURN it ---that will teach it .

sorry thats Lars Falk ---not Valk----and 32 years with swedish stoves

Lars Valk , has a web site and a book on those types of stove , and theres many drawings on the internet on the inner layout of these ---enough to follow and build one  , Solid Rock Masonry site has done a swedish tile stove restoration build for a clients imported original .

looks impressive but dated to 1948 , might have been designed to theories and formulas of its day ,but with no testo meters or thermocouples and computor like Peter v/d Berg has been doing , perhaps if it could be replicated and investigated some more, i would also been curious as to how to calculate its heat output and its consumption rate of wood .

i watched a Bruce Lee film clip with him playing table tennis ---(ping pong)--- with a pair of chop sticks---

i used fireclay and builders mortar sand for my stove build in the ratio recommended by Matt ---and others --with a dash of  fire ash ---which made the mortar a bit stickier----i  did have problems with the sand being too coarse --lots of small  stone---and the fireclay had a lot of hard biggish crumbs in it ---had to sieve it for a nice smooth mortar mix---should have bought plasterers sand ---could not source a fine- er fireclay though---there s only one supplier  over here---i did find that the mortar was slow to dry and gave a weak bond---which greatly improved once the stove s bricks got really heated up ---then the mortar colour changed from a dark brown to a light beige /white grey and it set much harder ---which now takes some effort with a steel tool to remove or scratch out a joint ---as compared to when its in the dark brown state and your finger/finger nails can rub it out of the joint----i still have the lowest course of  bricks with a light brown colour mortar joint ---the stove base i can never get above 110 C even after several firings on a warm day---but thats no problem as the above layers of weight keep it all together----but even the hard set joints are easy to erode if a damp cloth or squirt of water is used on them---i have started lately to brush/wipe the stove bricks with a lightly -- raw linseed oiled  paint brush ---picks up the colour of the bricks and dulls down the mortar joint a bit ---which i prefer---might give some water proofing as well----  i dont think the fireclay in the mortar sets up from the stove s heat as this is well below its rated firing temp  -----so any fine clay does work as a component of the mortar

if its the same stuff we find in irelands hardware shops ---the graphite black used on cast iron wood stoves is a paste rubbed on with a cloth---