Batch Box - Old Wood Stove Donor?

I've got this old fireplace insert.  For an assortment of reasons its dead to me and will never again be used as originally intended.  I'm headed to the scrap yard soon and wondering if this idea will keep it around

What if I
a) Cut the back off at some spot calculated to have a certain volume in the box and then...
b) went all Frankenstein and stuck the metal bit onto a bunch of carefully arranged bricks* with a bunch of cob

Would I then have a clever box to function as a batch box?  Its got a door that seals and that seems to be a big stumbling point on batch boxes.  It also has the glass in it for an atmosphere bonus.

I'm sure I might need to do some interior surgery as well, maybe increase the airflow and strip out the "second burn chamber" in it. It has a shroud and a circulating fan that will have to go for sure.

Keep for the future possibility, or scrap it?

*you all know what I mean

Eliot, keep the front and the door. That could be useful for a batch. And if there is a smooth cast iron plate, keep that too, for cooking.

I've used the front, door and sides of a small woodstove and have successfully built a 'sidewinder'batch box space heater that also heats water.

I followed Peters dimensions very closely and it works well. To create the correct firebox size and geometry I used a thin steel frame lined inside with a combination of hard fireclay and lightweight insulating firebricks.

Thanks for the prompt replies!  I'll just affix an organ donor sticker to it, allow it continue as a TV stand and one day I'll hack it apart.

Hi Eliot,    Here are a thread that discuss this very same thing for you to look at:


BBR-firebox-frame-wood-stove

There is another one (but can't find it right now) that's all in french but they install one I think in their yurt.

ah geeze ... Thanks Gerry!  I hadn't found that thread.  Time to add "BBR" to my search terms...

Gerry Parent wrote:There is another one (but can't find it right now) that's all in french but they install one I think in their yurt.