Matt Walker continental stove build

still working away , had to abandon the idea of sheeting the flue pipe with corrugated iron as its just to much forcing the pieces to match up , fortunately the corrugated iron can be recycled into my next project ----a duck shelter----so had to buy some flat sheet iron ---which is on its way---in the mean time i have made up a flue cowl from some scrap , and if it does nt work as anti downdraft ---could be hooked up as a phone mast.

the 3 side pipes protrude into the 3 upright sections ,not quite halfway into them , my rough calculations   of flow using the 5 inch stainless flue sections ,meant 2 of them would not be enough , 3 of them would be more than the 6.25 pipe , but with the bends and turns plus protruding sections  would cut back on the extra  CSA  . I now have all the sections up and the cowl , just to wrap it in rockwool and sheet around the pipe work , closed the stove top surface up and closed the stove door , opened the primary air  and there is a slight draw already  , going to try a smoke test ,or if i can get the top glass in and seal off the whole top assembly for a test fire .

tony uljee wrote:in the mean time i have made up a flue cowl from some scrap , and if it does nt work as anti downdraft ---could be hooked up as a phone mast.

Made me laugh! We sometimes start rumours like that with our neighbours - my yurt-pallet-shed is a radome for example

Be careful of wind loading with that top - you may need some extra support. It looks like it will be nice and weather proof though.

needed to roll the sheet iron pieces ,which i intend to sheet around the flue pipe   ,into a 13 inch tube ,or close to it as possible , tried to  wrap it around a piece of 12 inch wavin pipe but this stuff is slightly thicker than i have used before so it just kept springing back , figured that if i could wrap it around a small diameter it could work , so fixed it onto the old telegraph pole ---some pulling and using rachet tie downs got the result needed

heres mid way of the flue pipe , rockwool blanket wrapped around it and tied with galv wire to keep it in place ,then encased with flat sheet iron  on the outside to weatherproof it , homemade twinwall pipe ----warning to all viewers ---do not copy this idea or method --too much hard work , complicated and time consuming , yes it has worked out a lot cheaper ---but if you factor in time and effort at it ---its not . With a light wind the flue pulls a draft through the entire duct channels of the stove --with the bypass closed as well--and even with the top not sealed off at the moment ---just a piece of plysheet  over it --no glass in yet as i have to kneel on top of it ---to fix a heat shield  up above the flue section close to the timber ceiling. ---then seal off the flue to the top connector piece ---tested this by using a smouldering piece of cardboard in a pot placed near the primary air inlet---enough draw to pull the smoke in and bend it around the intake .

Lots of effort and time but you must enjoy the satisfaction as well?

it would be satisfying if i could have to kept some of the deadlines for fire up day , but at least its closer now  that i have completed the 3 sections which make  the 4 meters of straight up flue pipe---done in between some  showers of rain ---another storm warning on the way for friday ---so i will be making up the steadies/stays to brace the flue up onto the building . This is the old stove from which i will be cutting out the oven box and re hashing the door from it as well---rest of the stove could be saved and re built into a top loading pot belly type stove ---another project if i find someone who wants it.Found some pics of another stove builder who makes these bread oven stoves---and this batchbox ? style stove heated bench build in brick---but i dont have any further info about them or him as the pics were nt found by myself.

its been a bit windy over here lately , no electric for 2 days but we have the old wood range --so hot cooked meals and coffee/tea ----candles in empty wine and cider bottles--lots of talking done --binging out on the tins of biscuits left over from xmass--- i had to fill a barrel of water  from our bore before it all kicked off--and opened up the old outside well top to lower a bucket down --water for the dogs and ducks---our wind speed s peaked at 154kph for awhile , averaged out to about 130kph for the 16 hours or so ,  tore off two  top sheets of my polytunnel but i was able to salvage and repair the next day ----small battery powered drill saved the day---thankyou p arkside---tunnel has taken on the look of a patchwork quilt now---sudden drop in temp and exposure to wind might have killed off a few of the more delicate stuff ---but nothing major . Biggest shock was the toppling over of 3 fairly large tree s lining the driveway ---huge gap now which is a bummer --plenty timber for the stove in future and a large trunk of larch for a future project to be used---good thing i had put my ducks shelter up in that small front field . Not quite the forces of nature we see happening around the world ---but exciting enough , plenty of fire wood now in the plantation of sitka spruce behind our place---huge blocks of it flattened.  Our trees toppled over ---shallow rooted--thin top soil clay layer directly under neath  can be cleary seen now , that s about 4M high at its highest , nearly 10M in total length and about 30 to 40  cm thick of soil---we now have horizontal trees . But people animals and every thing else all good , same goes for family ,friends and neighbours-------stove flue held up no problem ---but it was vibrating and humming alright.

Thanks for the update Tony - I was thinking of you in the wind, as I knew Ireland had been hit pretty hard. Good that you are all fine. It's nice to have a wood stove when the power goes out!
Those are big trees! Such a shame - maybe useful for more than firewood too. Have you a local saw mill?
Take care and I'm glad to hear you're OK at least.

tony uljee wrote:Found some pics of another stove builder who makes these bread oven stoves---and this batchbox ? style stove heated bench build in brick---but i dont have any further info about them or him as the pics were nt found by myself.

I found the nice mass stove on a blog here :

using onlne translation:

The principle of this stove is to make a fire for two or three hours depending on the desired temperature and the three tons of raw earth that make up the stove accumulate the heat and release it for a very long time. A single fire a day is enough to heat the house; On very cold days I make a fire for an hour during the day so that the stove does not cool down too quickly In the fireplace, the fuel used is scraps of wood from carpentry, construction sites, sawmill crust, collected wood, etc. What is interesting is the afterburner that takes place at the back of the fireplace which can reach 1300°. This temperature was measured by a person who builds masonry stoves using a probe. You can see that everything becomes white and dazzling in the wood of a moment of heating Above the hearth there is a cob bread oven on a sand mould, which allows the pottery to be preheated.

Nice stove! the blog is by the user who appears to be a talented pottery maker, but still no idea who made her stove. The pottery is fired in the arched oven on the top of the stove.

thanks , makes sense that being french --must have been one my gang who can get by in french----was at home from college over xmass----looking up stuff for me ----the limits of not being able to access info from other non english sites for myself ----it was to show the welded steel box oven ---for someone asking about how i was going to make up something similar---i just liked the use of brick to make the heated bench part ---at the risk of being a cob snob --or cob snub --- for the timber----nearest commercial sawmill 60 Km won t do one off logs , local guy with bandsaw type -----prices charged just dont make it worthwhile---so its me ---my chainsaw --and my telehandler ----talking of bricks r ----this turned up when the trees fell over --wedged in the clay underneath---just the one---looks handmade

and its done , well nearly have to cover up that small 4 inch outlet for now ,then work on the oven insert---maybe another coat of matt black ---maybe a cooker hood ---maybe a splashback ----i said nearly done, but its alive and running ---fired it up  into its 3 rd burn and no issues yet--- have to use nice dry kindling and dry newspaper swing the "start" valve flap into position---after about 10 minutes swing the valve flap to "run" position and its away----i have now throttled it down a bit to slowly warm it up ---was running very hot and steaming with water dripping out all over---outside i just have to put up another 2 steadies onto the flue and insulate and sheet the 90 degree bend plus horizontal section . most proberly a few more things to be done but i cant think of them right now ---too many other things to get onto.

Simply Outstanding Job, Tony!
It looks great!
You are going to love cooking on it!

Well done! and thank you for sharing some of your experiences along the way. I do like how robust it looks - the metal edging looks very practical.
Please let us know how it beds in and if you get any niggles or if everything goes smoothly now.

That is just too beautiful to be cobbled together with stuff you had hanging about the place. Excellent job!

thanks everyone , its been a great encouragement to see people engage and like whats been built , the initial prep work and first brick then the first light up was a bit tense ----but all the work  in between was a great experience , the months of planning ,scheming ,fetch and carrying---the almost 3 year s ago to first seeing Matts  Walker STove  and wanting to find out more---all gone --behind me now in  instant almost --when the flickers of red appeared under the ceramic glass---- the reward for being under the spell of RMS . I had to look back on the build pics taken and then to be standing in front of it cleaning out ash and loading up for a burn for it all to really kick in ---cooked my oatmeal porridge this morning on it---could have been the best damn bowl of it i ever had-----but for 2 things ---one thing missing ---a wee dram to add  into it ---secondly ---someone had been cutting up garlic for last nights meal ---and been using that knife in the butter ---so the dollop of butter i used gave it a very distinct and unusual mediterranean  touch to my porridge---that could have been left out maybe. Now a very large thankyou to Matt Remine for developing and making his Walker Stoves available and accessible for anyone willing to have a go.

Congratulations Tony! Seeing your finished product, I was wondering if you went through a lot of trouble separating the glass panel from its attachment points to the rest of the cooking hob? Seems like they often have the attachment points glued to them.

just busy at it now ,loading it up and driving out the water ---lots of it---the top cowl is shedding plumes of white --which disperse /disappear after less than 2 feet ---climbed up the scaffold to nose at it  ---water dripping out of the pipes and a faint aromatic smell to it----onto the hob tops ---i have pulled apart 3 of them each one a diffirant make---all were glued/bonded on the outer edge in places onto the stove body ---corners mostly ------peeled away the outer stainless rims ---being carefull not to tip onto the glass or lever up against it---the adhesive seems to be a polymer type and i cut into it with a stanley flat blade---kept going around and working away at till loose---removed the left over stuff with stanleys blade