Rocket Ovens (2 hours and 16 minutes)

I am starting this thread for commenting on and reviewing the content of the video.

Get the HD streaming version here.  

Get the tiny download version here.

Just finished watching the Rocket Oven DVD.

Positive: Tim Barker has a lively personality even though his part of the build was the older version and not that detailed. Putting Tim Barker in the beginning is great as he motivates you to build the oven. Tyler, though not as animated and as lively as Tim Barker, explains things slowly so it helps you understand what he is doing.

Negative: There wasn't enough details and explanation about building and attaching the J-tube to the Barrel part of the oven. A step by step, brick by brick, guide with a discussion on materials would have been helpful. Also, there wasn't any part where the oven was actually tested and running, with temperature.

What can be improved/added: Measurements. Better, more in depth J-tube discussion. Maybe have Tim Barker, and Tyler do a video together to add more liveliness to the build. Adding a testing part, or running part where we see the oven running would have been useful too. And for your audience, I don't think people will mind a video that is over 3 hours so more details and less cuts might help people with why people got the DVD in the first place, to build a Rocket Oven.

Still, the video was worth the HD stream purchase.
Thank you very much.

Posted a comment in another thread, but this is probably a better place.

I loved the video, a big well done to everyone involved and Tyler was fantastic at explaining all the tricky bits that would catch newbies /novice builders like me out.  Overall , I feel confident about putting the oven bit together, but did have one worry about the back of the oven, the fitting relies on pushing the end in and then fixing in place, from memory I think Tyler used 5 rivets, but does this provide a good enough seal to prevent exhaust gases from getting into the oven?

However, the j tube assembly  was skimmed over very quickly and it was hard to see clearly  how the bricks were put together and the metal sheeting that went over it was cut.  Would have been very helpful to see how the j tube was then attached to the stove.

Is this the right place to start asking technical questions?   I managed to acquire a stainless steel stove pipe, will this be ok to use?  

Hi Julie. I don't know if this is the best thread for a reply, but I would not be terribly concerned about ingress of flue gases into the oven chamber itself. For this to happen at any appreciable level, you would need a pressure imbalance between the flue and inside of the oven. This would mean you've set up a draft, and it would really only be an issue if the stack is plugged and you leave the oven door open while cooking. As long as those conditions are not met, there's not going to be much "pollution" taking place. Mind you, since it's a J-tube combustion chamber, the flue gases will be about as clean as possible to begin with, so even a bit of leakage would not (hopefully) taint your food.

Thank you Phil, are you building one as well?

I hope to start one this summer, and may have a second one in the works for a client. Much will depend on when we can schedule the workshops!