Jim LaFrom

I know this thread is a bit aged but just to answer Allen's question and provide info for future viewers, the duct is called spiral duct and it is indeed used in HVAC.
Jim

allen lumley wrote:et al : My bad, I was so focused on what I wanted to do with the piping > use it for a horizontal chimney that when I asked for a brand name or two I called it smoke pipe
Stove pipe, yes I know it is hevac, living in a township with no stop signs there is not much commercial development, and I am rather glad till I need a fitting ! Thanks
everyone any way ! for the craft BIG AL !

Philip Durso wrote:
Still researching a good plant for making the soap. Although the olive trees may work for that as well.

How about these http://www.pfaf.org/user/cmspage.aspx?pageid=49
Also Equisitem- "scouring rush" depending on your intended use.
Jim

For those of you considering the rental/ B and B route of getting around this problem I would caution you that most towns/cities have 'transient taxes' that apply to hotel, motels and B and B's I don't care how far out of town you 'think' you are. This tax is fairly steep because the cities feel like it is 'free' money coming into the community from them outsiders. If you are going 'legit' this is something to at least be aware of if not comply with. Just another cost of doing business. If you call it a rental you can have other headaches of actually having to go through a formal eviction process if there is someone that wanted to outstay their welcome and usefulness. An unwanted tenant could end up on your property 30 days to over 6 mos with the right kinds of shenanigans. So a trip to a lawyer would be money well spent, before establishing your business identity and model you are thinking of following. It's not a problem when everyone is in agreement, It can be a BIG problem for you when you aren't in agreement and the other side knows their rights. It can REALLY get pretty UGLY .

Satamax Antone wrote:Jim, which secondary vent?

This is the main vent. The chimney has been closed on top, and and the roof rebuilt above. My landlord doesn't want me to do anything to this. So, here's what i'm stuck with.

OH! That can't be good. Thought there was an additional flue vent above. Tough to tell from a pict. Good Luck with that.

Satamax Antone wrote:Well, i have something similar, and it doesn't stop the downdraft in the chimney. I have to fight with it everytime i light the stove. Mind you, if i had the chimney insulated, it might not be that bad.

It may be easier than you think. There are already commercially available dampers for chimney tops. http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/4678/choosing-a-chimney-flue-top-damper About the only drawback for use with RMH's is that the SS pullwire dangles down the flue pipe.

Satamax, I think I would be ripping that secondary vent out ASAP. That will cause nothing but trouble.

Paul,
In the podcast you kept hammering on the idea of cob ductwork. Don't know if you are just trying to do this with ZERO dollars but it sounds to me like what you want is actually clay sewer tile. This is a fired clay product was used in residential building for a long time. Kind of being replaced by ABS or PVC piping these days, but the point is that this stuff had accessory fittings like elbows,45's, wye's, etc. this stuff is probably still hanging around in plumbing wholesalers yards. I would imagine this would be perfect in the applications you are talking about. Certainly would lend itself to uniform structures.
Jim

As to your varying temps. The wood is the only varying factor. Hate to suggest 'just one more thing to buy' but if you have made this big a commitment to burn wood, it would be money well spent to get a wood moisture content meter. You would be surprised in the differences between the sleazy wood dealers and the honorable ones. It's that or prepare to buy enough for 2 years supply so that you can properly season that wood one extra year to make sure. It has to be the differing moisture content that is making the difference. Keep a stiff upper lip. we're rooting for you.

Jason LaVoy wrote: I'm interested, is there a way to get on a list so I don't forget about it?

Jason once you reply to a thread you will get reminders every time someone else comments. Definitely a poke in the ribs.

Paul,
re: The Shippable Core

I know this is an evolving topic as we speak but....

I was wondering if you could expound on the criteria you and Eric would go by, to 'BLESS" a RMH core, to feel like a stove or idea or plan was an endorsible idea if we were to either present to you as a finished project, a plan or a goal to shoot for. REALLY, what do you see is a truly realistic, marketable stove concept?
1. How much would a core retail for? (2x+ the materials and manufacturing costs.) vs. how much would people be willing to pay? (It would be great to get other feed back on that from the rest of the audience.) (Yes the 'everything for nothing down' argument will always be there on the sidelines.)
From your own personal experience you can see that JUST the materials alone could easily hit $100+. Then who works for free? What's your time worth? Other business related expenses like P and O.
2. Since we really can't measure BTU's, how about some target temps at the feedtube, burn tunnel, bottom of the riser, midpoint of the riser, top of the riser.
3. How much time and effort would be required by the end consumer? Is this going to be plug and play? Are you considering maybe a wooden burnout model where the end user provided their own cob mix? Or the consumer tracks down their own barrel or perlite.
4. I personally can't see how shipping a cob product could make any sense. I'm imagining that the breakage factor alone, due to poor handling by third parties could eat up ANY possible profits when claims are brought back to the manufacturer for shipment damage.

I can't think of many other parameters to set up but a discussion would help to clarify the discussion.