thomas rubino

Today, I gave my baby Dragon her first lipstick, (brick red of course).
She is still a youngster, wet behinds the bricks, but they grow (heat) up so fast!
I must admit that it perked her up and she is looking good!
I'll be experimenting with hanging her bling soon.

Like her big sisters Shorty and Shop dragon, this early beauty treatment will need to be reapplied as she heats up her internal furnace.
Every girl likes being  pretty, even Dragons.

Hi Scott;
The exhaust stack is called a plunge tube when it enters the bell through the roof, rather than outside the bell.
It then extends to within a few inches of the floor, commonly a funnel shape is added at the bottom to encourage the gasses to vent.

It is not commonly used, as sealing at the roof penetration can be an issue.
Also there is no easy way to inspect the pipe, or the condition of any insulation wrapped around it.  

Hi Matt, great news your building a Shorty!
You are going to love her!
I installed a temperature probe in Shorty's riser, unfortunately it was a type K, since then I have learned a type N is needed.
Before it stopped working I was only getting temps in the 1500F range as my bell was still drying out.

With a plunge tube, you would for sure want to insulate inside the bell.
However, no need for expensive double wall stainless, or for Superwool (unless you already have some), Rock wool  is fine to insulate the plunge.

I will tell you that with her expanding riser Shorty is very casual about burning.
Oh make no mistake, she burns great but she will not  blast heat like a first generation does.

This morning when I checked the room temperature in the uninsulated studio, it had only gone down three degrees overnight!  
To facilitate drying I have been leaving the intakes open all night.
This morning the static draft temperature in the chimney pipe was 140F,  very nice.
This stove is still wet and will be for a while, holding 140F as a draft temperature is a good indicator on how things are doing inside the bell.
Outside the bell things are also looking good, the concrete is drying, there are NO smoke leaks, and the bricks are turning white!

Looking good Jordan!
I have never seen a feed tube insulated  before,  most are just cobbed.
It should help keep the heat heading into your bell.

This  morning I lit her off early and then left town.
This evening upon returning I gave her a new load.
When I returned home I found the outer bricks starting to change color.
It  may take a week or two but a sure sign the drying process is well on the way.

Thank you Peter!
Indeed she has performed outstanding!
We installed a pipe to create a bypass , we could not hook it up and did a cold start .
It has performed so well that I have ordered a cap to securely seal off the bypass pipe as it is NOT needed!   (I love it!}

Her "out of the box success" come from your diligent hard work in development.

Gerry and I had it easy.
All we had to do was "Follow a proven plan and get proven results!"

We finished the Studio Dragon yesterday afternoon.
We gave her about an hour of burn time, and then let her go out for the  night.
For a first firing of a soaking wet / cold masonry build it did outstanding.
A few small smoke leaks and plenty of steam rising (that looks like smoke).

This morning at first light I went out and the chimney still had steam rising from it!  That means moisture has been venting all night!!
Today, she took right off, better/ faster than last night.
We have kept a smaller continuous burn going all day to dry her out.
We are up to 155F on the chimney.  
After about 10 hours, the outer skin of the bell is finally heating, almost up to 100F near the top but still 55 down on the floor.
The bricks are glistening  with water droplets, and the studio feels like a sauna!
There is a puddle on the floor by the outlet box.

Tomorrow I will light her off early, but then I will be gone all day returning Gerry home.
On Monday I will be home all day , and she will continue to dry out and heat up.

Use a soni tube it leaves a perfect bore

Hey Rico,
You do not want to use any metal as sacrificial.  It rots apart and falls down into the riser, temporarily restricting it.
To build a fireclay/ perlite riser you use a concrete  soni tube  as sacrificial tube, it just burns up.
However, to much moisture in your mix will cause the tube to sag and deform the riser.
Pour the riser and fire the stove on the same day

Mix??? I don't remember it has been many years since I made one, lots of perlite and just enough fireclay for it all to stick together.