thomas rubino

The solid copper kettle is the one I wanted last year, but could not bring myself to buy.
The original tree of life tile was affected by the heat.
Liz bought me a new one, and it is now sitting on 1/8" of super wool; hopefully, that will be enough to protect it.
A complete surprise was the dueling dragons, which now grace the arch.
Shorty and I both made out quite well for Christmas!
And with Liz's new cat art on the wall, Shorty be styling!

Hi Luka;
Yes, you can use your insulated  7" chimney pipe, with a 150mm RMH (150mm-200mm), which is allowed beyond the riser.
If you build a piped bench, it would need a minimum of 8" (200mm) piping to support the output of a 6" (150mm) Batchbox.
If you build a stratification chamber, you would be ok using a 7" (180mm) final chimney.

Yes, I agree with Nina, your new home is looking great!

Today I will be smoking a standing Rib Roast, some large baking potatoes, green beans with garlic, and crescent rolls.
Oh, and fruit salad swimming in homemade A2-A2 whipping cream!

If you are new to RMHs, you may have read how there is no ash...
Not quite true, it is true that if built correctly, there is little to no ash downstream.
But there is plenty of ash before the riser, in both J-Tube and Batchbox designs.
Starting as loose ash, it will quickly bake into an ash cake several inches thick.
I often do a quick cleanout by breaking chunks of ash cake into handheld pieces (be careful, as ash can hide hot coals for a long time)
I have a nice metal can to haul ashes in.
I built a strong short-handle scoop to remove the majority, and as long as there are no coals, I use a small brush or my hand to clean around the secondary air stub and riser port.
I clean the two outdoor Dragons as often as every two weeks, up to six weeks.
If it is frozen outside, all ash is used on the gravel driveway and trails. When it's muddy, I toss it over the bank.

My new Shorty Core also produces a fair amount of ash, but as it is in our home it only gets two fires a day or less.
Cleaning Shorty is a casual affair when you have the time,

The weather froze up and snowed for a few days, and now we are having another spate of above-freezing temperatures with more rain!
I found time to get the landscape fabric cut and in place, and to add fresh gravel on top.
I have about a four-foot stretch left.

This spring, I finally removed the barrel from the first J-Tube I ever built.
That J-Tube was built in 2013. I bought the barrel for $10 because it had a removable lid.
There were plenty of free oil barrels with bungs, but I wanted a pop-top to inspect the riser.
That barrel moved from the J-Tube to my first Batchbox, and then on to a different Batchbox.
It is as good today as when I bought it.  In fact, I would give it away free to the first person building an RMH who shows up asking for it.
There is no degradation to the metal at all.  I personally have seen it with a glowing cherry red 8" circle above the riser.
A lack of oxygen and the heat-shedding ability of sheet metal make these drums last indefinitely.
Yup, they are ugly, but not as ugly as the mid-winter heating bill is...

If you want a work of art, then build a brick dragon.

Looking Good, Mark!
Great photos and write-up.
I'm with your wife about the bricks; they are so beautiful with their deep red color,
Cleaning the concrete mortar mess off the bricks can be a real chore, a large portion of my smoke shack is still grey!
After you get them cleaned, try my trick: carefully apply cooking oil; it does wonders!

Hi Michael;
Peter has allowed a modification to the published box length, making it easier to load long wood.
Any other size modifications should not be made.
Peter tried everything and only got consistent performance with repeatable emission readings when using the published numbers.
If you wish to experiment, we encourage it, but do not expect the out-of-the-box performance you would get by sticking with tried-and-true.

Consider building a Shorty core rather than a first-generation core.
Shorty utilizes an airframe to supply fresh air to the fire; her door allows the use of an 8x8 glass for a 7x7 viewport.
A  7" or an 8" core would use a larger door and a larger window.
 

Actually, my rural Montana county will happily tell you any used oil is Okeydokey, motor oil, hydraulic oil, cooking oil (at least it smells like French fries)

Their only caveat is that it must not puddle in the road; you need a pipe with holes to drip it on.

I hire a contractor every few years to put down a calcium chloride mix, which really does hold moisture and keeps dust down.

Usually, within a month or two, the county will determine it is time to grade roads... with my new $500 dust coating on it.
Luckily, it still works, just not as well as it did.

Good eye, Craig!
I had three, my very first solar panels, bought in 1983.
I had not used them in years.
They had been leaning against a wall until the smoke shack needed lighting.
I have not tested them for actual output (originally 2.2 amps each)  
But they keep the battery charged through a long, dark Montana winter, so they are still putting out sufficient power.