Dan Dronberger

Riot bewar wrote:

Tristan Vitali wrote:
I'd think it's best to go with as dense and homogenous of a material as you can - straight (finer but gritty) sand and good clay, a little heavy on the sand - for at least an inch or two right around the heat source as it will conduct the heat a bit better and provide a better seal (less chance of thermal cracking). I'm a complete newbie to the hands-on though, so I might be wrong on some things  I know limestone does break down at a somewhat attainable temp but pretty sure that's not too much of a threat outside the burn tunnel and heat riserr]Will the chipped lime stone work for the inner cob?

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Too good

If you are referring to the chipped limestone in the cob. You are correct. It sets up so hard a 16 lb sledge bounces off with little damage. Pluss I had only one crack in the seat area. Where it was the thinnest. (about a 1.5 thick)  I would recommend using it and will use it again on the next RMH.

Picked up the pavers from the creek. (need a few more) Washed them and put them in place. Now let the drying out begin. Been cool enough to run it in the morning with the windows open to let out the smell and moisture. Just need to add the wood in front of the cleanout and a few more bricks. Then it will be done for this winter. Next summer the real fun begins with pulling down the old fireplace and chimney. Then build a new sun patio and a bigger RMH with a batch box.

thanks for watching...

Gerry Parent wrote:

Dan Dronberger wrote:Still debating on a door or just a hole in front of the J tube.

Not sure what your referring to? A door to access what?

The cleanout in this pic.

Moved a ton of brick today. My arms feel like noodles... Sides are painted. The first run of bricks are laid. Added cob around the heating tube. Hope it helps transfer the heat to the brick faster. Should have the 2nd heat tube installed in the morning. Then button up the sides.

Still debating on a door or just a hole in front of the J tube. I put the cleanout plug from the old rmh from NM. Need to be able to access it.

pic of today progress

framed out the box today. Made it 24" tall (28' from floor to top) The sides have flashing between the 2x10s. The thought was it would radiate heat from there too.

Now paint...What ever Blondy chooses. Then fill it up with fire bricks. The bottom half will be firebricks the rest with paver's. Still got to go get the paver's from the river were the city dumped them. Free pickings. Going to get a big load as I need some for the front patio too.

@Santamax Antone A batch box would be nice for the convenience but I don't mind feeding the beast.

Got it lade out and the perlite cob mix around the riser. Even very wet it rocketed and have excellent draft. Going with another 6 inch and using what I have on hand. Had to buy a T and adjustable 90. The rest we had here. Also had to buy another bag of perlite @15.00 for 4 cubic feet. The ONLY place that had the big bag and cheapest was a grow store. They also had big bags of vermiculite too but I went with the perlite.

Pics are labeled... I'm off to a HOT shower. It's been a long day.

More pics to come.

Satamax Antone wrote:

Dan Dronberger wrote:

Satamax Antone wrote:Is is cold in OK?

65f ATM as an early cold front just blew through with rain for 2 days. Back to the 80's for the next few weeks.

I mean, in the depth of the winter.

OH OK...lol It can be. Lowest I've seen it was -15f. Alminac is saying we'll be cold N wet this winter with lots of the four letter word SNOW... The average cold temps are in the 20's. So not to cold. This house has 2 types of wood heat. A brick fireplace that need new flue pipe. That hasn't been used in years. Would like to tare it down and put a sliding door to a patio. That can wait till next summer. The main wood stove is a old wonder wood stove. It works well enough but burns a ton of wood. RMH will cure that problem.

Satamax Antone wrote:Is is cold in OK?

65f ATM as an early cold front just blew through with rain for 2 days. Back to the 80's for the next few weeks.

Well I no longer live in NM. We're back in my home state of Oklahoma. My dad passed and we got the house. It's on 17 acers of wooded land.

Now to build another RMH. Once again I'm lucky to have most of the materials already here. That includes about 1,000 + firebrick from a ceramic kilm we tore down in the late 70's. The soil here is red clay and the sand will come from the river up the road. Found a half of a bag of fire clay in the barn. That should be enough for the J tube. The only thing to buy is the perlite and a few T's for the cleanouts and maybe pebbles. Have enough of the 6" pipe for the mass. Will be using the barrel from the RMH from NM. Its a little rusty but still usable.

The only thing to decide is build a cobb mass or a pebble one. The ese of building a pebble mass looks to be the way to go, because the time is short before the cold sets in. That way there is no lag time waiting for the mass to dry. Pluss I have enough lumber to build one as big as we want.

If anyone has any cons against a pebble mass. Please speak up...

Pics to fallow as the build begins.

Three year update. Still haven't put a finish coat on it.

Only have one small crack in the seat area.

Last season here in SE NM. only used 100 pallets.

This season with a record warm winter only used 40.(so far)

Haven't had to do any maintenance other that cleaning fly ash out of the pipe.
The steel 6"x6"x3/16"riser I think will last another season. Seen some flaking but nothing to worry about.

Barrel is well cured, black like a cast iron skillet.

Overall It was the best thing I have done to cut down on the wood consumption and still stay warm. Sometimes to warm LOL

What I find that is cool about it, is the smell of the wood burning out side. Not a smoke smell but a sweet like smell you get from smoked meat.