Shaun Hermans

Here's their promo video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFJqZ4LddFc

I know pumice is a suitable insulator, but I've also read that cement tends to break up, so I'm wondering if in a burn tunnel these 'bloc's might crumble. If anyone thinks it might be suitable, I might go guinea pig and try it out. But I wouldn't want to go to the effort if someone has prior experience or knows how cement behaves in a burn tunnel?

The hardware store here only has one size of the block - rather large, for $4 a piece. I'd have to cut them to size, but the video makes out that you can cut it with a handsaw.

Hey gang, the local hardware is selling 'poncebloc', which is made from pumice and concrete - claims to be fire-proof and insulating etc. Wondering whether it might be suitable for J-tube?

Looks great Steve! How does it run?

Hey Johannes, how did it go? I'm about to build something very similar. What did you mean 'peter channel'?

BTW I also realised it was cavalier to post without reading the previous ones. I'm going through them now and learning a lot, including other rocket oven ideas.

Thanks Allen, you've been super helpful, and thank you for the warm welcome. I've decided to go with the tried and true design on the left, and save the RMH design for a separate system. It would have been nice to have it all-in-one, but that would place the oven and the exhaust right underneath the pergola, and as far as putting holes in the roof for a chimney, permission from my partner is the most expensive part of any of my projects, and that one just might cost me my balls. An oven next to the pergola has been granted, so me and my balls will work together on that!

Hi Ernie, this is way outdated but it's a shame more replies haven't chimed in. I'm reading through the old posts and its clear plenty of people are in want of information, and perhaps many more are in need but unaware of it.

Firstly, while few people will show up to a pyro workshop to hear about safety, Gary's right that it's first and foremost, and I would add to that legalities, even if it's presented with the attitude that we should learn the rules before we break them.

Secondly - and brevity isn't my speciality (which is why I like whole-day workshops) - while there's heaps of information about what you teach, you guys have an opportunity to deal with those things websites can't offer, which may include:
Experience - no one has the experience you guys have in your field, and many people (myself included) would attend your workshops to learn from the best. I would want to hear stories and examples of experiments which worked and failed.
Hands-on - get us making cob, get us putting together something simple, and if possible, inject some creativity into it so it can be another experimental design to talk to the next group about, to showcase, or for them to dismantle and remake.
Q&A - You're already doing this really well, fielding questions as you go, and while you're probably sick of answering the same questions, there's no quicker way to learn - when a person is ready to ask a question they are ready to hear an answer.
Design mentoring - this is an idea shown to me during a PDC course, where students went away with their newfound knowledge and each had to come back with a design, which was then openly discussed by the group and critiqued by the teachers. I'm thinking this could lead into the group building a mock up of the best voted design.
Well prepared notes to take home - A one-time effort to condense your knowledge can be copied and copied (and revised) and copied, and kept by each person who comes through your course for times when their ready to revisit and remember what they learned. It's difficult to measure how valuable this can be.
Finally, inviting people into the local RMH community - hermits like me need a poke and a prod sometimes to get involved and connected with like-minded others. By the end of a course, if run with this communo-centric view, we can find ourselves volunteered already, and may stay in touch and build community together.

I'm sure much of that has already crossed your mind, and many may have been experimented with, but I hope there's some crumbs worth chewing on in there.

All the best

Shaun of Kingsley, Western Australia

Hi guys, newbie gathering materials for my first build.

Haven't got permission to do a thermal mass yet, so I'm heading down the rocket cob oven road, with a view to adding a thermal mass later.
Please have a look at the sketches and tell me what you think - still in R&D, no idea if it will work, need constructive criticism.
First Design is based entirely on Matt Walker's experimental oven, which seemed to work well. Since the fire goes right through the top of the barrel, there isn't as much an opportunity for re-burn as with a normal mass heater. He has an adjustable baffle which he can close off, redirecting exhaust through a bench.
I'm locating it partially undercover, and I want to minimise smoke as much as possible. Second design tries to make use of the barrel for re-burn, and sends exhaust down then back up into the back of the oven. The baffle is still there, but the idea is to start the burn as clean as possible, warming the oven as it goes, then open the barrel for serious pre-heating/cooking.

Tell me guys, will it start cleaner? Should I even bother with the mod? Does anyone know of a flue finishing under a pergola?