Fox James

Good luck with your idea, I have built half a dozen stoves in my area but I did not make any real money, certainly not as much as a tradesmen on a building site.
However money is not the be all and end all of life, if you can sustain a living from building rockets stoves then I would consider that a success.

The basic J tube with the correct height riser is a very good and reliable stove, heat rises and it just makes sense to make use of that fact.
Riser less stoves need a very good chimney with very little restriction and often a bypass as well.
I have been developing a very small 4” riser less core that generally works very well but requires a very direct route  to the chimney and it must be a good vertical chimney.
Many of the commercially  available box stoves are getting better and better with insulated internals and preheated secondary air.
Where I live these box stoves are placed inside close fitting fire brick enclosures making them more like a RMH.
You may find my youtube channel interesting as it follows my endeavours and problems developing the tiny vortex stove and also my own version of the J tube
https://youtu.be/vt9kmbhQC1k?si=QzZr7n7sxoqScbJr

Ceramic flooring tiles break readily, they dont turn to dust or anything like that but fracture as soon as heat is applied.
My locale stove store sells heat resistant ceramic tiles but they are only 4” square and still crack after a bit of use.
Exactly as Cristobal says, kiln shelves cut very easily with a decent wet saw.

Yes and stainless is prone to warp as well, if there are different Temperature zones the metal can distort.

I have lots of videos on my youtube channel featuring the 4” vortex stove and the vortex 6” J tube hot plate stoves.
The J tube I have developed over several years to be an excellent hot plate and is just superb for cooking and space heating.
The 4” vortex stove is very compact and powerful but does not have the small control or consistency  of the J tube.
Please look through my channel and find lots of videos about both cook stoves.

I have made a few small J tubes, they are table top size.

Paul LeMay wrote:Yes, I am interested in avoiding the steel oil drum design or the steel rocket tube. All brick. Thanks

Hi Paul, I have read your desire to gain info on masonry heaters only but, I think that once you grasp how a modern rocket stove and brick bell is constructed and how it works, it might broaden your prospective and change your mind.
From the outside there need not be any difference in appearance  at all, in other words a rocket mass heater is fundamentally the same apart from the rocket engine is more efficient and the whole system easier to build.
I can understand the confusion in relationship with the somewhat dated oil drum designs but that need not be the case at all.
In very basic terms….  a modern rocket mass heater comprises of a very efficient fire box with a door and viewing window that is situated inside a brick enclosure.
The brick enclosure only contains the rocket stove engine and no complex additional brick work, the actual size of the enclosure is defined and documented and is based on volume so it can be made into many shapes to fit your requirements.
So in summery, a modern rocket mass heated, is a very direct alternative design, that can look from the outside,  virtually identical to a more traditional masonry stove.

I think it is a well made video, good workmanship and he even mentions the dangers of using ceramic fibre but still uses the stuff!
I for one would not want that inside my home, every time you attend the fire you could be exposing yourself and family to toxic dust!
I did actually ask that question in the comments some time ago but never got a response.

Hi Ben, I am just checking that you know the risk involved with ceramic fibre?
Just be very aware that if you should ever need to expose or manipulate the riser once it has been fired, it will release millions of toxic particles into the air.
If it is sealed in and not accessible then you are good?
There are products available to seal the surface that work to an extent.

Good luck with the new build, exciting for you and hopefully a Success!
PS good point with the ceramic fibre riser as that would be extremely unhealthy option!
If you even touch the stuff once super heated, it just produces  so many air born particles!