Eloise Rock

Good point Glenn! I will do that!

I really appreciate your input, Cristobal. It sounds like you have a lot of masonry experience. Definitely more than me! So I'm grateful for your cautions. The issue with the heatriser proximity to the arched top has made me reconsider a previous thought I had of using the Shorty Core in a sidewinder orientation. Below is an image of the same basic layout with the shorty core. This allows the core to be below the oven floor, hopefully greatly reducing the thermal stress on the arch above. The gases exit the shorty core horizontally, as indicated by the horizontal orange lines in the image. However, in this image, the oven floor is also the top/cap of the riser itself. I am thinking that would give a great amount of direct heat to the oven floor. Then the gasses will pass across the bottom of the floor horizontally before rounding the edge of the floor itself and filling the oven. I am thinking I may need to increase the space for the gasses to go in and out of the oven chamber. The core itself is elevated to keep the oven chamber high in the bell. This also potentially allows for wood storage below. Overall, I like this design better I think.

Cristobal
Thanks for this insight on the potential issue of thermal expansion. I think it should be simple enough to make the oven floor detached so it can “float” around the heat riser. The arched ceiling may be more challenging to deal with. If everything above the heat riser is made from fire brick, would this concern remain? You mention an external tension frame. I am picturing a square steel frame around the outside at the bottom of the arch to keep the sides from pushing outward. Is this what you mean? Or am I missing it? That would not be too difficult to create I think, and could include some hooks to hang some things too.

Sorry Cristobal, I forgot about your question of what’s supporting the oven floor. The left side will be supported by the bricks surrounding the chimney. So there will be a small portion that is unsupported on that side. Hopefully having the rest of the perimeter supported is enough to keep this from being a problem.

Glen and Cristobal, thank you very much for your feedback.

Glen is correct that this is designed as a black oven, so the bell top is the oven top. Glen- you mentioned opening up the oven floor on one side next to the riser to promote heat flow. Is it safe to assume this won’t negatively impact the usefulness of the oven? So long as the oven floor is still getting hot enough to bake on I’m happy. And thanks for the info on ISA. Would you recommend I remove the oven floor from the ISA calculation then?

Cristobal, could you clarify what you mean by raising the riser 10mm? Do you mean make the riser 10mm taller? Or lift the whole core up 10mm? What purpose would this serve?

Thanks again for the help.

-Eloise

Hello again,

I have finally ironed out a stove design i would love some feedback on if anyone with experience has time. This is a 6.3" Sidewinder batch box with an oven above the heat riser. I have done my best to follow all Peter's specifications from batchrocket.eu. If you see dimensions that are not right, please let me know. I do have a few questions below as well.

Core:
On Peter's site the image of the Sidewinder Brick Core shows angled bricks in the fire box. I could not find any measurements for these. Does anyone know what they should be for a 6.3" sidewinder?

Oven:
The oven floor in this design will be flush, or slightly below the top of the heat riser. It is similar to this stove on Peter's site. I am assuming the arch will have to be fire brick because its above the heat riser. Is there anywhere else (besides the core itself) that should be firebrick?

Chimney:
I drew this design with the flue pipe encased in bricks. One of the walls of the chimney is the support for a portion of the arch. What are the pros and cons of this design if any? If i let this brick function as the chimney (with out flue pipe up until the top of the bell, would the chimney then have to be included in the ISA? Also, how much of a gap should there be between the bottom of the chimney and the floor of the bell?

ISA:
I have calculated the ISA at 62.5sqft. This is higher than the target number for a 6" (57sqft), and below that of a 7" (77sqft). I'm hoping this is about right, but let me know if it is too big. I could not find a number for a 6.3" system. My calculation includes the side walls, inside of arch, and both the top and bottom surface of the oven floor. It does not include any part of the core. Should the core be included in the ISA of this design?

I think thats my questions for now. I am also going to do a similar design with the shorty sidewinder core, just to see if I like that better. We will see.

Thanks again for any input you have!

-Eloise

Hello,
I am interested in experimenting with growing fruit from seed. I am wondering if anyone has seed they would be wililng to share or sell. I live in South Central Alaska, Zone 4a/b, Koppen classification Dfc - Long winters (frost dates ~June 10-Sept 1), cool summers (we dont get much warmer than 70F), no dry season. The difficulty tends to be getting things to ripen due to the cool short season.

Some fruits that I know do well are:

Haskaps
Bush Cherries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Saskatoons
Apples (see note below)

I am also interested in trying
Plums
Seabuck Thorn

I found a great resource I thought would share for other cold climate folks https://www.apfga.org/research/fruit-varieties/ This page is about apple varieties, but the website includes information about lots of fruit cultivation in alaska. I would love to try Advance, September Ruby, or Noret apples if anyone happened to have seed - I know that might be a long shot. I also emailed APFGA to see if they knew anyone with seed. I am hopeful.

Anyway, if you have fruit seed for a cold wet climate, I would love to buy some from you!

Thanks so much for your time!

-Eloise

Thomas,
Thanks so much for your response. I am working on some designs, I'll post them for feedback when I'm finished with them. In the mean time the ground is thawing and I've gotten a little distracted with gardening things. But I will circle back around to the stove when I get that dealt with. Thanks so much for your input!

Thanks Thomas!
I did get to thinking that the wild flowers would be a bit much. Plus we have plenty of them other places. And the bluegrass and fescue is what’s in most of the grass mixes around here so it’s great to have confirmation that that’s a good choice.

I’m starting to think about using lower crawling herbs on top the hill? Maybe lemon balm, mints, thyme etc. I’m also going to try to transplant some low bush cranberry from other areas and see if I can encourage them to spread.

Hello,
I am looking for some suggestions in creating a new lawn. We are building a house and are finally done digging things up (foundation, well, septic) so it’s time to get some roots in the ground to a) keep things from eroding away, b) start the beautification process.

There is a fair bit of area that we’d like to have as grass that is thick and soft enough for barefoot walking (we are tenderfoots). Then there is an area up the hill (our whole lot is sloped) that’s kind of a grove with more trees. I was thinking of doing more of a crawling ground cover up there that need not be mowed or tended too much, but can withstand some foot traffic. A friend said her parents used wooly thyme and brass buttons in Idaho. I’m thinking they could work but don’t know much about them. The pictures I’ve seen look more like rocky/dry soils. Ours is more loamy, and we get a lot of rain. Especially compared to Idaho. We are zone 4a/b but we have cool summers- 70 is a hot day here. I have also thought about just spreading some wild flour seeds- lupine, fireweed, yarrow etc. and letting it be. But having shorter ground cover will help keep the mosquitos under control.

Does anyone have suggestions for a hardy creeping ground cover? If it’s edible all the better but not necessary.

Thanks!

Eloise