Barrel Stove project

Happy Thanksgiving to all my T-man buddies ! Unfortunately, work requires me to stick around on this holiday so I shipped the family off and will be working on the following project for the duration. I've had several promises for a plate of turkey, gravy and stuffing to be dropped off as well.

When we bought our home a couple years ago, the seperate garage had this pot-bellied stove in it.



I spend a lot of time working on projects out there and have tolerated the stove's in-efficiency for the past 2 years. It doesn't hold much wood and burns hot and fast even with the damper and vents closed. I'd love to put a nice blaze king out there but it's not in the budget so I'm gonna try a barrel stove with some added measures to keep the air-flow in check and regulated.




I've got a bandsaw mill and have LOTS of scrap off-cuts and flitches to keep it well fed all winter long.






Thought I'd post some pictures of the process of putting one of these together, with some changes.






I'm not gonna use the feet included in this kit as I want the stove higher off the ground. I'll weld up a rack to hold the stove about 3 feet off the shop floor. . .

Got a barrel with removable lid which will help with the cleanout. This will also help in loading the stove with the occasional big wood that won't fit through the small door included in the kit; the door will be adequate for most of my sawmill waste.

I cut out the door and chimney pipe with a cutting torch, then built a fire with some of that snow-covered wood; propane torch helped get it going. Once it got burning, the paint burned off in about 20 minutes.





I removed the ashes and with temps in the high 30's it cooled down in no time, allowing me to keep working on it. I put a wire wheel on my grinder and touched up a few areas but for the most part, the fire did its job and there was very little paint left on the barrel. After the wire wheel, I wiped it down with some paint thinner. I warmed the barrel back up with the propane torch, in preparation for a coat of primer.




Anybody who has done any research on this "high-heat" primer and paint, has probably read the reviews of dissatisfied customers saying the paint pealed off or didn't hold its color and eventually turned black. This is a problem if you don't wanna use the high-heat black color. (I wanted to paint it red... what can I say, I'm a glutten for punishment.) Needless to say, I made a purchase with some skeptisism.



There are specific "baking" and cooling instructions when using this paint and they claim the color will hold if you follow them. I've got a plan on how I'm gonna do it and I guess we'll see ... stay tuned.

One of the little additions I'm gonna use is a "tray" to line the bottom of the barrel. I've cut a piece from another barrel which fits nicely.





This will make cleaning out the ashes much easier as I can just pull out the tray and dump it. It'll also add another layer to the stove bottom which should slow the burn-out as I don't wanna fill it with sand, or fire brick.

Primed and ready for heat-treating.

This should go in the archives.

lol, wayyyy nicer job than my 3 stoves...I find they could use a bit more draft than the stock kit provides...youtube has some solutions for that...watch for rust on the bottom rear area from rain down the stove pipe in the warm months...

I spent this Thanksgiving holed up on my shop, missing the day's events and missing the usual family gatherings. Nevertheless, I was happy as a pig in the slop working on my stove. Somebody thought of me and I stopped briefly to enjoy a plate of the good stuff and watch an uneventful football game.



I bolted on the door and chimney pipe fitting and closed the damper. I borrowed a temp gauge from my BBQ grill and temporarily fastened it to the stove, then fired up the propane torch.


I screwed in a 2" pipe nipple which will be a permanent fixture for added air flow. But for now, it held my propane weed burning torch perfecty.



The high-heat paint applications directions say the first curing process has to be held at a temp of 250 Degrees for 30 minutes. This setup hit the desired temp in short order.





I then sprayed on the first coat of paint. It looks somewhere between orange and red but maybe when cured it turns red; we'll see.






The next step calls for curing at 400 Degrees for 30 minutes, then 600 degrees !!!! I don't think this propane torch will get it that hot so I'm stuck wondering what to do. I could add my acetylene torch to the mix but letting it burn for 30 minutes is too much considering the price of the gas. Will have to think on this for a bit. Stay tuned !

Not to get side tracked but if your using acetylene you need to be aware of withdrawal rates. Do some reading on the 1/7 rule for acetylene. Not trying to get in your business but it could make for a really dangerous situation.

Looking good, Aaron.

Just a thought but you could hook your propane to the torch instead of acetylene. You would still use oxygen but at least it would save acetylene cost.

Thanks for the views, advice and comments. This is turning out to be a fun project. Sure I coulda just cut the holes and put on the fittings and called it good but its been fun developing a few other ideas on an otherwise simple project.

Day 3 - A little progress on the stove: Got another coat of paint on the barrel and the first round of heat treating/curing done.



Coming up to temp.



I still haven't figured out how to reach that 600 degree temp the directions say must be achieved, but I have ruled out the acetylene torch - advise from Hillbillyjake and the overall cost was enough to make me go another direction ... what direction is unknown.

But changing gears, I needed to make a fire grate for the inside.

I made use of some snare poles which weren't getting much use. I cut them to length and welded up a rebar frame.







Squared up, and added expanded metal / mesh.



So this is my fire grate .... but at about this point in the project, I got an urge to grill hamburgers ... hmmm ?

Curious, why don’t you want to use sand or brick in the bottom to keep it from burning through?
If it were me I’d add sand underneath the insert tray.

Yep.

I add this to help, in I have used grating like that and mine rusted, flaked and deteriorated faster than i would have liked. If I could get old cast iron grate, I would use that. There is a product my blacksmith called "Catwalk", which is heavy steel and expensive.
What I am thinking about is either rebar like the Game and Fish uses for outdoor grills from the 1960's or making a concrete grill in pieces. I am working on a mason or concrete stove as the most affordable and long lasting alternative based on the Russian stoves.

Great idea to use a barrel with a removable lid. It will make it possible for you to easily make future modifications if you want. I like it.

Thanks for all the input, comments and private messages. I always appreciate everybody's insight on ANY project I post here as there are lots of different view points and ideas on how to go forward. That's part of the reason I post here.

A little progress on the stove

Earlier in this thread, I said I wasn't gonna use the legs from the stove kit but I've changed my mind. I'm welding up a stand the stove will sit on, about 2' off the ground. The legs will bolt to this stand.

Using 2x2" thin walled square tubing, I cut a 10 degree angle on both ends to make 4 legs.



I mounted the stove feet to 2" flat bar that will span the top of the legs. I welded the nut to the bottom of the flat bar which will allow future dissassembly of the stove's feet. (Once the flat bar is welded to the legs, that nut will be inaccessible).






I'll add bracing and an expanded metal shelf under the stove; then paint black - here is the mock-up so far.

Looks like an excellent job. Why so high on the stove? Part of the reason for a low stove is to heat the air near the cold floor.

Hey looks great, should be warm for the garage, watching your mods to the barrel is pretty cool, and just an idea that some others posted were sand or bricks to prevent from rusting through. Well another option that you could do that would also work is the stove cement that you would use as a plaster to hold bricks in place, but just use the cement (it's a special cement)

Bushman not to high jack the post but I would think it is because of combustible like gas being stored in the building with the wood stove. All sources of combustion should be at least 18” off the floor in those situations as not to ignite combustible vapors. Just my guess.

Hey guys, thanks for chiming in. The stove is up that high just for convenience in loading and cleaning. The combustibles is a good point but one I hadn't considered. Bushman (always enjoy your posts BTW) I have a squirrel cage fan mounted up in the trusses which blows on the current pot-bellied stove and distributes the heat, very well including the floor. I'll continue to use that with the barrel stove.

Also hadn't considered the fire brick plaster but as I've thought a little more about it, I think I'll go with sand under the ash tray. My original concern was having to constantly replace the sand, when cleaning out the ash, as there's always gonna be some sand going out. But with the tray on top of the sand, it should be minimal.

I've got a buddy who heats with a barrel stove and he just leaves a thick layer of ash on the bottom and he says it keeps the heat off of the bottom of the stove.

Thanks everybody !

Almost done with the stove ... a few update photos:

In hopes of having better air-flow control, I've used this high-heat caulking to seal the stove pipe mount. Not shown is the same process on the stove door, mounted to the removable barrel lid; sealed with the same caulking (sorry, forgot to take a picture). I also used a gasket on the door. Hoping all these steps will allow me to really load up the stove and control the burn throughout the day.





Leveled the stove and drilled the leg mounting holes




Hooked up the stove pipe, using the existing flue with some mods. The elbows were not my preference. I wanted a straight pipe but this was the existing setup. Removing the elbows would require moving the stove away from the wall and taking up more space. The elbows allow me to get closer to the wall (which was triple sheet-rocked near the old pot-bellied stove). So I left it ... can always change it later if problems arise.




I loaded the stove with the sand and placed the tray on top ... NOT a fan. Thinking about taking out the sand and welding some 1.5" pipe pieces under the tray to give it some standoff, keeping it from resting directly on the bottom. We'll see what I come up with ... just don't like the sand.

What ever you come up with will be perfect in your shop after watching everything you have shared with us. "Ya done good"
Love the stars and strips on the wall

You could use a mixture of refractory cement and perlite. The perlite lightens the mix and gives it a insulating value. This would be more permanent as well.

I used fireplace gasket and around the rim of the barrel, glued on with gasket cement.





For any of you who watch Wranglerstar Youtube videos, this idea to regulate air flow to the barrel, came from him.

Looks like a modified PIT pan.

Very nice work HL !!

Now if that were my stove...... since you aren't putting a flat surface on the top, I would move that pipe hole to the center of the barrel. Weld the old hole closed. Now you can have a straight shot pipe instead of that pipe fire waiting to happen.

Also, you could weld in a baffle in the top of the stove that forces the gasses to the rear and then on top of the baffle so they can exit in the center. Might get more heat since the fire is in the stove longer. Maybe. Might need more draft that way too though

I remember,back in the day used to see those 45 gal barrel stoves with two barrels.One was a firebox and the other barrel was on top-a heat exchanger.They were often used in logging camp workshops with high ceilings.

Ken, thanks for chiming in .... I like the idea. All too often, I concentrate on the now, and don't look a step forward. If I had, I would have mounted that stove pipe in the middle of the barrel and had a straight pipe with no elbows.

I could never close those clamp style rings around the barrel lid. Tapping with a hammer wouldn't work ... even before I installed the gasket. So I made a little modification ... closes tight now !



This little carbide bit in a roto-zip was made to order and worked like a charm cleaning up the ugly vent holes which I originally cut with a torch. They now match the vent holes in the kit's door/vent.




Compare left side to right side ... worked like a charm.



My solution for keeping hot ashes off the bottom of the barrel ....




Seems like its gonna work well, also brought the "ashtray" up to the bottom of the fire grate.



First fire !!!



I've got a few little fixes like welding in an expanded metal shelf on the bottom of the base ... but for the most part ... DONE !

Thanks for checking in and watching the progress !

Very nice work. Thanx for sharing.

Nice job , better than the one that I built ....I like the ash tray idea ..