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[jackel440]

I have been trying to decide if i want to just buy plate steel and then have it rolled,or try to find pipe in the diameter i plan to use.I have been leaning on just getting the plate.I was driving by a local well drilling outfit ,and they have huge pieces of pipe laying around.Looks like there might be some cutoffs laying n the back of thier property.I hope to get some time to stop over there next week and see if any of it is for sale.I will then see how much it is going to cost me and then start saving for it

[willieG]

check out your local scrap yards as well as pipe line company's if you happpen to run across any pipe to meet your design requirements i think you will find it at least as thick and perhaps a little thicker than the plate you plan on buying and it is all ready rolled  and best of all, it can likley be had for 1/2  of new price

also if you are just in the "collecting stage" you do have time to "shop and save"

[MarkP]

WillieG is on the right track.  I wanted to have 1/4" A36 steel rolled to form a 48" diameter pipe 5 feet long.  To have new steel rolled was going to cost me $2000 in Charleston, WV.  That doesn't hardly make it worth building.  "Slightly used" steel works just as well, and at a much better price.  Hot water can't really tell the difference.  I used flat plate and built a square stove, and ended up welding for a lifetime.  ROUND IS NICE.

[willieG]

gonna post up a few pics of the "goodies" i have aquired so far  got  some smoke stack allready lined with refactry and some 42 and 36 inch pips as well and also got some random lenths of pipe for tubes and smoke stack

may just start this thing this summer in my spare time

[willieG]

number 2

[willieG]

number 3

[willieG]

and finally

[MarkP]

Is there a "rule of thumb" on the ratio of water tank size to firebox size??  When I built mine, I had nothing to go on.  I'm really pleased with it so far, but I see most stoves with a much larger firebox and less water than I have. 

[willieG]

i dont think anything is cast in stone on water capacity but im going for lots of storage on my next one.

i think my heat collector will hold about 150 gals. but my storage tank in the garage will be 1000 gal or more

[jackel440]

willieG  awesome pics.Thats the same kind of cutoofs I have seeen laying out in the back of the local well drilling place.They have some huge stuff over there.Time is definatley on my side.I am not in a major hurry.I plan to be working on this all summer.I have another millwright friend who has a shop I can get my stuff sheared and rolled if i go that way.

WilleG  Wow refactory lined tube! Are you planning on using that for your stack?You said something about tubes.Are you planning to run water tubes through the burn chamber?Similar to a steam tractor boiler?I had thought of doing something like that,but i don't want to spend all the time welding in tubes.Or are you planning on trying to make a large gassification type system?I have thought of doing building one,But decided on going with a standard boiler design for now.I can always build another to wxperiment with later.I will let some of these other companys spend thier time and money working out the bugs in the design.Then I will build mine.

I plan to have a large water capacity in my design.I will have water storage in the future.I am planning on 1000 gallons too.I think that is the way to go.

[willieG]

jackal i am thinking of actually a three (3) barrel stove...a 42 inch pipe around a 36 inch pipe and the space between (that i now have filled with water) will be filled with sand and insulated outside that with 1200 degree insulation...then a piece of that lined pipe above that with some sort of added air to promote burning of the gasses..then into another  barrel above that  that will have tubes for the heat to travel through and my heat collectiong water  on the other side of the tubes...this pipe will be in 2 sections so the heat passes one way in the bottom half and back the otehr way in the top half and then out the stack (hopefully this will be a much more efficient stove than i have now) and it will open on both ends so i can brush the tubes..also i am thinking of many many tubes..and then if cooling too much i can plug some tubes

i will be experimenting a lot on this one i think

i will retire late this summer and it may take another year to get it put together but it is kind of a side project

at least that is what i am thinking this week!

[jackel440]

willieG  That sounds like a very interesting project.Sounds like you are trying for some sort of gassification unit.I have tossed this idea around alot.I will go with a regular style burner for right now.I plan to burn some different materials in mine so I don't want to try a gassification type burner.
I am going to be trying to burn dried and screened horse manure and bedding.I have heard some good information on the heat output of burning it.I thought if i could mix some of it with my wood it would be a good way to use it beside hauling it off.

[willieG]

willieG  That sounds like a very interesting project.Sounds like you are trying for some sort of gassification unit.I have tossed this idea around alot.I will go with a regular style burner for right now.I plan to burn some different materials in mine so I don't want to try a gassification type burner.
I am going to be trying to burn dried and screened horse manure and bedding.I have heard some good information on the heat output of burning it.I thought if i could mix some of it with my wood it would be a good way to use it beside hauling it off.

if you lived close by me i would trade you dry hardwood, pound for pound (ton per ton) for your horse manure..my strawberry plants would love it

[jackel440]

willieG  That sounds like a very interesting project.Sounds like you are trying for some sort of gassification unit.I have tossed this idea around alot.I will go with a regular style burner for right now.I plan to burn some different materials in mine so I don't want to try a gassification type burner.
I am going to be trying to burn dried and screened horse manure and bedding.I have heard some good information on the heat output of burning it.I thought if i could mix some of it with my wood it would be a good way to use it beside hauling it off.

if you lived close by me i would trade you dry hardwood, pound for pound (ton per ton) for your horse manure..my strawberry plants would love it

  Yes it is great for the garden.I gave some to a guy and his rose garden is just awesome looking since he started using it.I have a cousin who drives 2 hrs in her truck to get it for her garden.We bed our horses in a fine sawdust from the local sawmill.It sets out here and gets nice and black.
Too bad you aren't closer you could come get all you want.

[willieG]

i think if you were to try burn that fine stuff you would need a way to "stir' it up or feed it into the flame
otherwise i think it would lay on the floor of the stove like ash and smother itself