Homemade Flexible aluminum OAK pipe/tube/duct

I can't find anybody selling replacement pipe for my OAK to save my life. I've either went to or called every hardware store, farm store, stove store, and auto parts store that I know of within driving distance and nobody has anything close to the 2" flexible aluminum pipe that I need. I've been on ebay, amazon, and every hinkey fly by night web store that turns up in the first couple pages of several search engine's results. And still no luck. So last night, after waiting around all afternoon for the last local stove place to blow me off instead of calling back like they said they would I decided **** it, I'm going to try to make my own with foil tape and bailing wire.

It worked out really well. I figured I can't be the only guy who ran into this problem so I might as well throw together a little how I did it for anybody else having a hard time finding aluminum flex pipe.
I found a piece of 1 1/2" schedule 40 PVC that had about the right O.D. (1 7/8") to use as a form

First I hung the pvc pipe off the edge of the table and wrapped a layer of foil tape around it with the sticky side up. When you get yourself, the tape, and the pvc situated just right it's pretty easy going. Just twist the pipe with one hand and guide the tape on with the other, pausing to peel off the backing strip off the tape as necessary. Just let the tape roll on the floor. Try to overlap about half the width of the tape. Continue on until you reach you desired length of


Now get a couple strips of foil tape read to go

And let your bailing wire unravel into a rats nest on the floor.

Get a few wraps of bailing wire around the end and use one piece of foil tape to hold it in place and keep it from unraveling as you go.

Now wrap it just like the tape. Spin the pipe with one hand guide the wire with the other. I tried to maintain about a half inch space between the wire and that seems to have worked pretty good, doesn't have to be perfect just close enough. I think a smaller space would make your flex pipe more rigid and a wider space less rigid, but I haven't tested the theory. When you get to the end use the other piece of foil tape to hold the wire in place

Snip the end of the bailing wire.

Now flop your roll of foil tape around and wrap it with a second layer of tape sticky side down. Just like before twist the pipe with one hand and guide the tape on with the other, pausing to peel off the backing strip off the tape as necessary.



rollin' rollin' rollin' do-do do-do do-do .... It is kind of slow goin' especially when you have a long piece to make.
Stay tuned, I hit the picture limit for one message.

When you're at the ends be careful not to get too much sticky side down on the pvc it will make it hard to remove your flex pipe.

The flex pipe should slip right off the pvc.

Trim the ends square with scissors and snips

Bingo! flex pipe!

The O.D. for my homemade flex pipe turned out perfect for the hole in my thimble and wall, but the I.D. was a little tight for the pipe nipples on the stove. So, I made flared collars.
Measuring stuff around the house I found this can of air freshener that was the perfect size.

I cut 2 pieces of foil tape each long enough to wrap around the can once

I wrapped the first piece around the can sticky side out

I slid the tape so it was even with the end of the can. I held the end of the flex pipe up to the end of the can and wrapped the second piece of tape around them both, half on each sticky side down.

I cut tabs in the sticky side out tape that was left exposed and folded them over sticky side down.








I got a call back from the stove place today. They can order a whole outside intake kit for me for $60. I think they said it comes with 2' of flex pipe.

Dhosh said:

Oops ... forget bout the PVC thing ... I didn't read your post very well (told you my eyes were bad ....) ... I just noticed you only used the PVC pipe as a form.

Never mind ..... ;-)

Click to expand...

Yup, besides the adhesive on the foil tape which is rated for 325 my flex pipe is nothing but metal

I don't know, that might work for somebody, but If you need to run it through your wall you have to keep an eye on the O.D. as well. The flexible exhaust pipe I've put on my car in the past was meant as kind of a shade tree repair and was slightly oversize so it could slipped over the existing rusted out exhaust pipe. And it was really heavy duty, a hose clamp wouldn't cut it, it had to literally be crimped in place with a u-bolt that also crimped the old exhaust pipe at the same time. I'm not confident it would bend as tightly as I needed it to, I didn't want to ream out the hole in my thimble/wall, and I didn't want to crimp the pipes on my stove...

Dang! That is what I was looking for. The O.D. is about 3/16" too big, but I probably could have made it fit. I'm pretty happy with my homemade stuff, but I'm saving this link for future reference.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#flexible-duct-hose/=ujy55b
(scroll down to "Bend-and-Stay metal duct for fumes)

I remember it being kind of a papery foil. Very similar to the remnants of the original hose that was left on my stove. 10 years ago I could walk into an auto parts store and grab it right off the shelf as a generic package, just pick whichever size you need, Now it seems to be a special order deal sized for a specific make and model. Their computer doesn't list the diameter or length, they couldnt tell me the size until I order it and they receive it...

I'm sure it will be fine. There is foil tape on the joints of the outside portion of my exhaust vent pipe. It has been there longer than I have lived here, I can only imagine it was put there when the stove was originally installed. Rain, snow, wind, and condensation don't seem to harm it. Worst case scenario I'm out a buck or two worth of tape and bailing wire.