Stone on stove?

Just want some opinions, my thinking is divided. I had some left over soapstone so I had cut a piece to originally use as a slab for cooking on with in the BBQ. Well, at some point I put it on top of the wood stove, because it really tied into the soapstone hearth pad I built. I also figured it might also hold some of the heat of the stove as well, maybe marginally increasing the length of useful heat from the stove.

After some more thought, I am wondering if this could possibly damage the stove by trapping heat between the stone and steel of the stove, or possibly increasing metal fatigue.

What do you all think?

You know, I was thinking about making some small feet for it out of soapstone scrap, but I happen to have some 1" aluminum tubing that could easily be cut to size for feet. This idea I like! Thanks Bholler.


Ian

Thanks I like it too.

So I did some measurements with the stone. I found the surface of the stone was ~100 degrees cooler then the surface of the stove directly beside the stone, using the same thermometer. Now, I removed the stone and placed it on the hearth pad to cool. After 45 minutes, that little piece of stone was still way too hot to touch (as the small burn on my hand will attest). So the theory is, I may be loosing some max heat advantage by having the stone there, however, it seems to hold heat and release it very slowly. I think, back on it goes! Does it help? Probably not measurably, but every little bit counts in my mind! I think I will make some feet though just for peace of mind. Does it hurt, not sold in this yet. It seems to me the stove is a lighter colour now where I had the stone sitting, but I have had the stone off for a week or so and just had that copper(plated tin) kettle there. I am wondering if there is some copper transfer to the stove surface there now, as I don't remember seeing the lighter area when I removed the stone last week.

Ian