Barrel Stove Kits

Yes Scotty, Overkill should be my middle name

It's funny when I look at your stove because my buddy is going to be building a stove very similar to yours. He's using a Michiana filter assembly off of a diesel locomotive as the main firebox. It's almost the same exact size and dimensions as your stove. It will probably pretty much look just like that one when finished. What did you use for a door? did you make the door yourself? I'll have to forward him some pics of your stove. I think we are going to build it sometime this coming summer, only difference will be I plan on getting some stainless steel 2" exhaust pipe, drilling holes along (2) four foot lengths of it, and welding them inside the stove to act as secondary air supply. Here's a video on youtube showing what I am talking about. This stove will be used to heat his workshop...

For the door and end caps I used some 3/4" steel plate from an old retired heat treat oven from Clark Equipment here In Jackson MI. The door was my favorite part to make. I built the door, then got It hinged up. Then came the fun part lol, I stuck a drop light and the welding gun through the pipe outlet and welded the small angle and channel right where It needed to be on the door for the rope seal while Inside the burner. When building this I thought about adding a second smaller pipe to the top, kinda like a double barrel stove. A few 2" tubes ran long ways through the upper pipe with a squirl cage blower mounted to the back to blow the heat through It. My biggest worry with that was creosote build up because of the temp change from the fan cooling the tubes. I have used the old style magic heat units with the pull rod to keep the tubes clean, I did'nt want to take any chances of buildup on a bigger scale. I added a damper as hi as I could reach In the pipe to hold as much heat as I could as my ceiling Is 16', so I have lots of pipe to transfer heat also. Tubes In the fire box Is a great Idea, the way those tubes are run It would be Very easy to weld them In, and they are out of the way for the most part. I would not put them on the bottom, but thats just me. I throw the wood In mine lol. Maybe some scedule 80 black pipe (Remember Overkill lol) Instead of the stainless?? Stainless likes to crack from what I have seen, exhaust tubing It kinda thin.

My first barrel ;lasted a long time im guessing 5 years. And that was in a very damp location with limited use. Being thin steel it treanfers heat quickly to the air. They are a great stove in the right location. Shop, garage ect.

Found a pic of one of the stoves in my Dad's shop, taken about 10 years ago.

Thats a pretty short barrel, probably a thick heavy duty little bugger. Cool looking door also.

Took 2 reg 55 gal barrels and made that out of them. Didn't need full length, would take up too much room. Shop is only around 600 sqft so doesn't take much to heat it.

I had one in a cabin back in the 80's. It put out good heat. Yes it would be good to have firebrick in the bottom and to watch the barrel metal when it gets older. Vogelzang had a nice kit to make one, it has a gasket on the door. The parts are cast iron. Start with a new barrel, keep it painted and from moisture with firebrick in the bottom and I think it might be better than the way some run them. Be sure to ck with your insurance company before installing it! Here is the weblink to Vogelang kit:
http://www.vogelzang.com/browse.cfm/deluxe-barrel-kit/4,5.html

They also have a kit to put the second barrel on top.
Mike

Before I would ever considered installing a barrel stove, I would consult the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) and my insurance company... There are several FD's near me that will go in and physically remove the barrel stove.. and then bill you for their time.... My current insurance carrier is quite "reasonable".regarding wood appliances... other carriers... aren't...

I had a metal fireplace with the sharp angles of the rumsford design. Not something to be used to seriously heat with but darn, I loved that thing. I can see where a barrel stove would be useful.

It does make you wonder what is possible with a heavier steel and angles. I'm wondering if a barrel could be converted to a fireplace by installing angled panels on the interior. Maybe even filling in the gaps between the barrel walls and panels with mass...just some thoughts running through my head.

My interest is based on learning about the science and construction of metal stoves. In the end, I would love to have either a functional art piece, a replica of my old fireplace, or a piece of crap with character. I would prefer to be able to hear (the crackle, pop, and hiss is missed), smell, and see the fire but who knows how it will all turn out...I am in the early stage.

There is a "barrel in a barrel" homemade stove at the shooting range clubhouse. It has the inner firebox welded up out of a 20" or so heavy gauge cylinder of some sort, surrounded by a regular 55 gallon drum.
There is a small blower on a thermostat that pushes air into the space between the firbox and drum and out an opening on the top.
It really works well for the weekly winter 22 bullseye league, feeding it another couple pieces every half hour for a few hours in a building about 20' x 20'.


I've also seen a barrel kit in use at a friend's garage. It was equipped with an automatic oil drip system and worked fine to heat the small space when he was working out there.



I heated our former 1700 square foot house with a poorly constructed plate steel stove that was had thicker steel than a 55 gal barrel stove would have, and had a large 6? cubic foot firebox. Fairly uncontrollable burn. If you loaded it full it was 90 degrees in the house with a glowing red stove for about two hours, then comfortable for an hour, then cool and finally cold four hours later, and most of the wood had been burned up. If you just loaded the thing with a moderate amount of firewood you got a moderate amount of heat for two hours, then the house cooled off. Load the stove up at 10pm, go to bed, and the furnace, turned down to 50 degrees, was running at 3AM We did that for three years then I bought a modern stove, cut the wood usage in half, and still had a warm house after an eight hour burn.

Similar HOT, then quick cooling with a small thin steel "boxwood" type stove with uncontrollable draft that was the only source of heat a cabin the family owned at one time. Get up twice at night to feed it the three pieces of firewood it would hold then go back to bed.




Barrel stoves have their place if you are handy, want something new yet dirt cheap, and need a couple hours of heat in a small shop or something similar and have a good supply of dry firewood.

The downsides are:
The burn is just slightly more controllable than that of a fireplace.
They use a lot of wood if steady heat is required.


If you want to heat a cabin through the night, save a little more, and watch craigslist like a hawk, and pick up something used for $200 that has the ability to meter the airflow and control the burn.

This is an example of a useful barrel stove.
Very nice.

I made a stove out of a 275 gallon oil tank. You could have just a few sticks burning in there and the fact that you had so many Sq yards of sheet metal very hot the thing put out a tremendous amount of heat. Good for a large garage or pole barn. I tried to use it to rehab an old house but the ceiling got too hot.

A barrel in a barrel. I will look more into that. Thanks.

I wonder if some sort of barrel liner would help store the heat.

I wrote about my uncontrollable plate steel firebox stove that we attempted to heat our house with. It actually had firebrick lining it. If it was built into a huge masonry fireplace (Russian fireplace style) or the house was earth sheltered and had a slab for a floor and concrete walls, that thermal mass would have absorbed the heat better. The killer was the inability to dampen the draft. If you are building a stove, plan that part out well. Door gasket, tight fitting lip with a couple of toggle clamps, or something. Then use the screw dial type air inlets like several of the older stoves had. Don't dampen it all the way down for the night, the fire needs enough O2 to prevent CO from forming and keep the chimney temp high enough to prevent creosote formation.

Thanks for that, Arbutus. I will keep that in mind. Up next I am going to look at what people use to heat their fishing and hunting cabins.

Lol. Ya think?

I have been sidetracked by Youtube. There are so many new videos coming out about Rocket Stoves. So much so that I am glad that I am not building/buying anything soon. It is amazing how things have changed in the stove world within 6 months.

Geez, is that a piss pot under the hatchets? The rubber boots or waders ought to be melting and that tree, I wonder if it lived?