Heat Shields

[Montgomery Burns]

So as a result of reading this forum, following up on advice I read here and watching Youtube videos, I have successfully built a heath inside an alcove. I built the plinth and tiled it. First tiling job I have ever done. I chose an Isle Royal and it is burning away nicely as I type. I could not have done this without this forum. I do not actually need heat shields from a clearance point of view, but am thinking of building shields to enhance the convection. One of the videos I watch said that heat shields must be fixed to the wall. I want to build a free standing black steel frame with a sheet of copper stretched over it. When I read up on Canadian wood stove regulations, it mentions spacers, but does not actually say the shields must be fixed to the wall.. Does anyone know if free standing convection shields are acceptable?

 

[begreen]

If the alcove was built honoring all clearances (including ceiling height) and is using double-wall connector pipe then the heat shield can be freestanding as it has no direct need. Though I'm not understanding why make it freestanding. I would just attach the metal frame to the wall studs 1" above the hearth and make it permanent.

 

[Montgomery Burns]

I am exploring possibilities that my wife will find aesthetically pleasing. The simple solution is to buy standard steel plates and bolt them with spacers to the wall. My wife does not like the way they look and wants me to design something that she will like. She pointed at a Chinese screen and said "like that". So I have designed a framework of 1" angle steel, with hinges attaching the side pieces to the back. This allows it to be freestanding and I can push the panels right up to the wall if I want, because the 1" angle steel will maintain 1" from the wall.

 

[Simonkenton]

I have installed 2 wood stoves with freestanding copper heat shields. I bought a 3 x 5 sheet of copper from the metal shop in Asheville. I bent it into a U shape, so that, there was one foot straight, then about a 45 degree bend, 3 feet straight, then another 45 degree bend. I don't know what gauge this copper was, it is thick, but not as thick as a penny.
I cut the two top corners round with tin snips. This shield will stand there fine without a steel frame.
I then laid the copper sheet on a beam, and hammered every square inch of it with a ball peen hammer. That hammered copper really looks good.
Nobody uses copper because it is expensive but it makes a great heat shield. It reflects almost all the heat that strikes it, so that, you can have your stove ripping along at 500 degrees, with the shield 6 inches away, and you can put your hand on the shield, and grip it, and you won't be burned. That shield will be about 85 degrees.

Sorry, both of these stoves are down in Ga. and I don't have pics.