Sometime in the next few years I'm going to have to do something with the old potbelly in the family cabin. It's served well, but has been overfired (the stories I've heard...) too many times and needs retirement. It is not used often anymore, just in the early spring and late fall. Maybe you folks can point me in the direction of a suitable stove? I took it apart and rebuilt it this fall and the top is starting to have structural rust issues.
http://www.woodworking-galleries.org/pp/data/500/img_0474.jpg
The main concerns I can think of are:
Good legs. You can see the water line across the cabinets to the left of the stove. Water does not come in often, but if spring melts raise the lake level faster than it can drain...
Tight clearances. As you can see, the stove is close to the wall and cupboards. As I understand it, in 1952, code was 18". The stove is 24" from everything.
And the kicker: the stove pipe is only 5" in diameter. It seems the smallest stove outlet I can find is 6". Does anybody make one for my size pipe? I don't think it would be safe to reduce 6" into 5, but it may be ok on a small stove. Sometime in the future I may be able to change the pipe from it's current route through the wall to one straight out the ceiling. In that case I would run a standard 6" setup, but that's not in the works anytime soon. The cabin still belongs to the generation above me so my job is mostly labor. I could replace the thimble without any problems, but the more I change, the more resistance I can probably expect.
The cabin is ~16'x35', insulation, what's that? (I'm hoping to work some in at the top of the walls and ceiling as we slowly replace the cloth wrapped wiring.) We just replaced the 60 year old leaky barn windows (Grandpa was proud he got them for $2.50 each.) with good quality windows that keep out the draft. My father and I are slowly going over it and updating it, but it's a slow process. The layout is pretty ideal for heating with wood, 2 rooms, a main room that has all of the living areas and the last 8'x16' at the back is for sleeping.
Can you point me to a suitable stove?
Matt
http://www.woodworking-galleries.org/pp/data/500/img_0474.jpg
The main concerns I can think of are:
Good legs. You can see the water line across the cabinets to the left of the stove. Water does not come in often, but if spring melts raise the lake level faster than it can drain...
Tight clearances. As you can see, the stove is close to the wall and cupboards. As I understand it, in 1952, code was 18". The stove is 24" from everything.
And the kicker: the stove pipe is only 5" in diameter. It seems the smallest stove outlet I can find is 6". Does anybody make one for my size pipe? I don't think it would be safe to reduce 6" into 5, but it may be ok on a small stove. Sometime in the future I may be able to change the pipe from it's current route through the wall to one straight out the ceiling. In that case I would run a standard 6" setup, but that's not in the works anytime soon. The cabin still belongs to the generation above me so my job is mostly labor. I could replace the thimble without any problems, but the more I change, the more resistance I can probably expect.
The cabin is ~16'x35', insulation, what's that? (I'm hoping to work some in at the top of the walls and ceiling as we slowly replace the cloth wrapped wiring.) We just replaced the 60 year old leaky barn windows (Grandpa was proud he got them for $2.50 each.) with good quality windows that keep out the draft. My father and I are slowly going over it and updating it, but it's a slow process. The layout is pretty ideal for heating with wood, 2 rooms, a main room that has all of the living areas and the last 8'x16' at the back is for sleeping.
Can you point me to a suitable stove?
Matt
