Woodgun nozzle experiments

Last year I made some new nozzles from 4" X 1" steel flatbar and cut slots in them similar to the original refractory brick nozzles, after 1 year (10 cord ) of use they have deteriorated very badly, I have included some pics. Part of one of them has been eroded down to approx 1/4" and one of the nozzles originally 3/8" wide is now approx 1 1/2". and they are warped as well. I made a new one today from stainless. I used 2 pieces of 3" X 1/4" flat bar and bent it 90 degrees and welded 3/8" flatbar in between as spacers to form the nozzles, it is all one piece. Materials and labor (bending) was $90.00 and I did the welding. I will report back as to how they hold up. As you can see in one of the pictures my ledge on the main refractory is deteriorating a lot as well.

Good to hear form you, I had wondered how you made out with your home made steel. Do you think the nozzle shelf deterioated due to the steel warping & wearing away? AHS now makes a steel nozzle, it "bridges" over the shelf and I think it was designed for this situation.

I would have to say that most of the shelves deterioration was from me throwing in heavy pieces of wood when I had the brick nozzles.Once the nozzle bricks cracked and I threw more wood in the impact was focused on very small areas of the shelf and then it broke, I feel the one I made now will help in this regard by spreading out any impact over a much larger area. Also I am much gentler now. If I lose any more shelf I will weld on wider edges to rest above the main refractory.

So you spent $90 and had to do some labor. What do the replacements from AHS go for?

I have no idea, the problem for me would be the shipping cost to Canada, it would add 30 or 40 to the price I would guess plus mine are stainless steel. The labor literally took 20 minutes.

Nothing wrong with a little DIY. Sometimes the satisfaction in knowing you did it yourself is worth more than the cost savings. Heck, that is probably why most of us burn wood.

ac

The SS one looks great! I would imagine there will be less expansion with the SS material? Those holes appear to have worn a lot more than the original WG nozzle I recently replaced after 15 cords. I think the standard AHS nozzle is around $100 for both pieces these days. Looking forward to seeing the results of the SS one.

I agree, just trying to do a comparison. I don't weld for one and I want to see if the home made one lasts as long as the others is all

Great job. I guess you weren't able to get your hands on SS angle? Could have saved a little labor.
So the piece sit in flush with the refractory and on the ledge?

I could have bought 1.5" X 1.5" X 1/4" angle but with the 3/8" spacers my overall width would have only been 3-3/8" and I wanted the full 4" so they offset the bend a little bit, they did it at 1-9/16" on the inside of the bend, taking into acount the material thickness and radius of the bend it all worked out to exactly 4". The nozzle sits lower than the original, 1/4" above the ledge. I thought about installing it upside down as well and the the opening of the nozzles would be at original height and the space between it and the refractory would just fill with ashes.

Mark -
In looking at the pictures the nozzles rest on a ledge created by the ceramic block. It appears those are also worn. Has you ever replaced those brick and when does AHS recommend that be done. Just curious. Also curious for next years post and the pics of the SS ones you created.
thx

Wow, your ledges are in rough shape. I wonder if you might have waited too long to replace those first steel nozzles?
ac

Yeah they are in rough shape but as I recall they were pretty bad even before the heavy steel ones I made,like I siad I think I broke them throwing heavy 10" X 30" maple rounds in there, I didn't know the damage I was doing because I could not see them. I have no intention of changing those 8 refractory for a long time, it cost over $1000.00, when they are gone completely I will make the nozzle hang on the remaining refractory. I think the manual says they should last approx 10 years.

You and I are in the same mindset. I'm not replacing the refractory over the ledge. I will make wider nozzles that span the gap.