Any Old school handyman DIY Type Wood Gun owners out there?

[Green Mt Heat]

I have an old Wood Gun Eshland E140. It’s an old wood only carbon steel model, I
contacted AHS with my serial # to inquire about it’s age and Daren had no Idea what year
it was made. It’s age has me a bit concerned about how much money I want to spend on
this boiler…… This brings me to my question….Have any Wood Gun owners ever tried to cast their own "firetube" or (secondary nozzles) bricks out of Rutland stove products castable refractory cement? There are 8 bricks in the 140 model I need at least 4 replaced @ $150 each. What I need is a mold so I can make my own? I will probably just cast tem in place right inside the boiler Any ideas would be helpful. I attached a picture of what they look like.
Thanks

 

[711mhw]

Is there enough refractory left to fire it up enough to build pressuer? For that matter you could test for leaks on that very old boiler with compressed air with common plumbing supply fittings. If it held, the factory "bricks" other than being a little on the pricey side don't look like a to bad of a job. You may just have a cheap gasser that may give you another ?? years of service. I would not attempt to make my own "bricks".

 

[krinkov]

i made bricks for my essex 1000.i used alsey refractory cement at the local brick plant for 40.00.the cement is hi-cast 45.

 

[woodsmaster]

Dont look like it would be that hard to make a form. At the price of the bricks I'd sure try making my own.

 

[pblormis]

I have an old Wood Gun Eshland E140. It’s an old wood only carbon steel model, I
contacted AHS with my serial # to inquire about it’s age and Daren had no Idea what year
it was made. It’s age has me a bit concerned about how much money I want to spend on
this boiler…… This brings me to my question….Have any Wood Gun owners ever tried to cast their own "firetube" or (secondary nozzles) bricks out of Rutland stove products castable refractory cement? There are 8 bricks in the 140 model I need at least 4 replaced @ $150 each. What I need is a mold so I can make my own? I will probably just cast tem in place right inside the boiler Any ideas would be helpful. I attached a picture of what they look like.
ThanksView attachment 162973

I have the e100 and have had a friend that made my center bricks for me. they lasted little over a year. Right now i am using fire bricks that i drill the holes in to get me through till i get my own made. and i will be making mold for the refractory blocks. Good boiler the learning curve for me was long. Thank goodness for this site i learn so much.

 

[mark123]

I thought about doing this, my plan was to order 1 new one and make a mold by covering it paste wax/mold release then with fiberglass cloth/polyester or epoxy resin leaving the largest flat portion open for the top of the mold. Cut through with a hole saw and then use the proper size pipe metal/abs/pvc...going right through the mold. this would have to be removable. the mold would have to but cut in half and made so it could be assembled. Sounds like a lot of work but it will cost me near $2000.00 (shipping and low canadian dollar) to replace my 8 bricks in my E-180 someday.

 

[Fred61]

Check these guys out. I met them at some trade shows and it's amazing what they can mold.

http://www.smooth-on.com/

There's a ton of information on this site so spend a lot of time educating yourself.

 

[GENECOP]

There are much easier ways to cast them, if you are still interested PM me.

 

[avc8130]

I have the e100 and have had a friend that made my center bricks for me. they lasted little over a year. Right now i am using fire bricks that i drill the holes in to get me through till i get my own made. and i will be making mold for the refractory blocks. Good boiler the learning curve for me was long. Thank goodness for this site i learn so much.

How are the fire bricks w/ holes performing/lasting?

ac

 

[hobbyheater]

I
.Have any Wood Gun owners ever tried to cast their own "firetube" or (secondary nozzles) bricks out of Rutland stove products castable refractory cement? There are 8 bricks in the 140 model I need at least 4 replaced @ $150 each. What I need is a mold so I can make my own? I will probably just cast tem in place right inside the boiler

The Rutland castable refractory may not have a high enough temperature range. A 25 lb pail only casts 12x12x 11/2 inch brick . If you figure out how much refractory you need the proper bricks @ $150 each may be a fair price .

 

[pblormis]

so far so good been about a month but with 70s lately not much need to run stove. i am sure they will break down with time but not a lot of $ to buy or time to cut to size and drill holes. Cheap fix till i can get my bricks made and put in oven to cure.

How are the fire bricks w/ holes performing/lasting?

ac

 

[avc8130]

so far so good been about a month but with 70s lately not much need to run stove. i am sure they will break down with time but not a lot of $ to buy or time to cut to size and drill holes. Cheap fix till i can get my bricks made and put in oven to cure.

You know the bricks are still available for ~$105 right?

ac

 

[krinkov]

ahc has some new center bricks for 80.00 each that burns hotter and last longer.

 

[Green Mt Heat]

Thanks for all of your input.

I decided to try to form (in place) my own brick in the DIY old school fashion....I used the Rutland castable refractory cement, the pail says its good up to 2000 degrees. So far the patch-in-place has held up for 3 weeks. Time will tell......

acv8130 the only replacement bricks on the AHS site i saw were 150.00 each. I spoke with AHS and It looks like all bricks need to be replaced at once.
Could you post a link to the bricks that are 105.00?

 

[krinkov]

i am casting firebrick for ahs 140.anybody know were i can buy the fine stainless steel wire you mix in the concrete?somebody posted about the wire and were it could be bought at.thanks.

 

[Fred61]

i am casting firebrick for ahs 140.anybody know were i can buy the fine stainless steel wire you mix in the concrete?somebody posted about the wire and were it could be bought at.thanks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Refractory-Reinforcing-1-430-Stainless-Steel-Needles-10-/130337734449

 

[krinkov]

thanks for your help.

 

[pblormis]

i am still using same fire bricks for my e 100 not sure how long they will last yet, but so far so good they are rated at 2,000 deg just found some that are 2,200 bought 2 at $2.00 each had chip on one side need to cut anyway so no big deal at one at $3.96 not bad. have the holes drilled and ready just in case i need to do replacement fast. I have not got my center bricks made yet, so for $8.00 it is a cheap fix. the last center bricks my friend made had the needles in them but not sure how cure he had them before i got them so i bake them in the house oven my wife was not happy with me. So it will be a oven in shop this time for sure don't want to go through that again.

 

[pblormis]

The 2,200 degree fire brick for the center have held up well about and year half. just replace them cause the holes where getting to big and coals were falling down in the center tube. for e100 it take 3 bricks cut all long ways to about 4 inches wide. drill out to make nozzle install. take one of the cut off piece too fill in the space left over it might be half inch by 4 inches. simple and cheap $13.00 about 30 min of time

 

[BoiledOver]

You are awesome @pblormis

Thank you for following up with your results on this fix after two years.