I am looking into buying one of these same stoves very soon, I searched long and hard for a Fisher Mama Bear to no avail, (read the Fisher forum's, became a bit of an addict). I guess there's still one more Mama Bear out there for Coaly to snap up if he likes what he sees.
Anyway, I'm looking to heat a 6-8 inch pine log 2 room house , no insulation except in the vaulted ceiling that's about 11 feet high. It's basically one big room (about 900 square feet) with a small separate bathroom in the front corner, a fire place centered on the east wall, and a 10 x 15 bedroom added on where the backdoor was. I have a 6 inch stainless steel liner run up the chimney (about 12 foot long)
I live in North Carolina, near the Virginia border in the center of the state. I moved into this house a bit rushed in December of 2013 and heated it all last winter with just a Glowfire 301 (Jotul 602 knockoff). Needless to say it was insufficient at heating this small airy home for more than a few hours. I had to help it along with a baseboard heater I installed to plug into the dryer outlet. The Glowfire is not in very good shape and needs new side panels. They are warped and cracked up nearly to the top as the side burn plates are missing/nonexistent in these models. I'd like to make some new side panels at my work but that's another forum post.
Sorry for the long intro, but on to the original topic, The Sierra stove, being a side loaded rear flue stove puzzles me a bit as to modifying it. I want to put a baffle in it and replace the sheet metal with glass, as well as putting a guard behind the glass to keep it safe and maybe an air wash and secondary air.
I work in a lazer cutting and metal fabrication shop so I can get all kinds of leftover materials to use, pretty much any grade and thickness of stainless or mild steel I want at scrap prices, although larger pieces are harder to come by as we reuse much of the scrap.
Baffle (stainless steel, how thick? 2.5 inch air gap sound okay?)
Pieces the size of what I envision a full length baffle would need to be won't be too hard to come by. Plus I can weld it or bend it to whatever I need. I do want to keep the design simple though. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if it wasn't a side loader. I'm baffled (pun intended) at how to put a baffle in it though as I'm concerned it will have a tendency to want to throw smoke and flame out the top left corner of the door. Maybe this isn't a problem, or wouldn't be on this stove since it has plenty of clearance above the door opening to place a baffle. Obviously I'd like to make the parts from sheet metal. I could go so far as to have a design cut out on one of the lasers at work holes drilled for mounting, whatever, but I'd like to just keep it simple and mount a plate or two in there sitting on some brackets, depending on what will fit through the window or door.
Glass, Glass Guard, Air Wash? (Obviously buy it from that glass place, you know, what's it called? How thick?)
Now I could go to extremes and have a new frame cut out for the front and put a damn door on it with glass and air wash in it, all lazer cut and TIG welded stainless with some fancy outer design, but once again I'd like to keep it simple. Perhaps just a new outer frame (it appears to go together that way) with a small amount portioned off for an air wash. Or just put a piece of glass in the frame ( at least temporarily, hopefully) and put in a guard behind it. For the guard I can use numerous scrap pieces where it would be the leftover sheet that smaller parts were cut from. Pretty much just picking a thickness and finding a pattern that looks nice.
Secondary Air (What size tubing? What size holes and how many holes and any ideas on how to meter it and? and? and? and? and? and?...*head explodes)
The real bear, no pun Coaly, don't abandon me, the bear reference is in no way pointing to Fisher stoves, honest! The real bear is setting up a nice intake. If I'm going this far I want to make a nice looking one so... Plus just how much air do I need and what size/how many holes in the pipes and, and and and *head explodes again. I have a good selection of stainless tubing as we make jigs for use in industrial ovens as well some parts for the ovens. I can get round, square, rectangular.....
Sorry for the long post, any thoughts would be appreciated.
It's a brown one and in my cabin. You didn't mention the square footage of your cabin, but mine is 800 sf. and built with an open center room where the stove is. 3 very small bedrooms, bath and front mud room. No insulation on solid log walls, cathedral ceiling about 14 feet at the peak. Mama was ok here in PA, but as I've insulated and finished the ceiling it's too much. So I'll be switching to a Baby Bear. Don't want to, since it's easier cutting and carrying 24 inch lengths, and the larger top is needed for the only cooking and water heating.
