# Homemade Wood Stove



## dwinch53 (Jan 13, 2009)

Howdy all....Thinking about making a wood stove out of an old water heater...Have any of you done this ?? any pics? thanx, DW opcorn:


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## Nuzzy (Jan 13, 2009)

I want to be the LAST person to ever rain on anyone's parade, but it seems to me that if it's even feasible, it'd be far more economical and far less of a pain in the azz to just find an old used one on craigslist or some such site...


But hell, more power to ya if you can make it work.


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## techman (Jan 13, 2009)

I would be worried about the galvanized coating, the vapors from burning it are toxic to humans.


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## husky455rancher (Jan 13, 2009)

+1 on the galvie. when i was maybe 15-16 i worked for a guys welding shop. he had me wend galvie all the time. then i mentioned it to my welding teacher and he went  no one told me galvie was bad. i never welded it again after that.


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## dwinch53 (Jan 13, 2009)

Yep...buying one is ok, but i am looking for a project and have an old H2o heater that is all black steal and no galvanized on it...I just want to mess around in my shop and make something...this stove would be fot the shop only....DW


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## KsWoodsMan (Jan 14, 2009)

I built a M.E.N WMO/WVO burner then decided against using it. I have stood wood up inside and set it afire with phenominal heat output. I'll use it in the drive way on frigid cold days and it makes enough heat I want to shed a jacket while working 10 feet away splitting wood. I have been known to shovel it full of saw chips, curlies and chips to get rid of them too.

Mother Earth News has a few plans for water heater wood stoves that look pretty reasonable for someone adept with their hands and minimal tools including welder. Theirs needed an ash cleanout but seemed easy to add with minimal fuss.

I've seen plans on there for producer-gas generators using water heaters and surplus parts.


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## myzamboni (Jan 14, 2009)

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-I...-Stove-That-You-Can-Build-for-35-Or-Less.aspx


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## KsWoodsMan (Jan 14, 2009)

myzamboni said:


> http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-I...-Stove-That-You-Can-Build-for-35-Or-Less.aspx



That's the one I was thinking about . Thanks for supplying the link.

The air inlet goes all the way from front to back at the bottom. It feeds the air in from underneath for a topdown (gassification type) burn. The unburned gasses then mix with heated air for more complete combustion in a single chamber.

A similar, simple design is the "S Draft box stove" The first one in figure #5 here.

The downdraft design in the document makes for easier loading but no viewable fire.


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## Mike Van (Jan 14, 2009)

DW, the hardest part will be making a door that doesn't warp itself open - Most store bought ones use cast, holds it's shape better when heated I guess. A short piece of 6" steel pipe works good for your stovepipe connection.


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## Jredsjeep (Jan 14, 2009)

had one in a buddies garage that was used for decades they simply laid it on its side put a 6" pipe in the back and cut a square in the front for a door. they then used the piece cut for the door and welded about a 1 inch wide strip around it and some hinges and a latch to keep it sealed. cut a couple of more air holes added pipe feet and walla a CHEAP stove. 

it burned ok and heated the garage but it used ALLOT of wood compared to a regular purchased stove. no secondary burn chamber or anything like that. worked for him though because he would throw all his used oil and junk in there.


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## KsWoodsMan (Jan 14, 2009)

I must have been getting tired last night. After re-reading it this morning, some things just didn't make good sence ( even to me) with what you originally posted that you wanted to use a HW tank.

Because of it's simplicity, I have really thought about the "S draft stove" , how to make it and what might be needed. A 30 or 40 gallon electric or gas HW tank would lend itself well to this with very little extra material needed if done correctly and the use of a sheet metal break for the bends.

Instead of inserting secondary air into the stove in the back, I would pipe it to the front, heat it and introduce it crossways under the 'smoke shelf' just before the opening. I have thought too that the opening to the top chamber could be much smaller to create a sharp rise in velocity at this point to better mix the unburned/burning gasses with the heated incoming secondary combustion air. The stove area, just after the point of sharp rise in velocity would need to be an expansion chamber where the burned gasses could slow down to give off the most BTUs before exiting in the flue pipe. At least an area with a very high surface area and low relative volume to provide maximum heat exchanger area for the spent gasses.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Use what you like of them, disregard what you don't.


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## Stein (Jan 14, 2009)

What's wrong with the "double barrel" wood stove kit? Two barrels and $50 gets you everything you need and they are tested with many in the field. I have this in my shop and it heats it up fast. Last night it was 0* and 40MPH winds and I was toasty at 75*. Kits are available at farm stores or big box stores. You can do a one barrel for $35 or two barrel for $50. Second barrel adds a nice heat exchanger.


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## Mike Van (Jan 14, 2009)

Thats a good price Stein, you can't go wrong there. Sure beats freezing your :censored: off.


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## jcappe (Jan 14, 2009)

I like that double barrel idea. I'm going to be putting up a small garage in the future and that would probably do just fine.


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## Nuzzy (Jan 14, 2009)

Stein said:


> What's wrong with the "double barrel" wood stove kit? Two barrels and $50 gets you everything you need and they are tested with many in the field. I have this in my shop and it heats it up fast. Last night it was 0* and 40MPH winds and I was toasty at 75*. Kits are available at farm stores or big box stores. You can do a one barrel for $35 or two barrel for $50. Second barrel adds a nice heat exchanger.




They just standard 55 gal drums...? 


Cheap and easy. I like it!


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## Stein (Jan 14, 2009)

Nuzzy said:


> They just standard 55 gal drums...?
> 
> 
> Cheap and easy. I like it!



Yep, standard drums. Here is a link to the company that makes the kit.

http://www.vogelzang.com/barrel_stoves.htm They sell the kits in Tractor Supply, Menards, Lowes, etc. or you can order direct. They are much more expensive off of their website than the retailers. Northern Tool used to carry them, but they didn't show up on the website today-just the "add a barrel" kit.

You can use 30 or 55 gallon barrels, and either one or two barrels. I can assure you that the second barrel really helps as a heat exchanger. The flue goes up in the back of the bottom barrel and out the top of the second barrel at the front.

My stove is 6 years old and no sign of the drums deteriorating from the firing. Heck, the top one still has some paint on it. I do leave a lot of ash in the bottom. (That pic is VERY ash heavy.) I usually leave about 4", as that is where my grate is. I shovel it out down to the grate once a month when I am burning most every day. I don't know if that is good or bad, but it works for me. They put out a huge amount of heat. If I start it up when the shop is 40* within 20 minutes it's over 70* and I am shutting down the damper. It works really well. I just assumed that others were familiar with the design and kits.


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