Any experience with making a cheap wood stove?

[Kiah]

Just an update. I'll try to take some pics this weekend, but I did get mine built and have been running it for the past couple days. Haven't put in the bars or even enough wood to use them yet (haven't even put enough in at one time to cover the bottom), but it works well. Been basically throwing in 1-2" branches, a bit of burnable trash, and wet rotten wood just to see how it does with non-optimal fuel, and it's keeping it toasty inside with pretty much no tending other than opening the lid and throwing a bit more in. Most of whats going in is falling apart on the trip inside and pulled from a wet forest floor, so it should work rather well with good wood.

 

[ifihadaboat]

Hi Marion,

Very cheaply (less than $50) you can get a "kit" to turn a drum into a wood stove:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBcQ8wIwAQ#ps-sellers

My friend used this kit with a 35 gallon drum to heat his garage and his dad used the same kit with a 55 gallon drum to heat his house. They both just lined the bottom with sand so that the hot coals didn't get too hot on the barrel itself.

Good luck,
B

I work for a railroad building bridges. We have used a similar kit for 3 years now and it works great (heating a big tent). The only downside is that the barrel will eventually waste away. The beauty of the kit is, you take it off and put it on another drum. Highly recommended.

 

[ifihadaboat]

Another option I have seen usses an old propane tank. Purge it, cut your door, weld on some hinges/a latch, and figure out your chimney. Weld some simple pipe fitting on the bottom so that you can screw in some short lengths of pipe for legs. I'm not sure it would be big enough for your needs, but it works quite well and is more durable than an oil drum. If you put the hole where the valve was on the bottom you then have a drain.

HEAVY ON THE PURGE IT!!!

 

[Loosearrow]

Another option I have seen usses an old propane tank. Purge it, cut your door, weld on some hinges/a latch, and figure out your chimney. Weld some simple pipe fitting on the bottom so that you can screw in some short lengths of pipe for legs. I'm not sure it would be big enough for your needs, but it works quite well and is more durable than an oil drum. If you put the hole where the valve was on the bottom you then have a drain.

Nice idea. I would like to see pictures of something like that. I have a cooker that looks like a propane tank that was made for sale. I thought it might be able to heat a stove with a stove pipe. I have a canvas one pole lean to tent from RK Lodges that I had an insert put into that would work well with a stove. I would like to change to something different concerning a stove set up.

 

[LostViking]

MDP,

The fire bricks work to protect the stove bottom, but also act as a heat sink. They will even out the heating somewhat and still give off heat after the fire goes out.