Dennis
Like fred said don't use re bar it is soft steel designed to bend. You need to find something out of cast iron if possible. It will help your grates if you have a blower blowing cool air under the grates to help keep them cooler.
Keith
Dennis
Like fred said don't use re bar it is soft steel designed to bend. You need to find something out of cast iron if possible. It will help your grates if you have a blower blowing cool air under the grates to help keep them cooler.
Keith
The fireplace grates at Lowes or somewhere like that work good too, just make sure you get a cast iron one!
Brandon
CDL dealer for All of West Virginia & Virginia
3x10 CDL Deluxe oil fired
Kubota M7040 4x4 Tractor w/ 1153 Loader hauling sap
2,400+ taps on 3/16 CDL natural vacuum on 9 properties
24x56 sugarhouse
CDL 1,000 2 post RO
WEBSITE: http://danielsmaple.com
we made our grates out of a used screen (the wire was 3/8 or 5/16 inch thick) from a gravel plant, they are hard steel and can be cut to any size (if you know where to get one). The screen may not be the best thing but ours never burnt out and was free. For our fan we had a piece of thin wall pipe the same size as the blades about 2' long to keep the fan away from the barrel. You will have to have your fan so you can shut it off when firing the arch because ours would put the flames in your face if you didn't.
Matt
2x6 Phaneuf raised flue pans
homemade oil burning arch & hood
homemade RO,auto draw-off, releaser,auto-canning valve, filter press, ext.....
850 taps
I will have to stop at Lowes or Home Depot this week to see what they have for grates.
I got time this evening to make up the base for the barrel. I wanted the bas to be seperate from the barrel so the whole evap can be moved around in more manageble pieces.
The way you can weld, you should make a grate out of steel angle. I made mine with 2x2x1/4" angles. Open side up with a half inch gaps for air. The ashes that collect in them insulate the steel. If you keep the ash pit clear of embers, which you will if you have a blower, the steel will stay cool and should last for a very long time. That way you can make the grate any size you want.
On my old set up, I used the cheapest electric leaf blower I could find, $23 I think, and stuck it into some galvanized duct and under the grate. Ran all day without problems, very hot fire!
John
2x8 Smokylake drop flue with AOF/ AUF
180 taps on sacks
75 on 3/16 tubing with shurflo
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
I like the idea of using angle iron to fab a grate.
I don't mind buying a grate but for some reason I like making up stuff from a pile of parts too.
Right now I am trying to see if I can get just the door from the barrel stove kit made by Vogelzang. They have two versions and I see on their web site that they are only come in kit form. I'll email them to see if I can get just the door.
Besides the grates, I am also trying to find fire brick and what the measurements are of them.
Full bricks are 9 x 4.5 x 2.375 thick. Splits are half as thick. You can sometimes find a few at a big box like Menards, but I got mine and some ceramic blanket at a refractory supply place in Minneapolis.
John
2x8 Smokylake drop flue with AOF/ AUF
180 taps on sacks
75 on 3/16 tubing with shurflo
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
"Right now I am trying to see if I can get just the door from the barrel stove kit made by Vogelzang"
Dennis
Did they let you just order the door???
Ahnohta Farm Sugar Bush
Moquah, (Ashland) Wisconsin
Out of the stove kit you can use the door with frame and the flue collar , the two leg pcs are all you'll have left.
In the past they wouldn't sell just the parts or if they did it cost as much as the whole kit at True Value.
Ahnohta, I emailed Vogelzang yesterday to find out but they never sent a reply. I have their phone number now so I might give them a ring once I get home after work.
Right now I am waiting on the door to determine the placement of the grates and how much of the top to cut out for the frame that will hold the pan.
My welding fun has ended for now, out of gas for mig. Because I use co2 in a small bottle and its been a few years since it was last filled, they have to test the bottle before they will refill it. They said it would take a couple of days. I hope I get back by the weekend.
Last edited by Dennis H.; 10-17-2007 at 08:34 AM.