Wood stove made from scrap

My plan was to make a better furnace for melting aluminium but debating this with my wife she made a good point of how many time I would use the furnace Vs how many time we will sit out on a cold afternoon in the garden with a worm wooden stove.
So the wooden stove was the winner.

In this instructable I will show you how I made it all from recycled scraps at minimum cost. The total I think was 20 bucks. The only spend was on grinder discs, welding electrods and a special stove paint although you can save on that to if you don't wish to paint it.

Yesterday we used the stove first time and we sat beside it for over 3 hours and it kept us warm. The only thing I will have to change is to a bigger flue pipe but other then that its a super success.


Safety disclaimer : When using electric tools: welding, cutting, grinding always use ears and eye protection. Keep body parts away from sharp blades and always use full body protection gear.

If you don't know what you are doing take it to a professional. Misuse of pressured gas cylinders can cause injury and even fatalities.
This is not an instruction or a guide how to do it, I am sharing with you how I used a gas cylinder based on my own experience and knowledge.
Anyone who attempts this he/she will do it on their own risk,  I will not be liable for any injuries in anyway.
                                                                          WORK SAFE!

Step 1: Gas cylinder from the sea

I was walking on the beach and was suprised to find a gas cylinder washed ashore wedged between the wave breaker boulders, it was strange as I was just thinking that day that it would be cool to use a cylinder for a new furnace and there it was.
I was suprised even more when I found another one not much further away in the sand.
 Then I was thinking what sort of people litter the ocean like that. I will just holdon to my naive tought that it accidently fell from a fishing boat ..yeah right. Then again yesterday while I was cycling I saw another 2 gas cylinders thrown in the woods and 3 more thrown at the port. I really dont get this.

Anyway back to our instructable. After emptying the gas cylinder for a few days (It was empty when I found it) but just to be on the safe side.
After releasing the gas cylinder pressure I drilled a hole and filled it with water and another small hole for letting air out when emptying the water. I left it for a few weeks changing the water every few days.
While cutting the stove future door I placed the gas cylinder on its side full with water and I hosed it every few minutes between the cuttings too cool it down.
After cutting the door out I cut the cylinder nozzle and the handle off (free handle for another project).  A bit of grinding and we are ready to start.

I found this is video on You Tube and it is shocking too see the stupidity of some pepole and how they risk their lives.
Look at these lads doing everything wrong, first it looks like the gas bottle is not fully emptyed and they're not wearing any protective gear.
The cutter guy is holding the gas cylinder under his feet rolling it while cutting.
The best part: look at the arrogance at the end of the clip when the main charactrer need to warm his cold hands.

This video clip shows how NOT to do it:

Comments

[zachary doucet]

you have to keep te litlow cheminey beaucause smoke is like wood you keeping smoke and burn it

[RuudvandeLooij]

Damn. Seeing this I wish I wasn't a student anymore and had the room for such a wood stove. Definitely making one as soon as I have the space for using it.

[spylock]

Good job,this is now in my top 50 favorites on here,I think Ill try this one,I made a smoker from a clay pot that I saw on here last year and it turned out well,I hope this one does as well,thanks.

[colectron]

re; working on propane tank...saw very nice stove i n a dome house made from
around ball shaped tank. his secret for safety....DRY ICE broken into small enough pieces to fit into tank valve. he used about 2-3 pounds..the ice creates a
positive pressure in the tank forcing out the fumes and oxygen and displacing it
with low pressure co2. ihave not tried this yet as i havent found pretty tank yet.
very good instruct....thanks

[Pfarmkid]

you could have used the handle that you cut off of it in the first place

[MPierce94]

I was looking around for welding projects and this is one of the neatest ive seen! I have a few questions about some of the materials you used: First, can you tell me what capacity the gas cylinder you used was (lbs.). Second, what kind of barbecue did you get the base from? Any information you give me would be greatly appreciated.

[SIRJAMES09]

CAN WE SAY STUPID?? I think we can....
not you, but the guy using a power saw to cut that tank without protective gear.
that was an accident looking for a place to happen.

Getting back to the instructable.
I like how you stress safety, & how you went above & beyond what most people would do to make sure you work safe. Nice. Very nice. 8=D

[rimar2000]

Very nice, but it seems me known. Is this an old instructable, renewed?

[NutandBolt]

I only wanted to add one more step as for the chimeny part in addition. Not realy renewed ible ;-)

[Hycro]

I was thinking "exhaust pipe from 1/2 ton truck" for the flue...

[groovy]

just wondering if you get enough air flow with the small inlet holes?
by the way nice build...

[NutandBolt]

Thank you, I don't realy have a use for the inlet holes because I leave the stove door semi-open. In retrospect I would do the inlet holes bigger or perhaps just one large hole.

[steppapajon]

Excellent instructable. Very well thought out. Great details. It was a very enjoyable read. Thank you for taking the time to record and post your information.

[NutandBolt]

Thank you for your comment, I am happy you liked it ;-)

[pdtnc]

Nice, did you have ti tickle a bit off your welds to get it to shut tight?

[NutandBolt]

Thanks, Very light grinding over the welds, the angle grinder cutting leavs a few MM gap (blade thickness) so the welds fits nicley .

[flamerider]

Since you still have some square tubing, add two more flue pipes on each side of the current one. The three would look pretty cool, provide enough draft,and look something like a smokeing pipe organ!

[NutandBolt]

I was thinking the exact same thing too, adding a few more square tubing in some interesting formation, the only thing Is I am not sure It will be big enough to suck all the smoke out. I am still searching for some decent size scrap metal for flue pipe, just something that will be in wider diameter. Smoking pipe organ, I like that is a cool idea :-)

[mattbomb]

ease dropping.

[shortw]

That is really nice. Thank you. Tip for all members here for welding cast iron. Preheat the whole cast iron piece in a oven to 400-500 F or higher ; also heat up sand with it. This will prevent the cast iron from stressing to much because of heat difference. Also it will take the weld much better. Do not use a torch to preheat the piece, this would cause hot and cold spots and will stress the cast iron. If welding, do not put the cast iron piece on a cold surface if possible. Weld the hot cast iron piece as needed, then take the hot cast iron piece and cover it completely with the hot sand. Let all of it sit until completely cooled down, this will prevent hair cracks that could turn unto bigger cracks. It has to cool down slow. Do not speed up the cooling, that's why the cast iron peace is covered up with hot sand. Hope this helps.

[NutandBolt]

Thank you very much for this info, I always wanted to know a bit more about cast iron welding when I did a few jobs working with cast iron. I noticed that cast iron reacts different where it was welded over the long term. The tips you gave are very good thank you again :-)

[shortw]

Your welcome. First when I came across this, was years ago when I went for a automotive school at a community college. We had a engine block and it had a big deep and long crack. We took it next door to get it welded. Welding cast iron? I replied... So ....I was glad to see how it was done. That welding instructor was 65 years old at that time and done welding all his life. I am a maintenance man now and when we weld a piece of cast Iron we set the piece to be welded on top of our big boiler ( very...very...very..hot..) for about 1 -2 hours to heat it up. Those welds usual last years in the factory settings. In your project it would not take long to heat it up in the oven and I would use the highest temperature setting. Note: I am a fan on wood-stoves. Most folks think that the metal on a wood-stove has to be thick. I have seen home made and factory made wood stoves in action with very thick metal and the heat output is very little because of the thick metal. The wood stoves with thin metal have a much higher heat output and therefore use less wood to get the same result.

[Soulis]

hey Thanks for good idea. After i looked this i started to call around of finland to find cotainers and only few calls later i did get realy good deal 5 cylinders for 25€. We have recycling policy in here so can't find cylinders on sea or woods (it is actually good thing) bu now i can try to make few of my own so thans again and be warm on your garden :)

[NutandBolt]

That sounds great I love bargains too, if you do make them please post a few images. Thanks :-)

[hsahrc]

Now THIS is a project that makes PERFECT sense!! If need be one could even use this when you go camping. A coil around the exhaust, coupled to some water reservoir - hot (or maybe at least WARM) water on the go? Thanks - well thought out and even better done!

[NutandBolt]

Thank you for your positive comment :-)

[maxpower49]

would a old propane tank work?

[sturmey]

A propane tank would probably work. Propane tanks can be dangerous even if you think they are empty. If you don't know what you're doing, you can get the valve removed at a propane tank service center. You are responsible for not blowing yourself up.

If you are going to cut or weld the tank make sure you have removed the valve, and removed any trace of propane and or oil that might be in the tank.

REMEMBER: Better Safe than Dead!

[maxpower49]

yeah i planed on being safe the valve has been removed for years my dad was planning on useing it in a project and had the valve remove when he worked at a place that filed tanks and he never got around to it so it has sat beside our house for like 5 years without a valve and i still plan on filling it with water for the postive displacment just to be absuteletly positive

[Atsinokangakaya]

Here in the Philippines, welders usually have exhaust gases from a vehicle into the tank so that it will be filled with the gases from combustion and will have no oxygen. We do that when we have to do welding on gas tanks and we do not have equipment to get the tank cleaned up and have to do the job in a hurry. Just be sure to do it for at least 15 to 20 minutes minimum..

[Mig Welder]

I suggest using a, for lack of a better word, "coil" type handle. It diffuses the heat very efficiently and could be easy to to make from an old spring. An example is a slag shipping hammer like the one from here: http://www.clovisusd.k12.ca.us/agcenter/Folders/Ag%20Ed/Faculty/Actis/Class%20Lessons/Tool%20ID/Tool%20ID%20Book/Individual%20Tool%20Pictures/welding/ChippingHammer.jpg

[NutandBolt]

That's a great idea for a handle, I learned here something new regarding the coil diffusing the heat. Thank you :-)

[Mig Welder]

Be careful if welding steel to cast iron. It makes for a poor  joint. However, if the joint won't be under excessive mechanical stress, it should be fine.

Anyway, I really like your instructable. Well thought out, very well explained etc. I love the concept of taking something old and discarded and making it into something new and useful. I also love it when the new and useful object is aesthetically pleasing too. 

Keep it up!

[NutandBolt]

Thank you for your positve comment, I agree with you a few month ago I welded my drill press vice bolt connection ( made of cast iron) and it did last a few months but then is saw small crack because it was under stress from the drill pressing against it. This time I changed the connection and gave it one STRONG weld and that did the job, that was the first reason why I didn't weld the cast iron BBQ base part to the gas cylinder. Second reason, I preferred to use a long screw and connectors just in case I will want to take it apart or make and modifications to the stove. Thank you again :-)

[pokey5]

I must say this is the coolest gas bottle stove i've seen. I made one myself but it isn't half as pretty. Really nice work, and i love the idea of using magnets to hold parts in place when welding, i never thought of that, will give it a go next time a get the stick welder out.

[NutandBolt]

Thank you very much for your positive comment, ill be honest with you, it doesn't matter how the stove looks, If the stove is doing its job keeping you warm and a pot of hot water for coffee.... that's the most important, I think :-)

[coppeis]

Great job but what is the point of steps 5 and 7?

[NutandBolt]

Thank you for your positive comment , step 5 and 7 I am showing one of many options how to make the stove vent. The purpose of the vent holes is when the stove door is closed air (oxygen) is sucked in from the vemt holes If you cover the holes you don't get the proper air circulation and the flames will be extinguished creating a lot of smoke. when stoves main door is open the vent door can be closed.

[romoshka]

WOW! Very cool indeed. I am in the planning stages of building a stove and wanted to build something that was unique and stumbled across the heater here (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-wood-fired-hot-tub/) and was planning to emulate that design and now have your very well detailed build instructions for the basic stove. I just love this site! Thanks for taking the time to document your build.

[NutandBolt]

Thank you for you positive comment, , It's great to know that my Ible will come into use in some way. If you do make your stove please post some photos. Thanks again :-)