DIY woodstove

[dewalt18]

Hey all,

Just thought I’d reach out and see if I can find some real world experience. I’ve watched all the YouTube videos already, and more or less know what I’ll likely build. Just curious if anyone can offer input on burn times, and if you’ve done one, anything you’d do differently.

Also, I’m in the market for an old 30 pound tank lol

Will be trying to heat 450 sq ft of mostly insulated space

[jungleboy]

Originally Posted by dewalt18

Hey all,

Just thought I’d reach out and see if I can find some real world experience. I’ve watched all the YouTube videos already, and more or less know what I’ll likely build. Just curious if anyone can offer input on burn times, and if you’ve done one, anything you’d do differently.

Also, I’m in the market for an old 30 pound tank lol

Will be trying to heat 450 sq ft of mostly insulated space

If you are doing this in a garage or cabin etc, chances are your insurance company will not insure you with a home built wood stove that is not certified.
Not saying you can’t do it but if something goes wrong don’t expect them to step up if there is a fire.
That said I have a home built wood stove I built from some 20” steel pipe . It will handle 16” material no problem. It is not a truly air tight stove but it’s pretty tight. It will burn about 3 hr on a full load of seasoned poplar and will heat my single car garage to where I need a window open sometimes if I crank it too much.
I originally built the stove for the wall tent but kept it for the garage when we sold the tent.

My insurance broker told me if I had a fire in my garage I would likely not be covered because I had the stove as well as a plasma table and welder set up in there. The worse news was if the fire spread to a neighbours dwelling, I would be on the hook likely for that as well.
I am very very careful and the plasma table is gone as well.

[Desert Eagle]

I built one out of lighter gauge metal. It works really good. The first go around I had a damper in the chimney and a sliding piece on the front with 3 holes for air intake. It burned out quite quickly and lost a lot of heat up the chimney.

After the first trip out we added a deflector plate so that the heat had to travel up to the front of the stove and then to the back to the chimney. This made a huge difference in the heat it gave off. The plate sits about 1/2” below the top, so it uses the whole top of the stove as a heat source. I also put expanded metal on angle iron in the bottom to prevent burn through.

Best of luck in your adventure. It worked really well for us.

[Grizzly Adams1]

I used a pressure tank I scavenged at the land fill. Worked well in a wall tent but as pointed out, your insurance company wouldn't approve. I put a damper in the chimney pipe to better control the burning rate, spark arrestor as well. After the first rip, I also put a spaced heat shield at the back to reduce wall clearance.



Grizz

[dewalt18]

I appreciate all of the comments regarding insurance etc, but that’s not of any concern. I’m specifically looking for real world experience and things people would do different next time around. I’m a journeyman sheet metal worker, WETT certified, and installed my first wood burner circa 1998. I know all of that stuff, I’m looking to build my own stove for the kicks of it, with the end goal for it maybe going into my off grid cabin.

[Geraldsh]

I built mine out of 1/4” plate with a deflector baffle like Desert Eagle described, it was hot enough to fry eggs on.

About 10” up the pipe I put a double walled box oven that helped slow down the heat loss and worked great for heating frozen meals.

I had it in a very small cabin(10x14) took 20 minutes to go from minus 30 to open-the-door.

[Moo Snukkle]

I had my retired welder friend build me one from an old compressor. Identical in size to a 30 lb propane btl. Good for a 4 hr burn with a baffle installed. My next one will be from a slightly larger pressure tank.
Trying for a six hour burn time


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[Moo Snukkle]

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[Moo Snukkle]

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[Moo Snukkle]

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[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by Moo Snukkle

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Very nice! I want smokies now….

[ghfalls]

In my cabin, I put a drolet deco nano wood stove. They’re $1179. I know you were looking for home built tips, but these things are amazing. 8 hour burn with poplar no problem. I’ve got a home built one from a 30 pounder, and it eats wood like crazy. I only burn crappy deadfall poplar , unless it’s real cold out, or it gets too hot. With deadfall poplar, I can just keep it on low. In the long run, you’ll burn far less wood.

[dewalt18]

Originally Posted by ghfalls

In my cabin, I put a drolet deco nano wood stove. They’re $1179. I know you were looking for home built tips, but these things are amazing. 8 hour burn with poplar no problem. I’ve got a home built one from a 30 pounder, and it eats wood like crazy. I only burn crappy deadfall poplar , unless it’s real cold out, or it gets too hot. With deadfall poplar, I can just keep it on low. In the long run, you’ll burn far less wood.

Thank you. I’m very familiar with drolet’s lineup and have installed there products. But as I have stated, that’s not the purpose of this build or post, but I really appreciate the feedback on your burn times. I personally would never burn poplar in a stove, but to each their own.

[Grizzly Adams1]

I personally would never burn poplar in a stove

Damn good wood if properly dried. one of the few hard woods we have in this country.

Grizz

[jungleboy]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

I personally would never burn poplar in a stove

Damn good wood if properly dried. one of the few hard woods we have in this country.

Grizz

Yep I’ve had my wood stove in the house for close to 20 yrs , It has seen a lot poplar and very little birch . Never had an issue.

[ManitobaSlim]

I got two 90 gallon vehicle propane tanks. Was planning on making a giant wood stove mass heater out of them. One horizontal so i can get long logs in and tge other vertical in a rocket mass heater type setup.

[ghfalls]

A stove as efficient as a factory built one, but twice as heavy would be sweet. I find poplar to be great for a smaller cabin as the btu output is much lower than birch or tamarack. But it sure does produce a lot of ash. Likely 5 times or more. Is there another reason you wouldn’t burn poplar?
Thanks

Originally Posted by dewalt18

Thank you. I’m very familiar with drolet’s lineup and have installed there products. But as I have stated, that’s not the purpose of this build or post, but I really appreciate the feedback on your burn times. I personally would never burn poplar in a stove, but to each their own.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Actually poplar which proper name is trembling aspen is second best wood after birch.

[LLZ]

Poplar and Aspen, while similar, are two different species

Populus tremuloides (Aspen)

Populus balsamifera (Balsam Polar)

They are often growing together which further adds to the confusion. I have no idea if they differ in terms of their firewood characteristics. Likely not

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by LLZ

Poplar and Aspen, while similar, are two different species

Populus tremuloides (Aspen)

Populus balsamifera (Balsam Polar)

They are often growing together which further adds to the confusion. I have no idea if they differ in terms of their firewood characteristics. Likely not

And let's not forget about cotton wood another member of the poplar family. The fact that poplars cross pollinate to give various hybrids also adds to the confusion trying to identify them.

ARG

[Capsul]

https://all.biz/buleryan-vesuvi-classic-oo-g16314389UA

[Grizzly Adams1]

Princess Auto has a couple on sale, tin cans with chimneys.

Grizz