Post by peterberg on Jul 5, 2015 1:00:42 GMT -8
Some time ago Robert Blasczcyk from Poland tipped me off that Larry Winiarski, godfather of the rocket stove, was about to visit Poland. Robert tried to organise a workshop and asked me to participate. I was very tempted by the possibility to met Larry, so a couple of days later I said yes. The workshop was planned for 26, 27 and 28 of June, Friday until and including Sunday. We both arrived a couple of days earlier in order to prepare for the workshop. Larry did some talks and hands-on teaching on cooking stoves and I focused mainly on a batch box seminar and workshop.
I made plans to build a complete small cooking range with oven but that one didn't make it into reality. The workshop team built a batch box demonstration core instead the first day, of 6.5" system size tailored to the brick size. Made out of firebrick with the riser out of super insulating bricks which were able to withstand direct flame. The riser was built as an octagon, with the corners filled in with small triangle pieces and a coarse back sweep as well. This turned out to be a smashing succes, up to the point that Larry made this remark: "why didn't I think of that!".
The next day during Larry's seminar I looked around for available materials to build a small version. This turned out some vermiculite board would be the best, I calculated for a 4" system and a square riser. In the afternoon a small team had the pieces cut and screwed together, and ran it before 5 pm. Looked very good although the riser was evidently a bit on the short side, being 6 times the basic figure only.
The next day, we lengthened the riser up to 8 times B and built the whole thing into a 55 gallon barrel with removable lid. Just one rectangle hole in the side to let the firebox stick out and a round hole in the lid to accomodate the chimney pipe. The riser being only 40 mm under the lid, this steel lid got awfully hot, enough to bake potatoes in a frying pan on top of that. The chimney pipe reached to the bottom of the barrel, leaving a gap of 60 mm at the lowest point. By doing this, the whole of the barrel got hot. Actually, it was geared to being a heater which incidentally could be cooked on.
There are some pictures on Facebook, see this link
The cooking range design, not being used but which generated a lot of interest is here:
This workshop event turned out to be a succes, thanks go to Robert, the catering ladies and all the people who participated. Special thanks go to the generous host Maria Ksiazak who housed Larry and me for 5 days.
I made plans to build a complete small cooking range with oven but that one didn't make it into reality. The workshop team built a batch box demonstration core instead the first day, of 6.5" system size tailored to the brick size. Made out of firebrick with the riser out of super insulating bricks which were able to withstand direct flame. The riser was built as an octagon, with the corners filled in with small triangle pieces and a coarse back sweep as well. This turned out to be a smashing succes, up to the point that Larry made this remark: "why didn't I think of that!".
The next day during Larry's seminar I looked around for available materials to build a small version. This turned out some vermiculite board would be the best, I calculated for a 4" system and a square riser. In the afternoon a small team had the pieces cut and screwed together, and ran it before 5 pm. Looked very good although the riser was evidently a bit on the short side, being 6 times the basic figure only.
The next day, we lengthened the riser up to 8 times B and built the whole thing into a 55 gallon barrel with removable lid. Just one rectangle hole in the side to let the firebox stick out and a round hole in the lid to accomodate the chimney pipe. The riser being only 40 mm under the lid, this steel lid got awfully hot, enough to bake potatoes in a frying pan on top of that. The chimney pipe reached to the bottom of the barrel, leaving a gap of 60 mm at the lowest point. By doing this, the whole of the barrel got hot. Actually, it was geared to being a heater which incidentally could be cooked on.
There are some pictures on Facebook, see this link
The cooking range design, not being used but which generated a lot of interest is here:
This workshop event turned out to be a succes, thanks go to Robert, the catering ladies and all the people who participated. Special thanks go to the generous host Maria Ksiazak who housed Larry and me for 5 days.