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Post by travis on Jan 20, 2018 1:12:22 GMT -8
Bummer there’s no clay, maybe you’ll stumble on some one day huh? That’s an interesting idea, haven’t thought of quite that thing before, it might be a bit sensitive to move and could be a real bad deal if the core cracks or breaks. How would you connect the hoist to the core?
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 20, 2018 6:37:46 GMT -8
I’ll have to calculate the weight of the core but my thoughts:
I need to raise the fire bricks for the base off the bottom of the steel stove bottom by about 1.5 inches. I was going to do this with concrete. I know it doesn’t hold up to heat well but it is just a leveler and can turn to dust over time without any consequences. I have two pieces of scrap 1x2 steel tubing that are as long as the core. I will weld some rebaror pipe between these to pieces of tubing and then pour my concrete base between them. I then can let it cure a bit then build my core on top of it. I will leave the rebar extended out of the sides of the tubing to use as hooks. I then just need to use a couple slings to pick it up and set it in place. I figure it won’t be much more than a couple hundred pounds.
54# for the concrete 136# for the base firebrick and fire box brick 50 # for lower riser.
About 240 lbs all together. I think those tubes can do that without flexing.
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Post by travis on Jan 20, 2018 18:07:35 GMT -8
I have heard some people mix concrete with perlite to help give some insulation value. Maybe that can be given a yes or no by other guys here if that's any good for your application.
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 22, 2018 9:27:19 GMT -8
Just brainstorming and had another idea. If I am going to cut off the top of my steel stove to put the batch core in place, I might as well just weld the barrel to the top plate of the stove, cut the top of the steel stove 1" from all top edges, weld an angle iron frame for the top and use a gasket and bolts to screw on the top plate of the steel stove. The bell and the top plate of the steel stove would be one piece. I then have easy access to the complete core if I need to make any repairs down the road. I would just need to take out 14 or so bolts and lift the top of the steel stove part off with an engine hoist or two strong people, and I would have complete access to the core. Cleaning out ash would also be super easy. That is the plan for now unless someone comes up with a pretty strong con of doing it this way. I don't want to cut or weld myself into a corner.
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Post by drooster on Jan 22, 2018 12:18:53 GMT -8
Just brainstorming and had another idea. If I am going to cut off the top of my steel stove to put the batch core in place, I might as well just weld the barrel to the top plate of the stove, cut the top of the steel stove 1" from all top edges, weld an angle iron frame for the top and use a gasket and bolts to screw on the top plate of the steel stove.... Yes, great idea or cut a circular hole in the top of your stove and weld a circular flange of strip steel, standing up and gasket&bolt the barrel to that circle.
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 26, 2018 6:47:39 GMT -8
Well I got the lower 1/3 of the riser cast. It took a lot of material to fill it. I mixed the perlite:fireclay at 2:1 ratio by volume. I think I might have been able to go 3:1. I will make the top two thirds at a 3:1 ratio. The riser came out as good as I could have expected I guess. I need to fill some voids in the chamber to make it smoother and protect some of the exposed perlite. It is really almost impossible to get a good smooth, no void surface with a mix as dry as you are supposed to use. Now I have to let it dry out completely and then find out if I can have it kiln fired to give it more strength.
I need to find out how to post pictures to share the progress of this build.
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Post by Vortex on Jan 26, 2018 6:52:50 GMT -8
The forum's own picture hosting quota is already full, so you have to use a picture hosting site that allows 3rd party links and link to it from here. The best one seems to be www.Imgur.com
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 26, 2018 7:07:55 GMT -8
thanks vortex. I didn't know what 3rd party hosting sites were available. That will get things moving.
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 26, 2018 7:48:25 GMT -8
Well when researching imgur.com, it sounds like you cannot use them for 3rd party photo sharing any more. I don't know how to do it but it looks pretty confusing. I got the app downloaded on my cell phone but don't know where to go from there. I looked for directions on google but then found out that you are not supposed to use it for 3rd party hosting. I guess I will just go pictureless.
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 26, 2018 8:36:51 GMT -8
Ok I think I might have this picture thing almost figured out. Below are some links to a picture of my 1st test piece using a propane torch to heat it up. It took about 5 seconds or less to get it glowing bright red/orange. The piece was completely dry before heating and I got no cracks from the heating. After heating I cracked the piece apart and found that the first 1/32 of an inch turned gray and was rock hard, the next 1/4 inch turned a pink/red color and the remaining thickness was still natural dry clay color.
i.imgur.com/HavLfHC.jpg i.imgur.com/PXrERQT.jpg i.imgur.com/97tXWe7.jpg
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 26, 2018 8:47:39 GMT -8
Here is a link to the cracked apart piece. imgur.com/a/3Sec2
I will get some pictures tonight of the lower riser cast.
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Post by Vortex on Jan 26, 2018 9:34:35 GMT -8
If you click on 'Reply' not on 'Post Quick Reply' then there's a button top right that has a little picture icon, click that and paste the url in there and it will display the picture like this:
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 29, 2018 6:30:31 GMT -8
Ok I will try some pictures now of my plans and my progress.
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 29, 2018 6:47:22 GMT -8
I have cast the riser sections and am letting them dry. It is taking a while and when I tried to increase the drying speed, I am getting shrinkage cracking. I think that once it is dry, I can mix some clay slip and rub it into the cracks and wait for it to dry again and keep doing this until the cracks are filled. The pottery shop said they could only get one piece in the kiln at a time so I will probably only have the lower riser portion fired. I will wrap the two upper riser sections in some sort of stainless sheeting so that the perlite does not continue to crumble off. Here are some pictures of the riser sections. I used some clay and a small squeegee to fill the small voids in the inner riser on the bottom and top section. I was not sure how it would dry so I left the middle section without it. The insides are still quite wet still because air is not able to flow around as easily. I ran out of material towards the top of the last section so instead of cutting it off square like the other ones, I coned it up so that I could get the full length of what I wanted to have.
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Post by flybyjohn on Jan 29, 2018 7:12:50 GMT -8
Here is the top view of my plans. These were the original plans. I have since lengthened the firebox about 2.5 inches so that the lower riser will come to the rear most portion of the firebrick floor layout. I have also increased the height of the lower riser so that the second section will sit on top of the roof bricks to make a better seal. I am not sure if I should use clay slip between the riser section when assembling or if I should use a ceramic gasket material so that I can easily take them apart at a later date without damaging them.
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