Ideas for stove glass

[wiscojames]

I have a couple of pieces of stove glass (roughly 12" wide by 9 inches tall, with an arch at the top) that I want to use for a future stove door.  I'd like some pointers for a beginner to make a serviceable door with them. 


If I wanted to ask my welder to fabricate a door, are there any features I want to keep in mind?  I know will be building for an 8" or a 6" batchbox, so outside dimensions are predetermined.  I plan to orient the glass vertically instead of horizontally.  But what about air?  Are low, rectangular sliders of the correct secondary air dimension sufficient?  Better solutions? 

Hinge hardware? I understand that the weight of a door like this, along with the expansion of the firebrick, means I need a steel frame to attach to.  Is that correct?

Would others (Matt?) advocate building it with other materials?

I know I've left a lot of variables undefined, but I am looking for ideas at this point that might change my designs.

thanks gents (and you female pyros)

[Deleted]

Fiber composite.

[wiscojames]

The material you have recently been posting about? how would you work out the hinges? tell me more!

[matthewwalker]

James, I'd recommend designing your door first, then cutting the glass you have to fit, rather than designing around an awkward shape. If you are going to have someone fab it for you, steel is a great choice.

[Deleted]

For hinge holes one needs round rods and a release agent.
Entirely everything in a stove can be made with geopolymers.
Youtube has a huge lot about composite techniques.

[Vortex]

Wisco, if you haven't seen it before, I went through how I make doors here: donkey32.proboards.com/post/20634/thread

[patamos]

Also worth considering:
mild steel is frowned upon by some of the masonry heater crowd, but when a little air is allowed to flow in between the door and frame the metal of both is effectively cooled.

[etownandrew]

Dec 18, 2017 17:29:11 GMT -8 @karl said:

For hinge holes one needs round rods and a release agent.
Entirely everything in a stove can be made with geopolymers.
Youtube has a huge lot about composite techniques.

This is an interesting thought. I have been thinking about how to make a door for a week or so. I'll look into it some more.

[briank]

Heavy duty hinge hardware:
bbqsmokersupply.com/hinges.html

[Vortex]

These on the next page are real nice, shame I can't get them here or I'd use them.
bbqsmokersupply.com/hinges/3-inch-bullet-weld-on-hinge.html

[briank]

Their damper control assortment might come in handy too:
bbqsmokersupply.com/dampers.html

This is where I found the bolt on door for an upright 55 gallon barrel (another website for the same group):
bbqsmokermods.com/lavalockr-quick-coaltm-wsm-door-mod-for-22-5-weber-smokey-mountain-or-55-gallon-uds-smoker.html

I think their door should be lined with at least 1/2” ceramic fiber board (inside the firebox opening) to prevent warping as it’s a big 14”x16” door of 14 or 16g Steel, and adding door glass would be simple and straightforward. Mica glass would be exceptionally easy. 

If they have any left, you can buy “scratch and dent” doors at less than half the retail price, $39.50:
bbqsmokermods.com/clearance/clearance-quick-coal-door-for-22-wsm-weber-smokey-mountain-55-gallon-uds-damaged.html

If you’re mechanically inclined these can be modified to mount on flat heavy sheet metal as a complete firebox door for any build and as I said, door glass can be easily added. 

[etownandrew]

I have been thinking about this and it occurred to me that the simplest idea would be a variation of what Donkey did recently. He created an angled front opening for the batch box and then formed a shelf so a door could be simply laid over the opening. No hardware required. Donkey used the glass top to an old cooking dish. However, the same idea would work with a piece of fire-resistant plate glass, metal, or ceramic flat plate.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5DTNNZ9sg
drive.google.com/file/d/1uJszhmL13AS61l5akc9n9hcgFhzLjD6d/view?usp=sharing
This assumes that you have not yet built your batch box or are able to add to it.

[Vortex]

I was using pyrex oven dish lids as stove door windows in the late 1980's. They work OK but have a few issues you need to watch out for. Their max temp rating is 500*C, so they can break if they get too hot. I used to find they coped OK with the heat so long as the wood or flames did not touch the glass. The biggest problem was if they got touched by something cool when they were really hot, then they'd nearly always break. On average they usually lasted about a year. I used to look out for them in the second hand shops so I had a stack of spares. The older brands lasted longer than the new ones.

[smokeout]

Dec 19, 2017 2:57:19 GMT -8 Vortex said:

Wisco, if you haven't seen it before, I went through how I make doors here: donkey32.proboards.com/post/20634/thread

These are some good looking hinges. They sure would be easy to make, but if you could get free shipping then it would be better to buy them. 
I hope this isn't to far off topic, but after making several modifications to my stove and running it for a few days... I have a question. 
I built an air wash on both sides of my horizontal tunnel to preheat my primary air . The air flow tubes are 1" wide and 11" tall, they start at the front of each side of the stove and go to the riser and then come back before entering the front of the stove. They are really heating the air . 
What I have discovered is I only need a very small opening on each side to give enough primary air for my stove. Once my heat exchanger goes over 700 F, I restrict the primary air and the wood gasifies.
what size openings  are most guys running on their batch box heaters when they are in full operation?

for now I have the 1"X11" openings  temporarily blocked off until I build a door.

[matthewwalker]

I've documented my experience here:

walkerstoves.com/walker-pre-port-secondary-air-tube.html