Rocket stove hot plate

[fox]

I have been building a rocket stove, almost finished now.
It was a bit of a rocky road as there is a lot of conflicting info out there and many rocket stoves are very roughly made from old bricks and cob

It would be nice to start over again as I have learnt so much from this build but the stove works fantastically well for my purposes.

The center of the hot plate reaches around 250c within 10 mins and tops out around 520c after an hour.
As it is mid summer, I have not had the fire going for more than one hour but at 520c the top just starts turning red and the fire box is positively red!
The barrel radiates heat extreamly well and it should warm my party house up nicely in the winter.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tchtcg5mQQM

[Gulf]

Fox,


Very Nice! Any chance that you could post some pics from during the build? Could you also elaborate on what you would have done differently if you could start over?

[fox]

Yes of course... the heart of the stove is the fire box and heat riser, temperature inside the heat riser can be extreme, up to or above 1500f so metal is out of the question.
I wish I had used a method to pre heat the air that causes the rocket effect but it is to late now, that would of given faster warm up time.
i wish I had formed a vortex in the heat riser as that would of allowed a slightly shorter heat riser and possibly more heat.
There is a recommended size formula for the fire box and heat riser but that did not work so well for me, so I had to extend the heat riser by 6” to get a really good draw (roar)
However I really love the stove, it works incredibly well for such a small amount of wood, it is quite easy to regulate the heat by closing down the chimney exit, (I was just useing a rag to drape over the exhaust but I now have a rotating metal disc.)
i can see there is lots of additional accessories I can add like an oven dome and some more mass around the barrel.

[UtahBeehiver]

This is really interesting, I see you do a lot of refractory cement casting, hence the fiberglass mold for you WFO pizza ovens.

[fox]

Yes I made a foam form but it was just dug out of the box in pieces once the cement had set, so just a one off for that.
i made the heat riser in four sections useing a basic wooden mould.
I used 1700f refactory cement for the fire box and heat riser, I can’t see down the heat riser but I can see into the fire box and it glows red hot, I suspect the bottom half of the riser will be red hot too.
There is absolutely no smoke exiting the chimney and the chimney top is around 80c.
i made a 6” system and that size seems to be very effective at doing what I want. I think 8” is the max recommended size for this style of rocket stove but 6” is the most common size.
I have a few more pictures and a very short video...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gMW3nnhwzKU

[fox]

A bit of drunken fun after a pizza party...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_il-5IkFsJM