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Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:02 pm
by pa_friendly_guy
That sounds like a good plan Manny. I have wondered why more people did not extend the fire box to hold longer sticks. I was wondering, as you extended it did you taper it wider as you went up, sort of making a funnel down to the burn area? That idea always made sense to me as well, but I have not heard about many people doing it that way. There maybe a good reason not to do that, but I was just wondering if it made sense and would work. :?

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:05 pm
by pa_friendly_guy
That makes sense, I figured that there must be a reason if no one was doing it that way.

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:17 pm
by mannytheseacow
Guy, you must be familiar with my construction skills because yes it does kind of funnel out.... oops. I didn't intend for that but when it was done I realized that the walls kind of slope out. Realizing this I tried to put a lip around the outside to bring things back in. Perhaps this is why it works; it gives the smoke a little somewhere to go before being caught by the cool air coming in from a tighter space above it? Who knows? All that matters is that it is working.

I wish I could upload a picture of it but my bandwidth is dwindling again. The stove has really taken on a new character and is starting to look like the a fighter aircraft from Star Wars. I'm sure George Lucas could have built something cooler than a barrel, though.

It is drying out nicely and hoping to get another coat of plaster on the new section today. For building up the feed I tried an "insulative cob" as Matt discussed. I don't know what that is though.... So what I did was just make the regular core mix of fire clay and vermiculite and then added in sand and chopped straw. I really felt the straw was necessary to hold the thin walls together here (the cockpit of the aircraft!). We'll see how it works out- so far so good. Coldest night yet here last night and she started right up this morning.

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:52 pm
by matt walker
Nice Manny. When I say insulative cob I just mean pretty much what you did, plus as much perlite/vermiculite as you can stuff in there and still have it be sturdy enough for whatever you are using it for. I used it for the bottom layer in my new bench. Wish it would cool off here, it just keeps being too warm to burn, although I'm powering the thing dry anyway, with all the doors and windows open. It's killing me to waste the wood though...

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:10 pm
by pa_friendly_guy
Oct has been cold and wet here in Pa so far. Some frost warning around here, they got frost north of here. Down in the low 40's at night, highs in the 50's to 60's. BRRRRRRRRR with the rain and dampness it has been down right chilly here. As my old girl friend used to say,,,,,,,,,,,,well you all remember what she used to say. :lol:

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:49 pm
by mannytheseacow
I've had this piece of glass around for a while and was saving it for my outdoor build but what the heck? Doesn't do me any good sitting on a shelf. So here's some photos of the 8" system updated:
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After almost 20 years of burning wood this is my first stove with a functioning window. Totally love it.

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:45 pm
by matt walker
Holy crap, that is awesome! Love that bench too.

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 10:16 pm
by ByronC
Looking good Manny. The window worked out really nice.

How deep is the vertical feed now? For my upcoming 8" system I'm planning on making mine 16" deep.

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:27 am
by thickstrings
Wow, really nice! Do you notice any great difference from the 6" yet?

Re: 6" to 8" Conversion at the seacow

PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 1:24 pm
by mannytheseacow
Thanks guys, I'm really enjoying it.

Byron, I'm right about there. I'm at 17" deep now and the little air ramp on the front is lower by an inch, so 16" there.

Thickstrings, honestly, no. I haven't seen any major difference, other than the large burn chamber makes getting a fire started a little harder than a 6". I hesitate to be too critical though because I'm not burning gung-ho like I will be in the winter. Once some of the initial drying burns were done, I have reduced my burning to one load a day or sometimes one load every two days.