On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:29:15 -0700, Butter wrote:

Guy at work is constantly talking about this now that its getting
cold and I had the idea that the place to find someone who had done
this was people with the skills to do it. What would be the point of
asking office people for example how to do anything. We have acess to
steel sheet from 12 ga to 3/8 thick.
He can get slabs from his brother-in-laws sawmill and wants to run
hot water from the outside furnace into the house. Then use radiators
to warm up the place.

There's been talk of banning this type of boiler in a few towns around
here. Apparently they produce lots of smoke and ash when damped down.
The fact that they release this stuff at ground level makes the
problem, or at least the perception of a problem, worse. Be careful
you don't build something you might not be able to use.

I know that there is more to doing it than just
a box to get it very efficient and thought he should find a book on
how wood stoves are constructed. Anyone here with any experience at
this or wood stove construction? I think I remember that if you use
steel plate that it won't last as long as cast iron for some
reason. ??

I did some design work on commercial versions of home boilers that
were developed at the University of Maine about 25 years ago and have
built several stoves myself. Steel woodburners can be quite durable if
lined lined with refractory in the appropriate areas; either firebrick
or cast refractory.

--
Ned Simmons