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Ned Simmons Ned Simmons is offline
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Default Fabricating a sauna wood burning stove

On Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:23:38 -0800 (PST), rashid111
wrote:

Folx,

all the advice is much appreciated !

I am rather aware of the rich history between Finland & USSR, but it's
been long over by now , so let's move on.
Besides, in the tsarist Russia, Finland was effectively a self-
governed territory and didn't do that bad at all

I am sure Russian "banya"/ "parilka" (steam room) is as old as Finnish
sauna. The chief difference we

- the method use to heat up the rocks (in traditional Russian design,
they were exposed to direct flame - thus the name "chernaya" (black)
- Finns like dry heat, Russians splash water onto the hot rocks to get
copious amts of steam into the air

Both enjoy the distinct technique of staying in till you can not take
it no more and then, running out buck naked and dipping into a ice-
covered lake or a snow drift . In the summer, you'd always have few
buckets of coldest water one can get. The thermal shock is most
beneficial to human body/skin & spirit

My main concern had to do with the water being splashed onto the
exterior and creating some rust. I guess I am being paranoid here and
having no paint is just fine


As Phil said, the paints I mentioned early in the thread are not a
problem. My woodstove is painted with the stuff and sits right between
our kitchen and living room. The fire never goes out from Dec to March
and there's absolutely no odor. The stove paint is made up with very
volatile solvents and stinks like hell while it's being applied and
when the stove is first fired, but the volatiles flash off very
quickly.

Stove polish is not the same thing as stove paint, and works much
better on cast iron than on steel.


While on it:

Is 1/8 HRS good nuff ? Should I use 3/18" ?

About the inside of the oven - are any liners (bricks) etc used - or
fire burn right on the exposed metal ?


A firebrick or fireclay lining will protect the steel from corrosion
and, to some extent, warping. But it'll also increase the time it
takes for the outside of the stove to warm up. Depending on the
design, I probably wouldn't line a sauna stove.

Steel is cheap and a heavy steel stove is less likely to warp.

--
Ned Simmons