On Sep 22, 8:04*am, Thomas Prufer prufer.pub...@mnet-
online.de.invalid wrote:

(Never tried it myself, but a chap I know swears by old washing machine
drums...)

IMHO, they're a good start but they need work and aren't perfect.
Their great advantage is that they're stainless, so they're allowed to
be visible and don't have to be hidden away all the time....

An incinerator needs draught and this ought to be natural draught, not
faffing about with a fan. So that means height. Barrels good, washing
machine dums too short. A washing machine also has holes in the side,
not in the base, so the draught is top air and largely robbing any
useful draught you might get, in favour of just being a convector
heater. The side holes are also on the small side, so there isn't
really enough air through them.

So for both barrels, your main air supply needs to be pickaxe holes in
the base, or at least the bottom of the sides below a mesh burn
platform. With a washing machine drum, this is enough for burning
with secondary air for a clean burn through the side walls. More
height wouldn't hurt though, so if you can get a second WM drum, cut
the base and stack that on top (twisted fence wire loops will hold
them together).

If you're lucky, the drum spider can be used as a support to raise
them off the ground. Mine's welded to a bit of old pipe and spiked in.