Can anyone remember the url for the Little Dragon heater plans. I thought
that I had seen them here and bookmarked them, but now I can't find them.
The only site that Google comes up with is dead.

--
Larry Bailey
Illegitimi non carborundum

When I was a kid in the '50's, probably 1/4 of the filling stations
heated the office with a wood stove running off waste oil. They would
put rocks in the stove, and drip oil from a copper tube on the rocks.
To light it off, they would use a wad of newspaper. There would be a
little black smoke coming from the chimney, not too bad. I don't
remember a significant smell of oil burning in the office. The rocks
would heat up and vaporize the oil to enable the combustion process.
Don't use limestone, use something more refractory, like the pumice
stone they sell at the plant places.

brownnsharp

Probably not the same one but here is a link to the Mother Earth News waste
oil heater plan.

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_...earth/me4.html

No big trick to it. Drip the oil on something hot...

Mike

"LBailey" wrote in message
...
Can anyone remember the url for the Little Dragon heater plans. I thought
that I had seen them here and bookmarked them, but now I can't find them.
The only site that Google comes up with is dead.

--
Larry Bailey
Illegitimi non carborundum

Michael,
That link to the Mother Earth article was very informative. Thanks for posting
it. I am planning a new garage/workshop right now and this may be a great way
to heat it.
Dennis

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_...earth/me4.html

Glad you found it useful. The Journey To Forever site is very helpful on
lots of stuff. Good links to tons of info on homebrew stills. I'm planning
to build a waste oil heater to fire an ethanol still to get 190 proof, uh,
fuel. (Personal distillation for internal consumption is illegal in the US.
Go figure - you can *legally* brew beer and wine (and drink it) but it's
illegal to extract the alcohol you have created... It is, however, legal to
extract alcohol for use as a fuel.

I haven't checked to see if waste oil is as readily available as it used to
be - I suspect that the Environazis make the typical oil change places
account for every drop.

Let us know how your project goes!

Coop



Michael,
That link to the Mother Earth article was very informative. Thanks for
posting
it. I am planning a new garage/workshop right now and this may be a great
way
to heat it.
Dennis

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_...earth/me4.html

"Gunluvver2" wrote in message
...
Michael,
That link to the Mother Earth article was very informative. Thanks for
posting
it. I am planning a new garage/workshop right now and this may be a great
way
to heat it.
Dennis

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_...earth/me4.html

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 21:31:34 -0500, "michaeltcooper"
wrote:

Glad you found it useful. The Journey To Forever site is very helpful on
lots of stuff. Good links to tons of info on homebrew stills. I'm planning
to build a waste oil heater to fire an ethanol still to get 190 proof, uh,
fuel. (Personal distillation for internal consumption is illegal in the US.
Go figure - you can *legally* brew beer and wine (and drink it) but it's
illegal to extract the alcohol you have created... It is, however, legal to
extract alcohol for use as a fuel.
There are a couple of PD e-books on distillation around - email me if
you want em. Distillation is legal here (New Zelaand) and I can buy a
still over the counter. Can't sell the booze, and it is "for home use
only". I think there is a limit ~50l per year before Customs starts to
take an active interest.
I haven't checked to see if waste oil is as readily available as it used to
be - I suspect that the Environazis make the typical oil change places
account for every drop.
Around here, it is a PIA to get rid of the stuff. It is one reason
the car has been going in to the garage for the oil changes recently.
Geoff

Geoff, thanks for the offer. I've got several dead tree books on distilling
and apparatus... that's my problem: too many books, not enough time hands-on
actually building the stuff. (Damn that Lindsay...)

I do want to try converting an '86 Dodge pickup with a slant-6 to run on
ethanol and try making the fuel. I've got a couple plans for stills - no big
trick to building one. The trick is getting the heat source and the mash
source (the stuff that turns into alcohol) for free, or at least dirt cheap.
I think the waste oil burner is a good answer for the former, and there is
an abundnace of foodstuffs that get tossed out that could easily be
fermented and then used as fertilizer.

I'm looking for some references now on building/converting a steam boiler.
The most efficient way to run the still is to pump live steam into the mash
(fermented liquid) rather than just build a fire under the tank.
Unfortunately all my references to steam revolve around train engines. What
I'd like is a reference on low-pressure (30 psi) steam applications.

Mike

"geoff merryweather" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 21:31:34 -0500, "michaeltcooper"
wrote:

Glad you found it useful. The Journey To Forever site is very helpful on
lots of stuff. Good links to tons of info on homebrew stills. I'm
planning
to build a waste oil heater to fire an ethanol still to get 190 proof,
uh,
fuel. (Personal distillation for internal consumption is illegal in the
US.
Go figure - you can *legally* brew beer and wine (and drink it) but it's
illegal to extract the alcohol you have created... It is, however, legal
to
extract alcohol for use as a fuel.
There are a couple of PD e-books on distillation around - email me if
you want em. Distillation is legal here (New Zelaand) and I can buy a
still over the counter. Can't sell the booze, and it is "for home use
only". I think there is a limit ~50l per year before Customs starts to
take an active interest.
I haven't checked to see if waste oil is as readily available as it used
to
be - I suspect that the Environazis make the typical oil change places
account for every drop.
Around here, it is a PIA to get rid of the stuff. It is one reason
the car has been going in to the garage for the oil changes recently.
Geoff

I was in the Barcelona train station recently on a Sunday. There was a liquor
store that was closed. In the window were these gorgeous hand-hammered copper
stills used for making grappa or other distilled European wines. I swear if
that store hadn't been closed I would have shut my eyes and just handed them
my VISA card they looked so cool. When I got home, I checked - naturally,
they show up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2367610600

They can't legally sell a ready-to-distill setup in the States. But they
can and do sell you a ready-formed kit and give you step-by-steps to how
to seal it and prepare it for use. They have all sizes from tiny to huge.

I regretfully decided to pass, having blown my wad on a trip to Europe. If
you get one please post how you like it.

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington

michaeltcooper wrote:

Geoff, thanks for the offer. I've got several dead tree books on distilling
and apparatus... that's my problem: too many books, not enough time hands-on
actually building the stuff. (Damn that Lindsay...)