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OT: laying into a woodstove with an angle grinder

gustafson

Diamond
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Location
People's Republic
So I own stupid damn house. Contemporary. Too much glass. Has a particular look

When you own such a thing, you have to go with it.

No six panel doors, or carriage lamp light fixtures

I have two fireplaces, and the one upstairs I have ceramic glass doors on and it does a decent job of entertainment, with a little heat on the side.

Downstairs on the same 3 foot by 8 foot chimney column is another fireplace we rarely use, and I have been thinking of a fireplace insert or wood stove.

Alas, everything available looks like it belongs in grandpa Farkels general store.

Everything that doesn't is the better part of 3 grand

So, several US makers of steel wood stoves make what is a wood stove on a stand[you knew I would get to the point eventually]

But they are too tall to fit in the fireplace.

Would it be ridiculous to cut the bottom off of one and reweld the 'foot' on?


Englander 2,000 Sq. Ft. Wood Stove - England's Stove Works, Inc.


England's Wood Stove Store

Or do you think the thing would end up coming apart?
 
It's possible that they are on the stand so they can be placed on a combustible floor. You would probably be voiding safety requirements, but if you are placing it inside a masonry fireplace i doubt there would be a problem.
Maybe wood stove dealer would give you a good reason why it's not a good idea, but I can't think of one.
 
Probably pony up for the contemporary stoves.

Nothing contemporary is cheap, other than the build quality.
 
It's possible that they are on the stand so they can be placed on a combustible floor. You would probably be voiding safety requirements, but if you are placing it inside a masonry fireplace i doubt there would be a problem.
Maybe wood stove dealer would give you a good reason why it's not a good idea, but I can't think of one.

I am certain this is the case.

Your average wood stove dealer doesn't know what makes em work
Kelly's Heroes (1970) - Oddball drinking wine and eating cheese - YouTube
 
Some of the woodstoves on a pedestal use the space in the pedestal to catch ashes, cannot tell if the one in your first link is that way. Otherwise as long s its setting on a masonry surface it is probably going to be ok. I got a chuckle out of you "grandpa Farkles General Store" comment, yep your choice is that or a black box, maybe with a window, neither quite suits my taste. I've been looking for an old riveted compressor tank to turn into steampunk woodstove:D
 
The owners manual shows there is a clean out drawer in that base. You would have to shrink the drawer down to keep the draft working correctly. I would look at other brands of stoves instead.
 
Shrinking it would work just great, so long as one paid some attention to draft. Have at it, though an acetylene torch would be my first choice.:)

Followed by MIG if necessary.
 
Contact the maker. They may have the plinth it sits on as part of the heat barrier to the floor, and may not be concerned about hacking the height down, or they may...

I would suggest checking to see if your town/village/county/State/whatever, has any inspection requirements that you should know about.
No skin off mine if you choose to ignore them, but it's wise to be aware of what you are dancing around... Like, no real point in paying for house insurance, if they are going to keep the money, but void your coverage once they find you have an un-inspected stove, say...or a modified one beyond what the manufacturer will back.

Look at Fireplace Inserts. Made for just about that situation.

I will tell you from bitter, expensive experience, that a Blaze King stove does not work worth a pinch of coon poo if the chimney is too tall! I have met others online that had the same experience, and despite the fan-bois attestations to the contrary, I was told by the sellers of that brand, that it would work in my situation.
I later found out that at least one of the local sellers of wood fired appliances here in my rather small town, has had so many complaints with Cat equipped stoves, that they will not bother to stock them, and will counsel their potential customers against them, only selling them one after they have made clear their position.

I wish I had found those guys first!

Anyways, FUCK Blaze King! <spit>
 
Do you have house insurance? Local to me, just having a fireplace or even an insert more than doubles insurance rate, if you can get it. Would be very open and honest with your insurer before doing anything custom with an insert.

L7
 
I have a fireplace insert - but I'd rather have a stove sitting outside the hearth to give more heat. The insert was a gift from someone that was moving - so that is what I've had for 20+ years.

I pulled a permit for the insurance coverage that was mentioned above! - but inspector had never seen one before (!!?!?!).

Anyways - research the flue and draft requirements with the manufacturers - if the flue is too big it does not pull enough draft. Mine has a 6" stainless steel pipe that runs up a little ways, and then is open inside of the 12" flue. IT works, but i think the 6" is supposed to run up higher. Things went well for 15 years and then I put a chimney cap on. That cap screwed up the flow enough that I got a buildup of creosote that I had to deal with.
 
Tar and creosote are results of the wood you burn.....people pay a lot extra for 100yr old River Redgum,but it burns like charcoal and saves the inevitable result of a chimney fire where the stainless flue turns into white hot oxide cinders.
 
The plinth is disposable. Do what you will, just make sure the floor can't catch fire.

In observation, The contributors to THIS thread have revealed much of themselves when drawing from the more political threads.

John K, You are ever the optimist! "White hot oxide cinders"? Is that on the second or third burn ? ha ha ha A joker to be sure.

ps

There is a wood fire warming me now, the stove not 8 feet away. A tote a day keeps the winter chill away.
THe downstairs stove take a wheel barrow every two days... But the wife needs the heat to dry the laundry ;-)
 
I think the fact that if there were no stove in the spot there would be a pile of hot cinders in its place makes me worry less about air space. It is in the existing
masonry fireplace. 30 tons or so of brick is unlikely to worry about an air space

I have no intention of actually heating with it

In the 70's they forgot how to build fireplaces. You light a fire in a 200 year old fireplace and that sucker will run perfect. These things won't draw for crap, smoke like crazy.

When looking at a winter of too much time spent at home, it might be nice to have fires downstairs, and a glass door wood stove would be just the ticket, rather than fight with the badly designed fireplace. Also an open fireplace is a net energy loser, while a wood stove uses so much less air that it would not make moot all the money I spent on energy efficiency improvements.
 
I've been burning 6 cords a year in one of the double door versions of one of these inserts for over 30 years:

https://hitzer.com/our-products/stoves-furnaces/model-983-fireplace-insert

The wood is supported on cast grates and the air enters under the grates. Ashes fall through the grates into a pan to be carried outside for disposal. I've gone for 2 months without loosing fire. Don't know what they cost these days, but back then I could have easily spent twice as much.

Forget about watching pretty flames through the window. If you are not burning hot enough, it's covered with creosote. If you are burning hot enough, its coated with ash. It is nice to glance at the window and have some visual indication of how the burn is going.

I believe it's all carbon steel except the grates, which I'd guess to be Meehanite HS or equal. I've replace one set of grates to three of the steel frames that support them. There's a steel baffle in the firebox, and I'm on my third one of those. I also have one crack on the front face due to differential thermal expansion.

Hitzer would probably claim I abuse this thing. It regularly gets overheated. I'd rather waste some wood running it hot than worry about creosote in the chimney. Last time I had the chimney cleaned the guy bought out a bucket of ash and said "You burn this thing hot don't you? There's no creosote." That was over 25 years ago.
 








 
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