Stupidly Large Pot Belly Stove

[C.A.R.]

So when I leased my current workshop, the owners - who where occupying the property it prior to me - had a little pot belly stove at the back that they left.
It was made out the ubiquitous truck brake drums joined together by a steel band in the middle.

It was fairly old, was very thin at the bottom, chewed through wood like a beaver on cocaine and produced about as much heat as a hairdryer on medium setting.
Trying to heat the large shed was impossible, however on occasion we managed to get it going hard enough:

[C.A.R.]

As I'm a frog (cold blooded) I DESPISE working in the cold.
I had some vague plans to replace the little bot belly with something more substantial,
but when a mate of mine offered me a section of pipe removed from a plant undergoing refurbishment for $100, my plan got turned up to 11..
The pipe in question is a 730mm Dia. 10mm thick fabricated mild steel pipe measuring 2.3 meters long, with an Ansi flange welded on one end and support legs welded to the underside.
To say it's a heavy bastard would be an understatement...

Edited August 25, 2018 by Lurch

[C.A.R.]

Now obviously I wasn't going to use the whole length of pipe.
I worked out I could get 3, 750mm sections out of the pipe - enough to make 3 units (if I wanted to make more).

My First step was t make some basic pipe rollers to roll the pipe as I was cutting it. I hunted through my pile of crap and found 4 nylon coated stationary casters.
I screwed them to a couple of pieces of timber and voila:

Next up I needed a marking band. This is used to wrap around the pipe to (hopefully) mark a straight, square line around the pipe so it can be cut square.
I cut a couple of 100mm wide strips of 1mm mild steel sheet off in the Guillotine, jogged one end, then set it up on an arm of the chassis bench with a couple of 
magnetic squares. After getting them parallel I spot welded them together.

 

With the band complete it was time to mark the pipe...

 

[KatoKid]

22 minutes ago, Lurch said:

As I'm a frog 

 

Didn't picture you as a cheese eating surrender monkey.

Carry on Sir

[C.A.R.]

With the stub of an old pipe branch cut off, I wrapped the band around the pipe and marked my cut line so I could square the end of the pipe off
(the section of pipe being hacked off with Oxy/Act during the refit).

Edo spec potato pic:

Normally pipe is cut with Oxy/Act as it's the quickest way to cut heavy wall pipe.
But for anyone with Oxy/Act bottles you'll know how stupidly expensive the gas's are... so I elected to use a 9 inch with 1.6mm cut-off wheels - cheaper and a cleaner cut.
Annoyingly I didn't get my marking square enough and ended up with 3mm off square. However I decided not to used this end as I'd have to fill the hole where the branch came out from...

[C.A.R.]

8 minutes ago, KatoKid said:

Didn't picture you as a cheese eating surrender monkey.

Carry on Sir

I fart in your general direction!

[C.A.R.]

Cut No.2 involved measuring up 750mm, then tack welding the band onto the pipe, wrapping the band around the pipe, securing it in place with a strap and marking the next cut line.

Fortunetly I got my line 100% spot on this time and ended up with a square end.
I also cut one of the legs off with the Oxy/Act as I couldn't get access with the 9 inch - and promptly emptied my little Oxygen bottle in the process

[C.A.R.]

With the first section cut off I pushed it outside, moved the rollers further along then marked and cut the next segment - the piece I was going to use.
However now I was a bit stuck - I scratched my head for bit thinking about how I was going to make the rest of it.
My mate Joel saw what I was up to and asked what I was going to do next - to which I replied "NFI".
He said to leave it with him, took some measurements and a couple of days later he came up with this on Inventor:

 

All made out of 6mm mild steel plate.
He converted it to .DXL file and I sent it off to my local Lazer cutter to have it cut out - a week later I picked up my flat-pack pot belly stove.

Now to start gluing it together... 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Lurch

[C.A.R.]

Starting on the bottom first, I squared and welded the grid plate into position, followed by the ash box.
This was then all welded on - using my 395amp Mig welder.

Next the ash box door frame assembly was welded into place and the door trial fitted.
The door was a bit tight, so it needed the sides ground down to clearance it.

With the ash box completed, I fab'd up some legs and welded them onto the sides of the ash box.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Lurch

[C.A.R.]

Next I welded some Nylon castors onto the legs and sat the stove upright for the first time.

Next the door opening frame is fitted into position, then the edges beveled and finally welded.

Unfortunately this is where I forgot to take more photos
A plate with the hole for the flue is welded on top at the back, then the damper frame assembly is welded on, followed by the lid with it's hinges.

Next a 8" to 6" cast reducer was bought and welded on top of the damper frame.
Annoyingly the steel supplier supplied me with 5" pipe instead of 6", but this was soon rectified.

 

[C.A.R.]

This was followed up by cutting a hole in the roof, fitting the flue kit, deck-tite and top hat (All done at 10pm. In the rain. With gale force winds. Was fun being on the roof that night...)
And finally the finished unit.

And just to show how large it actually is, he's my mate Joel IN IT.

Suffice to say it works BRILLIANTLY. We load it up with wood and shut it down overnight, and when we come in the next morning
the workshop is at least 10deg warmer than outside - quite amazing.

And does it keep me warm? Yeah... it does:


 

Cheers,
L.

[KatoKid]

Love it. Well done mate.

[CBR Jeff]

Very nice. Now for the coffee pot and bbq adaptations.

Jeff

[gilltech]

A plan so clever you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel...