Hey Mike, fellow frost dweller, my last double barrel had two pipes welded long wise for forced air blowing in the upper, but with no internal interaction. But I didn’t need it as I can effortlessly get 90 degrees with my uninsulated two stall garage. I often get advice of proper insulating and draft control, but I’ve never paid for the heat and don’t want spontaneous combustion of my wooden cupboards!
Thanks Steve, primary air will come in under the grate, secondary air will come in through the side at the bottom. I have ceramic blanket insulation that I will wrap the insides with and then have a piece of thin stainless to keep it in place… we’ll see how it works. I’ll post some pics as it comes together… I may use a round Pyrex pie plate as a door… thanks for the offer for glass though… it’s more than a little appreciated.
Hello guys; I find myself in need of a wood stove for my shop. Kind of thinking of a two 55gal barrel set-up. I had one before but it burned out so I will take the cast iron hardware off from that. Mike LaRossa, you said that we should get secondary burn in the top drum. First off, don’t we have to pull the gases/smoke down through the flame/char to get burnable gases?? If they just go up to the second barrel, it is just smoke and tar. If I put a false floor in the first drum with about a 6 inch hole in the floor so the gases are pulled down through the char and directed by the 6 inch tube up to the second barrel, with secondary air in the tube just before the second barrel- what is going to ignite the secondary air? I’m thinking of putting a smaller barrel in the bottom barrel with the top side up against the larger barrel which will leave a space between the two barrels at the bottom. Put a 6" hole in the bottom side of the small barrel. Then like I said put secondary air coming in where the top and bottom big barrels come together. When it comes to wood burning stoves I know nothing. Can’t ever understand how a “rocket” stove works, but I do have an understanding of wood gasification. Please help me out on this one.
I HAVE DONE MY FIRST SMITHING TODAY! \o/ it isn’t true “blacksmithing” because I’m just using a propane hand torch but still. The hammer handle I made today out of a plum branch.
The 20 lb I-beam has a nice ring to it. I still need to “gusset” it (weld in braces) and get access to an oxy-acetylene torch to bend the nose into a rounded horn before I can use it for serious work.
I just made “splines” (small wedges of steel) to wedge into the hammer handle to stabilize it. I used a 3/4" wide strip of 1/8" plate steel that I’d cut off of something.
Yes, I used a tomato sauce can full of cold water to “quench” the metal.
You don’t necessarily have to pull the gasses back through char. Tar and smoke are very combustible, just not clean enough to combust in an internal combustion engine (for very long). Remember tar is essentially a hydrocarbon, and smoke is just visable carbon particles. Both of which will burn just fine outright. What causes the secondary burn is the sheer heat of the product gas. The product gas(smoke/ tar) is very very very hot. Hot enough to combust if you just combine it with the right amount of oxygen. That’s why we get the cutting torch effect with air leaks in the gasifier system where HOT product gas and fresh (oxygen containing) air mix.
That’s an interesting Idea you’ve got though. Basically that should work. I think the hotter you can get the secondary air the more likely it will allow this secondary burn to take place. Still toying with where I will put my secondary air inlet on my 2 drum style wood stove.
I have a perforated grate under which primary combustion air is introduced. After the burn is going good and hot (lots of wood off gassing) Then open the secondary air located farther up (exactly where to be determined) and get the secondary burn going.
Wayne Keith has talked somewhere about how on a badly designed (or improperly dampened) wood stove you can almost light off the flue gases.
Here’s what’s kept me busy for a week or so… Oil pump repair on 1998 Honda Odyssey. The gaskets were leaking, so I did a full teardown, replaced timing belts, gaskets, cleaned everything etc.
I know you like videos, but it was a long project (not done yet either). So I did a time lapse yesterday.
3 minute video, covers about 4 hours of work.
Eric;
Thank you for the reply. I wish you had your stove up and running to prove the concept. Where did you get the design? My thought is, the chimney “draw” is going to pull air straight across the top of your combustion chamber and into the secondary chamber, not even feeding the fire. Some will come in the combustion opening and swirl down into the fire to feed it. You would get much more air feeding your fire if you used the pyrolysis intake only. If you give it enough air through the pyrolysis opening all of the burnable pyrolysis gases will burn. Then the air from the combustion opening will just be diluting the vacuum created by the chimney. I have been guilty of what Mr. Wayne is talking about. I built an outside boiler for my house. The opening for the air was too small and the chimney would pull as much are through it as it could. But, that was not enough to burn all of the pyrolysis gases. When I would open the door to load it, the air coming in would feed those gases and they would instantly burn, giving me a kind of “back fire”. I believe that I could have ignited those gases at the top of the chimney while the door was closed.
I just did some reading and thinking and figured I would try it. worst comes to worst I would do what your suggesting and just get rid of the combustion air inlet.
This morning on my way back from town in my WOOD POWED TRUCK I stop on the road side to chat with a friend hoping to sale some wood. He cuts, splits, stacks to dry it in the summer months and in winter on cold days hauls it into town and hope to sale. He sits for hours or all day and most of the time has to haul it back home unload and wait for another cold day, load it back on and repeat. When he gets a customer he follows them home unloads and stacks the wood . With the money earned he drives into town and spends it to fill his truck with gasoline so he can repeat the process.
IF ONLY THERE WAS A BETTER WAY!!
SWEM
Wise words Sir Wayne, for those with ears to hear.
Woodgas is the fastest payback in alt energy, makes use of “stranded energy”, local energy.
The sure and quick cure for rural poverty with an opportunity for many to make an honest living which is all they seek.
Certainly appreciate your efforts toward enlightenment.
On a day to be thankful, I thank you and the many Drive on Wood contributors.
We will make it happen.
Yes Doug,
If one has equipment so equipped he can put his wood directly into powering his truck without having to go through all the middle men , extra time and effort to convert the wood into money and then to gasoline for power…
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Wayne and family
Has anyone heard how Chris Seymour’s business is going ? I’m pissed about many of the stores being opened today. China China China. I’m too old to start a new business (but am tempted) and have now had 2 former employees that could not cut the mustard. I doubt there will be a market for gasifiers until the next steep rise in gasoline prices or WW3 if you catch my drift. We don’t save much money but then the price we put on our time is too high for anyone to hire us for it anyway. So drive with pride when you can. With my legs in gimp mode I rarely drive more than a few hundred feet these days. I have a very large wheel chair called a truck. I think Wheely Neil can relate. It was nice meeting him in Argos after many years. Despite the snow and frozen ground I had a woodchuck dig into my shop this week. I set traps this morning. It’s always something. Around 20 degrees here as I type … Mike
Happy Thanksgiving Drive on Wood! Hi MikeL, Its been a minute since we had last talked, I would like to email you next week for more of a update on whats been going on. Superior is doing great! Top of the line USA all the way, we have grown quite rapidly! It has been a day and night job for almost two years now. Wayne Keith and Chris Saenz are gracious hosts so I try not to ask DOW to do free advertising for me. We are producing complete systems and more will be published on our site after Christmas. The new 2014 models are now in for assembly. We have finally finished putting the newest machine through all its ropes etc. Videos, pictures performance reports and more soon to come. BBB Chris Seymour
Nice looking stuff Chris, I have to say that cooler is cool 
I spent part of today trying to shape the “horn” on my I-Beam anvil.
First picture showing my “relief cuts” in the bottom surface. Second and third pictures showing the curvature I managed to achieve today.
My charcoal forge is still drying the refractory liner so I couldn’t use it to bring the anvil up to forging temperatures.
Instead I just set some fire bricks into my charcoal grill, built a fire in it, and free-hand blew under the bricks into the char bed with my forge blower.
It’s amazing how much easier it is to work steel that is glowing cherry red, bright enough to see it out of the corner of my eye vs the dull red that just looks like a faint rust coating.
Also, I was smart enough to install a lighting/clean out port into the front of my wood stove before adding my fire clay/refractory coating to the front wall.
Morning Folks
Normally I wow you with the rare clear weather tourists pictures with one of the mountain gods background from my area. Ha! After all what’s to see in ground cloud rainy drizzle? Here in Pacific Northewestern Washington, Oregon and lower British Columbia we’ve been 14 days now basking under a rare, rare high pressure zone bubble with 40’s even 50’s F clear sunny days and and clear cold teens F nights. Our sins of good fortune have finally caught up with us now air inverted in this stagnet air bubble. All last week up to half of WA state evolved into declared Stage 1 and then Stage 2 woodburning bans. Means NO outside burning and NO fireplace burning. Then NO wood buring allowed at all. Well it has been COLD for us. And with the extened four day goverment workers holidy many Friday took advantage to do some extended cold dryed out woody debris buring without getting “put it out” and fined. Pictures on my way north to our nearest Wal-mart.
Fortunatly a Pacific flow is forcing it’s way in now and we are shifting back into rain for air washing.
Our two houses are the ones with wood stoves buring NOT showing visble smoke. The old ethic of knowing your niegbor is atill alive and kicking by thier woodfire smoke needs to die off. “Smoke signals” now just pisses off niegbors and they will authority report you and clammer for even MORE laws and restrictions.
Woodgasification we must do the same and be visible clean and responsible or face forced on us top down regulations by the eco-urban-greens “rich” able to use thier spec grade “Clean Burning” imported dino fuels.
Think of it as smoke hiding those stills from the Revenuers so you can merrily go about your business of living.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Steve U. Up this end of the state we are supposed to get snow levels dropping to 500-1,000 feet and a heavy dumping of snow at those levels. I’d assume your mountain area might be in for similar weather. Stay warm!
Hi Chris, Your coolers are too tall for a truck … Glad you are still rolling. I wish you the best … Thanks for getting back to me/us. I hope we get to meet again a few more times before we croak. In the mean time keep on truckin !!! Mike
Keep your hand out of the invisible flame … I’m still laughing thinking about it … That was years ago now …
Hi Chris, I watched some warbird vids today, especially the P 51D. Then I dropped in here and saw your gasifier shine, reminded of that polished aluminum shine of some of the P 51D’s. Both great looking machines. You make us US proud, thank you, man.
Pepe