If your garage needs efficient heating, but there is no particular desire to spend money on it, long-burning stoves can be an excellent solution. Such a compact design can be made independently. For this, only metal, some tools, as well as desire, are useful. The furnace can be made from improvised materials, for this a thick-walled barrel or an ordinary can is perfect. In practice, it turned out that the use of thick metal, whose thickness is 8 millimeters, is not very good for the furnace, since it is quite difficult to warm up. This reduces the efficiency, and a significant part of the heat is not used for heating at all. You should not choose too thin metal, since under the influence of high temperatures it will begin to deform and lose its original shape. One of the best options is considered to be a thickness within 4 millimeters.
Materials and Tools
In the process of manufacturing a long-burning stove, it is necessary to determine at the first stage what design features and dimensions the equipment will have. The design can be rectangular, and also have a reflector. To do this, you need sheet metal, the amount of which will depend on the expected dimensions of the future furnace. Stock up on metal corners, the thickness of which is 5 millimeters, you will also need a steel tube with a diameter of 30 millimeters and a 180 mm pipe. Take care of the presence of an electric tool, a welding machine, without which you will not be able to do without during the manipulations.
Technology of work
In the manufacture of long-burning stoves, it is important to understand what design features the stove will have. In this example, a variant of the rectangle is considered, the sheets of which are welded together. To begin with, blanks are cut for the five main planes, among them one can distinguish the back, as well as the side walls, the upper part and the bottom. On the front panel, you should position the door for the combustion chamber and blew, however, these elements will have to be worked on later. When craftsmen make long-burning potbelly stoves, side surfaces should be welded to the bottom initially. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the elements are located strictly vertically, for this you should use the building level or square. Components should be placed only at right angles. Having grabbed the seam in three places, you need to make sure that the workpieces are positioned correctly, only after that you can begin final cooking.
Work Tips
At the next stage, the master can begin to weld the back wall. The internal space should be divided into 3 compartments, namely: a furnace, an ash pan and smoke circulation. The first and second compartments are separated by a grate, on which fuel is laid. It can be made as follows. On the sides, inside, at a certain height, which, as a rule, is 15 cm, you need to weld the corners, placing them along the entire length. For the lattice, strips made of plate steel are prepared. Their width should be 30 millimeters. The length must be selected so that it matches the width of the future structure.
The step between the plates should be approximately 5 centimeters. The strips are welded to two steel rods, the diameter of which is 20 millimeters. This must be done with maximum reliability. This is due to the fact that these elements will act as stiffeners. In the process of making a potbelly stove on long-burning wood, there is no need at all to attach the grate to the inner corners by welding. If it becomes necessary to repair or clean the potbelly stove, the element can be easily removed. After some time, some plates may burn out, then they will need to be replaced. The above reasons can be supplemented, because it is necessary to remove the lattice quite often.
Reflector oven refill
In the process of performing a stove on long-burning wood, in the next step, two steel rods must be welded from above, a reflector will be held on them. The latter is represented by a steel sheet, which serves to separate the furnace and smoke circulation. It must be made removable. The master must position this element so that a channel is formed in front of it that allows smoke to escape. This surface will heat up more than others, so it must be made of a particularly thick metal of 16 mm.
Final work
In the process of manufacturing a do-it-yourself long-burning stove, at the final stage, you need to weld the lid of the structure. It is recommended in advance to provide an opening for installing a chimney pipe. After that, a jumper is cut out and welded, which will be located on top. You will need a narrower jumper, which will be located at the level of the grate. It is installed in the next step. This element will separate the ash pan and the grate door.
Specialist recommendations
Before you make a long-burning stove, you should not think too much about the dimensions of the future furnace, as well as the doors. The main thing is that through the latter it is convenient to lay fuel and extract ash and ash. The door for the furnace compartment is most often made to the full width. This will allow you to easily remove the grate and reflector. For an ashpit, the door should be narrower. At this stage, we can assume that the long-burning stove-potbelly stove is almost ready. You will only need to weld door handles, curtains and latches. The penultimate ones can be purchased or made independently using a thick rod and a metal tube. The master should not encounter any particular difficulties in carrying out these works.
Fire safety
During the manufacture of a long-burning stove with a do-it-yourself burner, it is necessary to think about fire safety, which is ensured by the presence of legs. They are mounted only after the finished structure is assembled. These elements are made of a 3 cm steel tube. Its diameter should be from 8 to 10 cm. A nut and a bolt are welded to the workpiece. This will allow you to change the height of the structure during operation. However, this should not be done while the oven is in working condition; this may cause personal injury. It is necessary to wait until the fuel burns out completely.
Stove chimney
The stove-potbelly stove of long burning must have a chimney. It is made of an 18-centimeter pipe. It is to be brought out with the help of a hole made in the wall. Bends should be 45 degrees. It is important to exclude horizontally oriented sections. Homemade long-burning stoves are supplied with a chimney, on the bottom of which it is necessary to provide for the presence of a rotating damper. For it, a circle should be cut out of metal, the diameter of which will be less than this parameter inherent in the pipe. In a circle, a hole is made for a handle designed for rotation. The latter is made of steel bar. Homemade long-burning stoves are made so that the chimney is on a sleeve 20 cm high. It is made of metal, and the workpiece must be given a diameter smaller than the chimney. This element should be welded to the opening of the lid.