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Workshop heating.

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one_rod:
“There's some guy up the street throwing an old woodburner out. You wanted one for the workshop, didn't you?”, said Mrs_Rod.

I certainly did, thanks.

Took a walk up, and there it was, left out for the scrappies. Went back with a sack-truck, and five minutes later it was in my workshop, on the bench, ready for a good looking-at.
20171124_212212 by Mick, on Flickr

Opened the the door, and...ahh.....
Turns out it's not a woodburner at all, it's a gas heater tricked up to look like one.
20171124_212305 by Mick, on Flickr

Still, it's a nice cast-iron box, with a glass-fronted door and a dummy ash pan hatch, complete with non-functioning air vent. So it's sort of half way to being a proper stove, and might save me from having to convert a propane bottle, or make something from scratch. Besides, who could resist iron casting with this level of detail.
20171124_212411 by Mick, on Flickr

So let's see what can be done.

Stripped out all the gas-related gizzards.
20171124_220326 by Mick, on Flickr

And loosened a few bolts.
20171124_220339 by Mick, on Flickr

The base casting has a huge air inlet vent and some kind of vanes cast in.
20171126_151908 by Mick, on Flickr

An angle grinder can deal with the vanes...
20171126_184747 by Mick, on Flickr

And a handy off-cut of steel plate fills the hole nicely.
20171203_172700 by Mick, on Flickr

Some penetrating oil, and some attention from a spanner...
20171203_175422 by Mick, on Flickr

Gets the air vent working.
20171203_175601 by Mick, on Flickr

The stove's back plate is the only part not made from cast iron. It's steel plate, so can be welded.
20171203_190609 by Mick, on Flickr

Convenient, when it comes to filling in another big, unwanted hole.
20171203_191523 by Mick, on Flickr

New rope gaskets all around.
20171223_163313 by Mick, on Flickr

And a trial re-fit. All good, so far...
20171223_200841 by Mick, on Flickr


The flue adaptor was originally on the top plate, and that blanking plate was on the back. I decided it would be better for me to have a nice flat top on the stove, and the flue on the back, so swapped them over.
That simple sentence does not even begin to describe the titanic struggle I had getting those six little screws out without shearing them off.
Don't even ask...
20171226_185731 by Mick, on Flickr

The thing about a gas appliance, of course, is that it doesn't have a grate. So I would  have to make one.
Fire grates are usually made from cast iron, and for a reason. I had visions of anything that I made from steel bar sagging under the weight, when it was red hot.
So I went straight for the “over-engineered” approach.
This plate is 10mm thick, with enough holes drilled to allow good air flow, but not enough to weaken the steel. Well that's what I hoped anyway...
20171228_201614 by Mick, on Flickr

The other thing they don't have is an ash pan.
Never mind, find a bit of sheet metal, and cut it up,
20171229_144036 by Mick, on Flickr

My high-tech metal folding apparatus comes into play. (Hoofing great mallet, just out of shot..)
20171229_144425 by Mick, on Flickr

Job done. And while I had the welder out, made a little tool for pulling the hot pan out from under
the fire.
20171229_175702 by Mick, on Flickr

I decided to make a little plinth for it to stand on. As you'll see, I'm better a metal-work than bricklaying...
20180107_181134 by Mick, on Flickr

Stove in place, knocked a hole through the wall and fitted a flue pipe.
20180113_164456 by Mick, on Flickr

20180114_115916 by Mick, on Flickr

20180114_115903 by Mick, on Flickr

Ready for the first burn.
20180113_161427 by Mick, on Flickr

Nice and gentle to start.
20180113_163718 by Mick, on Flickr

That's fine, now let's open her up, and see what she can do.
With the vents fully open, roars like a blast furnace and consumes fuel at an alarming rate.
20180120_192127 by Mick, on Flickr

At more sensible air valve settings, there's a good controllable heat that keeps the shop at a nice working temperature, and quietly gets rid of the many scrap pallets we have laying about at work...

tom osselton:
Nice find and refit!

Stilldrillin:
Very nicely done, and shown, Rod......  :thumbup:

SwarfnStuff:
And here am I in OZ and 38C wanting to COOL the playpen down. Besides that stove would take up 25% of my floor space.
   Plenty of room on top for the kettle or fry-pan too.
Great find by your eagle-eyed wifey though, and nifty bodge up by your good self.
Regards,
John B

bertie_bassett:
looks like that should keep the place nice and warm for you!

i keep thinking about putting a cheap one in my shop, but being as its all made of wood that might not be such a great idea!

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