Mud stove

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Fatmobile
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Location: north central Iowa

Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

Here's something that I've been working on:
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Put a fire under the skillet and the heat travels along the tunnel, heating the saucepan and canner.
I built one last year for canning/cooking outside, but made it too close to the ground and the chimney pipe was very hot and easy to run into.
This year the chimney is in a propane water heater, heating 40 gallons.
and it's raised up.
I also added a small cookspot off to the side for when I don't want to fire up the 3 big pots.

It's all stuck together and coated with clay, sand and straw.
I saw it being built for women in Africa but I hear it's called a Lorena stove and was invented by a gal in Nicaragua.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
redsqwrl
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Re: Mud stove

Post by redsqwrl »

I have visions of a adobe pizza oven along the same lines. is there science behind the clay not cracking when you fire it?

Mike
79 300sd
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Re: Mud stove

Post by 79 300sd »

That is wayyyy cool!!!

Bet that with all that thermal mass it will radiate some heat for those chilly evenings this fall.
Fatmobile
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Re: Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

2 parts sand to 1 part clay,... Lots of different kinds of clay so it's best to test a few mixes to see what works best.
This is just the base layers and I wanted to make them rich in clay, even if it means a few cracks when it dries.
I've tried sticking a top layer on something with too much sand and it wouldn't stick,
also stuck great on drywall but wouldn't stick to the mud on the seams, they were too powdery on the surface.

I have a friend into lime plasters and clay wall coverings and we are going to experiment with a clay/lime/silicate blend for the final layer.
See what can handle the rain and wind.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
redsqwrl
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Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:59 pm
Location: kaukauna WI

Re: Mud stove

Post by redsqwrl »

What was the role of the straw.?

did you coat the straw(watery mud) then mix in. or just use the straw as a fibourous strength member?

Also did you have much trouble learning the Burn for the canner. I seem to over shoot when I do soups. With the fire way over by the skillet I assume there is enough delay to not make the canner go crazy?

mike
Fatmobile
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Re: Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

The canner temp could be controlled by putting a towel over it when it was too cool,
and since there usually wasn't a fire directly under it, except toward the end when the other pots were empty, it didn't boil over.

The straw is a fiber that binds the clay together, it allows air spaces which reduces cracking.

I mixed the clay/sand, let it set and harden a little, then grabbed a handfull of straw at a time, mixed it in when needed, mostly for low spots that needed a big clump of clay to stay in place.
I have another leveling layer before i put the final coat on.
Time to experiment with a clay/lime blend,.. only about 5-8% lime.
Finding a good final coat that will keep the elements from wearing it down so fast.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
marc wonpusha
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Re: Mud stove

Post by marc wonpusha »

awesome! i see your are using cob construction. I used similar construction to build a "rocket stove thermal mass heater" to heat my garage for a few years. Have your read Ianto Evans books on earth ovens and rocket stoves? If you haven't you should, he has a combustion chamber design that will work so well it will pump smoke downhill! Using a very similar looking contraption we managed to get a 1200-1500 degree burn with 200 degree exhaust coming out of the five foot tall chimney ( after it gave up heat to the knee high 20' section).

are your having any problems with cracking? we had to go 3-5 parts sand to clay to keep the really hot parts from cracking.

awesome cob job
Fatmobile
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Re: Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

Great info.
I want to build an efficient heater this summer and will search Ianto Evans and rocket stove.
Mine doesn't get that hot and I haven't checked cracking on the inside.

Most people have a mortar mixer,..
I had to use a drill with a paint stirrer so it was thin and it cracked more than a stiffer mix would have.
I sprayed water in the cracks, in back behind them and tapped them in, they settled.

Might have to try some refractive stuff on super high heat areas like the rocket stove deals with.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
Fatmobile
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Posts: 7564
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

My neighbor had a barrel lid with a stove door on it:
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I used the lid to mount it to the stove with screws:
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A post driven into the ground keeps it from flying too far when opened:
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I've been trying different final coats for it every since last summer.
I tried waterglass:
but it curled up on areas that didn't have alot of big sand pieces in the mix.
A 25% waterglass and the rest water worked well,.. but only if I was using silica sand,.. it doesn't seems to stick quartz sand together very well. Washes right away. A 10 - 15% lime to clay mix worked well.
Linseed oil does a good job. You can see where last night's rain washed areas away if they weren't coated with it.
It does smell but since it's outside it's not too overwhelming.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
farmboydiesels111
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:58 pm

Re: Mud stove

Post by farmboydiesels111 »

I like your stove- great idea. I'd like to build one like it at some point. You might look into using a polymer coating and I would suggest Sanitred. Works quite well on block and cement. They have a website and quite a few differnt products. I have had very good luck with them. Not sure what they have for temperature ranges off hand but I think it would be worth a look.
Fatmobile
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Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

Thanks, I'll check into that.
I can probably do better with waterglass and found a source for it:
Rutland concrete sealer is 100% waterglass and they sell/ship it out of their place in Chicago for about the price Ace hardware used to carry it for.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
VanBoy
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Location: Pacific Northwest, USA

Re: Mud stove

Post by VanBoy »

Nice.
1999 E350 ClubWagon 7.3L Power Stroke
1990 E350 ClubWagon 7.3L IDI x2
1977 Kenworth K100 Cummins NTC-350
1977 IH Transtar II Cummins NTC-290
1977 IH Transtar II Cummins Formula 290 (ongoing project)
1978 VW Rabbit 1.5L (ongoing project)
And a few other gas rigs....
Fatmobile
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Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 pm
Location: north central Iowa

Re: Mud stove

Post by Fatmobile »

The mudstove was left uncovered through the winter to test the linseed oil top coat.
Much of the surface would have made it throught the winter if it wasn't for one spot letting loose and water getting under the rest and washing it out.
I probably didn't coat the burner holes under the pots so that's where it started and near the metal chimney.
I had already started repairing it and it was even getting dark when I decided to take this picture:
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You can see the light area to the right.
That was coated with a dilute waterglass; 25% waterglass. Forgot how many coats.
The dark area was coated with linseed oil. Some of the black would wash off. Some of it wouldn't.
So for this repair work I'm using dilute waterglass for all the final coat.
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Main improvement this year was not setting the pans so deep.
Last year the holes were so deep and trying to keep the seal tight made it hard to remove them without tilting the pan a little,
this would sometimes chip out the top layer.

This year maybe a half inch depression formed to the bottom of the sauce pan and canner.

The skillet still needs relief for the handle because it sits so low but I formed a complete circle near the pan and also shaped it with a beveled top edge with a wok.
I just got done canning 23 quarts of spagetti sauce.
Using the small 5-quart pot for the first 4 quarts. That pan actually fit in the skillet/wok burner good enough to cook some noodles,
after all the frying was done and the 5 gallon pot was cooking.
I put a sink next to it and the water coming from the water heater was so hot I couldn't grab a spoon off the bottom of the sink when washing the dishes.
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I'll get some some cold water hooked-up soon and some fresh pics.
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
radtones
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Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:34 am

Re: Mud stove

Post by radtones »

Nice. I have never seen anything like that before.
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