Hi, not too long ago i built a wood burner for my workshop. Instead of the usual gas bottle burner i decided to build a rocket stove style heater. All i can say is why are there not rocket heaters in everybodys workshop as this thing works like a treat.
I used an old gas bottle from the late 50's and some scrap metal i had for a number of years which i knew i would find a use for. It was welded up and vermiculite added to insulate the flue, then the top was welded on. This is my mkI just to see how well it would work, i must say though, it turned out well and easliy produces surface temps of 370C with an external flue temp of only 70C. This design takes about 40-60 minutes to fully heat up but when it does there is no smoke which is ideal for the area i live in. Once the workshop is at a reasonable temperature i can reduce the heat output by using less wood. It has taken a while to get an understanding of how much wood to use and im still at the learning stage. I will see if i can attach some pics.
EDIT: workshop is still in the construction phase
I used an old gas bottle from the late 50's and some scrap metal i had for a number of years which i knew i would find a use for. It was welded up and vermiculite added to insulate the flue, then the top was welded on. This is my mkI just to see how well it would work, i must say though, it turned out well and easliy produces surface temps of 370C with an external flue temp of only 70C. This design takes about 40-60 minutes to fully heat up but when it does there is no smoke which is ideal for the area i live in. Once the workshop is at a reasonable temperature i can reduce the heat output by using less wood. It has taken a while to get an understanding of how much wood to use and im still at the learning stage. I will see if i can attach some pics.
EDIT: workshop is still in the construction phase