After years of freezing my arse off in the shop in wintertime, I decided to kill three birds with one stone. By taking an old 55 gal. barrel that was laying around and converting it into a woodstove, I’ll be able to:
Use a old barrel that was in the way,
Start to get rid of a ton of waste wood from the saw mill,
Heat and dry out my shop during very cold winter days
Mom gave me the kit to convert the barrel into a functioning wood stove last year for my Birthday. After much procrastination, the flue (by far the hardest part) was installed up 18 feet and through the shop wall. The next afternoon the temperatures dropped to around freezing for the first time since last winter and the stove was christened. The cement blocks were stacked on either side of the stove for safety and to absorb radiant heat from the stove. A metal grate with a shop fan were installed on top to circulate heat around the shop. It seemed to work great.
The wood pile in the picture was generated from sawmill scraps that I just couldn’t throw away. They’ll provide the stove fodder to make the shop tolerable on the cold winter days that are approaching.
Waste wood from Sawmill
First Fire
Pipe exits shop wall at 18′ ht.