Rocket Stove

 So I called up a local steel place and explained what I was building and what I needed.  He said he had quarter-inch 6" mild steel square tubing in some rather short lengths left over scrap from a job.  Showed them to me and charged me $30.  They were 36", 24", and 18" respectively.

Did some cutting and grinding at home, but did the welding at school.  The legs and bottom cap are some pieces I rescued from the scrap bin.

Painted it with High-Temp BBQ paint.

The hole in front is covered up with another scrap piece.

Drawings and measurements

Stove in Action.  That's a dura-flame in the fuel magazine and the flame is burning downwards...

After a few firings using a Dura-flame log, results are rather good.  Body got hot enough to glow a dull red, so I'm guessing  in the ballpark of 600-700 degrees F.  Flame shoots out about 6-inches from the top of the stack, so considering the burn chamber is about 20" and a 30" stack, that's a 4 foot flame.

Future plans:  A 55 gal metal drum for a heat collector and some Fiberglass tape to insulate the body and the stack.  Why?  I'm going for portability, so wheels will eventually be stuck to those stubby legs and it will be moved about wheel-barrow style.

Breathing Troubles

I don't know if I'd mentioned this here, but I have Guinea pigs... Long story short, Pigs eat hay and I have developed a very bad hay allergy.
To help alleviate this, I bought 2 20" box fans, 2 very good filtrete furnace/AC filters, and some masking tape.  I found the plans (if you can call "tape filter to fan" plans) on google.

Honestly, I was skeptical, but they seem to be working.  I run them on slow, and a lot of air gets blown back, but I'm going for a cumulative effect and am really just trying to clear all the air.  Also, it keeps noise down.