So today I rebuilt the inside of it again. This time without taking the hot coals out first… 😉

Got a pair of my blacksmithing tongs and got ALL the firebrick out of the stove. The still using the tongs grabbed the metal flame shield and rotated it until it would come out the door. Took it outside to cool. Then used a shovel to move all of the coals and ashes to one side. Put in a couple of firebrick in the middle of the bottom. Then two more on the right. Two more above them and once again two more. Then moved the coals and ashes to the bricks. And did the left side with firebrick the same as the right. Put several across the back and wedged a couple upright on the back side corners. Went to the barn and cut a couple of pieces of half inch thinwall conduit, flattened the ends and using the bender curved them to match the inside of the stove. Bent the ends at right angles to the outside of the curve and after coming back up here put them in under the top row of brick on the sides with the curve facing up. Then put (forced) firebrick between the conduit and the metal of the body of the heater.

Removed the ells and tees and all of the pipe. Gonna have to work out a way to introduce more air into the firebox. Will probably cut the door and add a slide or rotary air control. in the bottom of it.

Built a fire. Still smokey. Flue is too long. Gotta figure out a shorter way to vent it. Outside of the heater is much cooler so far but all of the firebrick will take a while to heat.

Been studying the stuff at http://www.stove.ru/index.php?lng=1 some more and it’s starting to make sense now. I am going to try to graft the top bell of OIK 14 to the top of this stove. Not the same exact thing as I am going to use a metal pipe for the top exhaust instead of using brick and am going to make it larger than shown in the drawing. But I think the basic design will work fine and give a LOT of added heat storage. Looks like it will take somewhere around 100 brick but I could be off by 20 or 30 either way. Built a mock up of it on the floor with brick but tore it down to reline the heater and failed to count the brick as I took it apart.

Okay, rebuilt it on some erector shelving material that I bolted together on top of the stove. Or 12 rows of it anyway. Just around the flue to see how it would sit. I think it will work fine. I am going to try to build the shell while the heater is going and then remove the flue, put the bricks in the bottom and put the pipe in, connect back to the top and fire it off again. I know that isn’t the way you are supossed to do it but we have no other heat so gonna have to make do. If necessary I can build a metal case around the outside of the brick bell to make sure it doesn’t smoke. After thinking on it a bit I think that dry stacking the brick with a case around it may be the best way to go.