T
The jatsman
Guest
Hi all, just though I would share this with you, and say thanks as I picked up some tips on this from your forum. I have been wanting to build a log burner out of a gas bottle for a while, but, I can't weld, and if I had to fork out for the kit, or pay a welder, that would defeat the object, and not make it cheap, and I may as well have just bought one off eBay, so after reading through forums such as this one, I eventually worked out how I could build one without any welding required, and here it is, in my lounge fizzing away beautifully.
It just needs a second coat of paint and I am all done, although I may add a viewing window at a later stage once I get hold of a suitable pyrex lid.
So here is how I did it:
Removed the valve with monkey wrench and scaffolding tube (good video on youtube to show you how to do this)
Then purged the gas by filling it with water.
Marked and cut out door and cut top off, using angle grinder
Used old T hinges and old gate latch and bolted on door, with pack of bolts from hardware shop, and cut and bolted on plate to close gap on latch side using the lid of an old deep fat fryer. Door was sealed later with fire rope (approx £1.50 a meter and £3.50 for adhesive)
The grate was fixed by drilling holes for four old bolts sliding them through and fixing with fire cement, grate rests on those and grinded off points to prevent snagging when emptying ash, used an old grate I had from a BBQ bucket, but have since made a new one from cutting off the base of an old empty thinners drum and drilling lots of holes in, (loads of these lying around), fits perfectly and also useful for other bits, like a baffle which I may add later if I get a thinner top for a hot plate.
Fixed flue which I got off eBay double lined stainless steel as it is going through cavity wall in old gas fire hole, luckily, they sent me thr wrong size, twice the length I ordered, so even though it cost me £23 I may sell the offcut and get at least a tenner back. Result!
Cut out hole for flue (keep cut out piece to make flue valve later) and fixed flue by cutting and bending back segments inside and fixing with Fire cement (£1.80 small tub)
Acquired an old drain cover and cut out top, and again fixed using fire cement, along inside rim and round outside join.
Again, I acquired an old piece of steel plate off an old canal barge, and used this as a back plate cutting out hole for flue, and placed on two old 3 x 2 concrete slabs to make hearth.
Before this stage, I burned off all the paint outside, that was great fun in the recent snow, and then finally made the vents, at the bottom I made a sliding air vent using a piece cut out from the left over top of the bottle and making a handle out of an old scrap washing machine foot, also fixed a wooden handle to the door latch (I made my own but you could use an old one), and a flue vent that is outside but can be operated inside by using thick steel wire running through hole attached to cross section fixed to the off cut that fits inside the end of the pipe neatly and fixed on with home made bracket, and again another home made wooden handle. In fact the vents and valves were the trickiest things to get right, getting the air flow just right is the crucial part as research told me and a few practices where the house was full of smoke, but it is perfect now and I am getting a lovely slow burn, with a fast burn when the door is open perfect when re-stocking logs, and I am sitting here in a t-shirt writing this, first time I have been able to do that since August.
I am sure I have missed stuff but anyway just to show that you can make one without welding, it cost me less than £50, and was great fun to do and building it kept me warm during the "big freeze" and for many winters to come
Hope it inspires someone else to do one as your forum has helped me with the advice given to others, any questions, just ask, glad to help. Great Forum btw.
One thing I would do differently is if you can get hold of two gas bottles, to use the donor bottle to make the door so that it is oversize and maybe then not necessary to use fire rope, or it would be easier to fit it as its a fiddle to do, but works though.
And I know it's not necessarily "legal" but needs must, and it works, obviously I would only recommend this for outdoor/workshop usage (ahem) :.
I will post another picture once second coat of paint is on.
Cheers
Jats
It just needs a second coat of paint and I am all done, although I may add a viewing window at a later stage once I get hold of a suitable pyrex lid.
So here is how I did it:
Removed the valve with monkey wrench and scaffolding tube (good video on youtube to show you how to do this)
Then purged the gas by filling it with water.
Marked and cut out door and cut top off, using angle grinder
Used old T hinges and old gate latch and bolted on door, with pack of bolts from hardware shop, and cut and bolted on plate to close gap on latch side using the lid of an old deep fat fryer. Door was sealed later with fire rope (approx £1.50 a meter and £3.50 for adhesive)
The grate was fixed by drilling holes for four old bolts sliding them through and fixing with fire cement, grate rests on those and grinded off points to prevent snagging when emptying ash, used an old grate I had from a BBQ bucket, but have since made a new one from cutting off the base of an old empty thinners drum and drilling lots of holes in, (loads of these lying around), fits perfectly and also useful for other bits, like a baffle which I may add later if I get a thinner top for a hot plate.
Fixed flue which I got off eBay double lined stainless steel as it is going through cavity wall in old gas fire hole, luckily, they sent me thr wrong size, twice the length I ordered, so even though it cost me £23 I may sell the offcut and get at least a tenner back. Result!
Cut out hole for flue (keep cut out piece to make flue valve later) and fixed flue by cutting and bending back segments inside and fixing with Fire cement (£1.80 small tub)
Acquired an old drain cover and cut out top, and again fixed using fire cement, along inside rim and round outside join.
Again, I acquired an old piece of steel plate off an old canal barge, and used this as a back plate cutting out hole for flue, and placed on two old 3 x 2 concrete slabs to make hearth.
Before this stage, I burned off all the paint outside, that was great fun in the recent snow, and then finally made the vents, at the bottom I made a sliding air vent using a piece cut out from the left over top of the bottle and making a handle out of an old scrap washing machine foot, also fixed a wooden handle to the door latch (I made my own but you could use an old one), and a flue vent that is outside but can be operated inside by using thick steel wire running through hole attached to cross section fixed to the off cut that fits inside the end of the pipe neatly and fixed on with home made bracket, and again another home made wooden handle. In fact the vents and valves were the trickiest things to get right, getting the air flow just right is the crucial part as research told me and a few practices where the house was full of smoke, but it is perfect now and I am getting a lovely slow burn, with a fast burn when the door is open perfect when re-stocking logs, and I am sitting here in a t-shirt writing this, first time I have been able to do that since August.
I am sure I have missed stuff but anyway just to show that you can make one without welding, it cost me less than £50, and was great fun to do and building it kept me warm during the "big freeze" and for many winters to come
Hope it inspires someone else to do one as your forum has helped me with the advice given to others, any questions, just ask, glad to help. Great Forum btw.
One thing I would do differently is if you can get hold of two gas bottles, to use the donor bottle to make the door so that it is oversize and maybe then not necessary to use fire rope, or it would be easier to fit it as its a fiddle to do, but works though.
And I know it's not necessarily "legal" but needs must, and it works, obviously I would only recommend this for outdoor/workshop usage (ahem) :
.I will post another picture once second coat of paint is on.
Cheers
Jats
