Gas Bottle Wood Burner Stove

[Parm]

Hi Folks

I'm not a welder by any stretch of the imagination but I can stick metal together with a basic arc welder that was given to me by a friend. I generally build "Things" as a hobby and have played with all sorts of materials. I have worked with metal but never welding.

I won't bore you with the construction details as you will probably know better than me. I took inspiration for this project from the various pictures I've seen on the internet and adapted for what I've needed to give me a portable wood burner that doubles up as a stove to hold a wok and a removable hot plate to use with a pan.

I love cooking and have a new found passion for cooking on wood. This complements about six other outdoor devices I have (not BBQ's)

The intake and exhaust have flaps to control air flow and are awaiting springs to finish off. The only money I have spent is on the welding rods (1.5 mm, which I think are under sized, open to any advice you may have), other than that all materials have been free and thanks to a friend who turned the hot plate to make it round.

All made by me, even the wheels !!

Feel free to ask any questions and enjoy the pictures,

Ps the whole lot is getting grit blasted and coated in black heatproof paint

 

[fixerupper]

I like it , that last photo is great ,the angle makes it look like a little fat round pig ...jeff..

 

[brokenbiker]

stove looks good. Nice design too. 1.6mm rods are pointless Imo, 2.5 are better for most hobby applications

 

[Parm]

stove looks good. Nice design too. 1.6mm rods are pointless Imo, 2.5 are better for most hobby applications

Thanks Brokenbiker, as I said I'm not a welder by any stretch. I only claim to stick metal together and not weld it. I suspected 1.6 rods were rubbish but didn't know any better till I found this forum. 2.5 mm rods have now been ordered!

 

[bigegg]

looks good!
how did you make the wheels? steel disks welded into pipe?

 

[Parm]

Bigegg,

Yep, to make life easier I cut squares of 3mm plate I had lying around and then clipped the corners to give me four points of contact against the pipe ID to weld on. Much easier than cutting round discs as I don't have a plasma

 

[Parm]

So, out to the experts and more experienced practitioners out there which size of welding rods should I get for general purpose welding. Currently I have 1.6mm rods which I have found from my readings on this forum to be not very appropriate and difficult to use for a novice welder

 

[brokenbiker]

get a 5kg box of decent 2.5mm 6013 rods. They will deal with everything you need unless you want to do really thick metal which you would then use 3.2mm but most of the time i use 2.5 for everything

 

[brokenbiker]

what is the max current on your welder

 

[Parm]

I've just gone and had a proper look now. The unit is a top weld 160, so 160 is the max setting. Was also wondering how you know where you are with the current setting. Closer inspection has highlighted a small indicator bar that moves as the dial is turned. Turns out that the unit will only adjust between 160 and 140 amps which is way to powerful for the 1.6 rods and hence may explain why I get a lot of burn thro and spatter.

I've taken the cover off and the inside has about 6 kilos of dust and grime, most of which is fouling the slider mechanism that controls the current and only limits it operating at the higher end of the range. Gues what now that I've blown the dust off the outer cover there are markings for 2.5 mm rods which correspond to a setting of around 100 amps

I know need to clean the whole thing up and get the slider mechanism attached to the dial moving a little freer, is this easy to do?

 

[brokenbiker]

shouldn't be too difficult. You will probably need a 16 amp supply to run at full amps but you will very rarely need that. IM assuming its a transformer machine and not an inverter. 2.5mm rods will run from about 60-100 amps but sit best around 85-90 IME.

140 amps should just blow a 1.6 rod to bits, that power is close to 4.0mm rods.

 

[Parm]

Tell me about it, rods were just vaporising and making big holes in the metal. I can have a 16amp supply in my workshop but don't think I will ever need it as I can see my self ever building a ship or a tank

I don't know how you differentiate between the two types of machine but the one I have is about 20 plus years old, very heavy and has what looks like a big transformer. Also noted that it has a switch to select 415 volts for the incoming supply.

 

[brokenbiker]

yours is a transformer or 'buzz box' ac welder. Inverters are smaller lighter and run dc.

you should be good for up to about 120 ish amps on a 13 amp supply

 

[Parm]

Ok yes it is, the adjustment mechanism is well seized. After much brute force I've got it to around the 100 amp mark which should be good enough, I think

 

[brokenbiker]

my dad little buzz box was like that, ended up stripping it all and fully cleaning it

 

[Parm]

How do you disconnect the threaded bar from the back of the adjustment control knob. There is a nut but it just doesn't budge.

Is the nut part of the knob, into which the threaded bar is fitted??

Also how tight should the mech be?

 

[brokenbiker]

it varies between models. My dads was just pushed on with a grubscrew to tighten onto the shaft.

the control knob should turn quite easily but have enough resistance that it doesn't move if its knocked

 

[magnet]

Thats a grand little burner..........Well done mate............Magnet

 

[Parm]

Thats a grand little burner..........Well done mate............Magnet

Thanks mate, I'm quite chuffed with this design and concept, it works really well. Now just need to learn how to weld to make the joins look as neat as some of the work ive seen on this forum

 

[brokenbiker]

Thanks mate, I'm quite chuffed with this design and concept, it works really well. Now just need to learn how to weld to make the joins look as neat as some of the work ive seen on this forum

if in doubt, blob it on thick and grind back have you got yours new rods yet?