Permaculture Our Urban Design Part 7 - Rocket Oven Pt1

[freedomoftheroad]

Chris, I have looked all over the place for an exact recipe of ingredients to make the combustion chamber. On the RechoRoket page for Combustion Chamber it says "You need about 3 gallons of clay and an equal amount of rice hulls, sawdust, pumice, screened manure, etc. to make one Rocket Stove combustion chamber." Can I pick any one of those ingredients? I don't see anything about needing sand in there, which I thought was an integral part of making the chamber strong and free from cracking.

[MrChrisTowerton]

@freedomoftheroad Our first rocket stove, the one burning here, was made with just clay and vermiculite. We used this recipe because we were primarily looking at how those ingredients would work as the combustion chamber of a rocket mass heater.However "COB without straw is like a man with no soul, it has no strength" and as can be seen in this clip, has cracked right down the middle. Both of the new stoves were made of just clay and straw.They seem to burn hot and smoke free.

[chickenbonewatt]

Dude, this video- the details, directions and description- completely awesome.

[MrChrisTowerton]

@chickenbonewatt Thanks man... I'm been dabbling in TLUD's and also keen to set up a rocket heater... Anything you can contribute would be greatly appreciated... And to anyone else reading this response and wanting to have a giggle, check out "chickenbonewatt"'s channel "About Me"... :-)

Chris

[chickenbonewatt]

@MrChrisTowerton Thank you sir!! And I am in the early 'dabble' stage of everything. If I catch any great vids or links, will be very sure to share!

[okhomestead]

Hi Chris,

Not only is this a wonderfully done project, buy your instructions are impeccable. I'll have a video for you soon. -okhomestead

[MrChrisTowerton]

@okhomestead Thanks Steve... I'd been wondering how things were for you in your part of the world!!!

Chris

[darrenw00ds]

Awesome! This is the inspiration I needed for my barge here in the UK. I'm planning to use a Geopolymer made from waste FlyAsh from our Coal power stations (Mixed with a strong Alkaline to break it down into a paste, then sets as a hard rock substance). Hopefully should be totally fire proof.

Is the dome built yet?

[MrChrisTowerton]

@darrenw00ds Yeah.. Jon and Flip have really thought this out... I haven't built the dome yet but I'm hoping to get the time soon... I very excited to see it working!!! BTW I emailed "DateFarmer" (the original posters) and they informed me that they have made a portable version... Maybe that could be better adapted to your barge???

Chris

[dalecalder2003]

Beautifully produced video and a subject that I have been interested in for years now I can hardly wait to see your oven in operation. I have wanted to have an outside bread oven for a long time just not sure how it would do with our winters, I guess the only way I'll know is to give it a try.

[MrChrisTowerton]

@dalecalder2003

Hey there Dale,

I think I remember reading somewhere that COB does not do so well in areas that undergo deep freeze... For the mild winters we get here though, we're not sure what we need to do either... It's in front of our bedroom so we’d like to avoid putting a roof on it if we can... I’ve heard that sand and lime can act to protect from the elements; so that's most probably what we will try first....

Chris

[garygardens]

That is really interesting. I hadn't heard of that type of stove before. I'll have to do a bit of research on them. One question, is there provision for ash removal or do you just shut down the stove and scrape it out? Thanks.

Regards, Gary

[MrChrisTowerton]

@garygardens

Hey Gary,

The fire burns on a grate and although I haven't fire these two up yet the prototype seems to burn forever... Maybe it's because of the heat produced in the insulated burn; all that's left is very fine ash....

Chris

[RehanAndAliHassam]

great video .... I think this is the first one in good sun.. no more rain

[MrChrisTowerton]

@RehanAndAliHassam

Keen observation...and true... Though to be fair to the weather here, I mostly shoot on cloudy days or early in the morning, as the contrast is too harsh to capture at other times...

Chris

[waxrabit]

Excellent job mate, your vids are getting to be very good. Really coming along..

[MrChrisTowerton]

@waxrabit

Thanks Olly... I'm more into photography than video... I've been using a 500w incandescent flood for the stuff indoors, but it broke half way through... I'm sure you can pick where I switched to compact fluro... The white balance drove me nuts... Never did get it right....

Chris

[99cachorro]

I really enjoyed your video, good job!

[MrChrisTowerton]

@99cachorro Nice that you should say so... Thanks

[emberelec]

Another Great Vid Chris. Thankyou!

[MrChrisTowerton]

@emberelec

Thanks Steve... Hope you didn't view me in work time!! ;-)