How to make potbelly stoves from wheel disks with your own hands

The garage, in which there is a passenger car, valuable property is stored and many different works are carried out, in the cold season it needs heating. It is quite costly to do this with gas and central water heating, so an alternative is sought to such sources. It can be a potbelly stove made of wheel disks - a functional device that can operate on almost all types of solid fuels, including household waste. It is not difficult to make an oven from discs on your own; the savings on buying a factory-made heater will be significant.

Design features

A potbelly stove made of disks does not structurally differ from analogues made of steel sheets and gas cylinders. A special feature is the low height of the product. As a rule, it is cooked from two or three fragments, since an increase in the number of seams weakens the strength of the device. Because of this, the pyrolysis gases do not have time to burn in the furnace, and when they leave the furnace, they settle on the walls and in the chimney of the structure, forming combustible soot. This substance reduces the heat transfer of the hearth and is fraught with fire, fire and even an explosion.

To reduce the amount of carbon deposits, the grate is lowered as close to the bottom as possible, and the draft is increased by increasing the length of the chimney. This approach makes it easier to clean the device and makes it completely safe.

Why car rims fit

When planning to heat a garage block, its owner often has to solve the problem of saving his money. Manufactured products are too expensive, and sheet steel is also not very affordable. In such cases, the best solution is old discs from trucks ZIL, KAMAZ and GAZ.

The advantages of this material:

• wide selection, including rims of the same size;
• the opportunity to purchase blanks for free or cheap at the price of scrap metal;
• use in the production of high-quality metal, characterized by strength and resistance to strong heat;
• the initially round shape ensures tightness of the assembly and heat distribution.

An important factor in favor of this solution is the wall thickness of the discs. They are strong, resistant to burnout and excellent heat conduction.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before deciding in favor of making a potbelly stove from disks with your own hands, you should objectively evaluate the positive and negative aspects of this structure.

Advantages:

• Low cost price. Minor investments are required, since the main part is made from waste raw materials or inexpensively purchased material.
• Durability. In the production of wheels, a special steel is used that is resistant to corrosion, friction and heating to extremely high temperatures.
• Compactness and lightness. The finished product can be easily moved around the room, and, if necessary, taken out to other objects, including on hikes.
• Ease of assembly. Even a novice repairman can make a stove from disks with a standard set of tools that are in any garage.
• Heating efficiency. The heater quickly begins to emit intense heat, creating a warm and comfortable environment in a matter of minutes.

Disadvantages:

• Weak cravings.It is necessary to significantly increase the height of the pipe, and this is additional complications and costs.
• Rapid cooling after fuel burns out. The walls of the hearth are thin; it heats the structure only if the fuel is constantly loaded.
• Intense heat from the walls. If you carelessly, you can get your hand burned.
• Low body height and feed opening. It is inconvenient to heat the hearth and also to cook using the upper cooking surface.

Based on the analysis of the features of the device, the prospects for its use and own skills, a decision is made on the feasibility of its manufacture.

Tools, materials and skills

To assemble a hearth from wheel rims, you need to have an understanding of design, initial skills in welding and handling household tools.

The assembly will require the following tools:

• Bulgarian;
• welding;
• electric drill;
• roulette;
• core;
• level;
• a hammer;
• spanners;
• paint brush.

List of required materials:

• several identical disks;
• corner 20x20 and 30x30 mm;
• sheet steel 4-5 mm;
• heat-resistant paint;
• loops;
• bolts with nuts;
• reinforcing rods 14-16 mm;
• consumables (electrodes, cutting and grinding discs);
• protective devices (goggles, gloves, mask, welder's robe).

It is better to make a stove in the garage with your own hands from disks not indoors, but in an open space. So the garage will not be affected by smoke and dust, and the risk of fire will be minimized.

Assembling a potbelly stove from disks

The body assembly is carried out on the basis of the drawn up drawing.

Sequence of work:

1. Remove the central protruding parts from the blanks.
2. Make two circles with the dimensions of the discs from an iron plate.
3. Cut rectangular holes in the rings for the firebox and blower.
4. Attach supports for the grate using a corner.
5. Fix the discs together and weld them along the edges.
6. Connect paired fragments together. You will get a pipe with curly walls.
7. Weld a round plate to the bottom of the housing. Grind off the metal protruding from the edges.
8. Make a hole for the pipe on the top circle. Install a pipe with a smaller diameter than the chimney on it.
9. Weld on the top plate.

At the end, the grate is laid, the body is cleaned of scale and metal splashes, sharp corners are rounded, polishing under a primer and painting is carried out.

Doors, feet, exhaust pipe

Handles, latches and legs are made from reinforcement and iron left after cutting sheets. It is better to take the hinges from the factory and fasten them to the body and doors with bolts. This is justified by the fact that welding products can deform. The legs should be attached to the frame from the corner, and already welded to the bottom of the hearth. The pipe is pushed onto the branch pipe and then fastened to the wall with clamps. The joints are sealed with an asbestos cord or bandage.

Fire safety rules

When assembling the furnace, the following fire safety measures should be adhered to:

• remove flammable objects by more than 10 m before welding;
• to prevent overheating of walls, floor and ceiling, put metal screens on them;
• regularly clean the furnace and chimney from soot;
• position the upper cut of the pipe below 50 cm from the roof;
• do not use flammable liquids for ignition.

Subject to the rules of operation and regular maintenance, the stove will serve for more than a dozen years.