GAS-L: Sawdust stove

["John Davies" <jmdavies@xsinet.co.za>]

They say,once a Scout, always a Scout.

Chris, the details are rather fuzzy after 40 years. What I can remember is
that the sawdust came from a timber merchant, so it was from dry timber.
The sawdust was white, leading to the conclusion that it came from pine.
Water was added to compact it into the tin. ( even when wet, it was rather
spongy )

It was prepared a week before the burn if I remember correctly.??
The top surface was dry before lighting.
I seem to remember the broom stick being removed while it was wet ??
It was lit from the bottom through the hole. Can't remember the details, as
to how. There was no lid.

It was stood on 3 bricks to give good ventilation to the hole at the bottom.
Some sort of spacer was fitted between the top of the tin and the pot to
allow passage of the flue gas.
I seem to remember that if the pot had a smaller diameter than the tin, that
it could be lowered slightly into the tin, allowing heating of the sides as
well ( obviously a lower sawdust level )

The idea was simple, maybe some sort of damper could be fitted under the
hole for optimum heat and temperature, beware of CO, obviously it could be
advanced. Experimenting might produce interesting results.

This could form the basis of an interesting experiment. Moisture vs. burning
rate. Depth  vs. BTU, size of hole,  etc, etc.

Have fun,
John Davies.

From: Chris Downing <c.downing@sri.org.au>
>
> Anyway, a few more tips on the Boy Scout sawdust stove would be
> appreciated.  How dry does the dust need to be?  How do you light it?
Must
> it have a lid of some description?  Et cetera...  My old scout manual does
> not have a sample design.
>








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