All last winter, when it came time to reload and rake the coals forward or clean out the ash when there were still some live coals in the stove, I would wish I had something to rake with that could also sift coals out of the ash. I have a Woodstock Fireview so I access from the side so reaching in can be dicey with a hot stove. I recently had an idea for a rake. I bought a cheap clearance sale garden rake from Menards for $4.99 and also a 24" piece of 1/2" rebar. I marked off where I needed to cut the business end of the rake. I cut the rake and ground off enough paint to tack weld it to the rebar then tacked it on. Then I cut a 12"-14" piece off the handle to use. I put a hose clamp on the end so it wouldn't split while drilling the 1/2" hole for the rebar. After drilling the hole, I sanded a taper on the handle to be able to reuse the ferrule from the rake. Mixed up a little JB Weld to secure the rebar in the handle. Put it all together and it's ready to go. It ended up being about 28" long and cost me about $7.00 We'll see how well it works.
So have you used it yet brad?.. How's it work. I mean a guy wants to make sure it works good before stealing some one else idea! nice pics, real easy to follow, great job.. great thread
That's funny stuff right there. I don't think of it as stealing, I think of it like those "take a penny, leave a penny" bowls at the convenience store checkout. If you need an idea, get on FHC and take an idea. If you have an idea, leave it in the FHC bowl and let someone else use it! It works pretty good. I had forgotten that I had built a fire late in the season last year and hadn't cleaned the stove. I opened her up to check the length of the rake in the firebox and was pleasantly surprised to see enough ash and charcoal to test it out. It works pretty slick. The only "tweak" I may do to it is I might bend the rebar slightly to offset the handle a bit. That would make it easier to rake by the door.
