So I got a new, unused bouble barrel wood stove in on trade. Looks well assembled. I'm gonna caulk or add fireplace gasket around where the middle legs met the top of the lower barrel. Any tips? I'm also thinking of lining the firebox bottom with bricks. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. I'm replacing an old single barrel stove that's on it's last legs but the double wall exhaust pipe is in great shape.
My advice would be to buy something designed to contain a fire inside your structure. And scrap the "stove" made of something designed to contain oil.
Dad had one in his shop for years. Bottom was filled with sand. With a box fan behind it, crazy the heat that thing threw out.
I wouldn't bother with the gasket/sealant... Once that thing starts nothing is gonna come out. I have been running a double barrel in a detached garage for 10 years or so. What brand is it? My original setup had a cast door assembly, made by USSC(united state stove corp), and it was pretty sloppy. The latch required frequent adjustment, and the air vent was near useless it was so sloppy. I ended up pulling the SOTZ brand door from my original single barrel, and it is ten times better if you can find one- they aren't made anymore. I even snagged a spare for mine from a garage sale, just in case. I have maybe 3 inches of sand in mine, and it really does the trick, there is even still some paint on the bottom. Speaking of paint, if it still has paint on it, run it outside a couple times, with a couple feet of pipe on it. The biggest drawback to these things is they do take a lot of space. Anything withing 4 feet of mine is shielded with steel. When I run it I put a box fan behind it, and that combined with a commercial ceiling fan heats my 31x33 un-insulated garage. Uses a lot of wood to do it though. I pushed it hard one night just for fun, and was able to make over 70 degrees when it was minus 13 and windy. Took 3 or 4 hours to do it from a cold start.
I personally would pay some attention to the joints. Where legs meet barrel I would make sure there is a large fender washer inside rather than small ones. Muffler cement and rock wool or refractory fibers for gaskets under the washers. 1" fire bricks inside to protect the barrel from coals sounds like a good idea. Since you have already used a barrel stove, You know how important it is to have wide clearances with this type of stove! Happy heating!
It's a well proven design that has been around for a long time. I have even seen a third barrel one with a door on the top barrel that was used with newspaper to get the draft going. And the bottom barrel had sand covering the bottom with a piece of sheet metal laid on top.
