Pellet heads!! What's up today?

No likey

 

Now that's a fire!!!

 

That's like an upside down rocket engine.

 

That is why you don't want any chimney fires, ever. Some really old timers will tell stories
that the young ones won't believe, now you have seen one.

 

Chimney fires can be spooky.

We had a wood stove in our house in town (Lived there for a short time) and had a chimney fire or two.

We had the heavy duty stainless steel insulated chimney and I installed a 1/8th" liner all the way to the stove.

Chimney fire...no worries..let it rip....

Hard on the top cap though...

Far too many folks let the creosote build up until it's thick..thick..thick and that's a recipe for a house fire.

Thanks for sharing the video

 

My Father used to tell of his Father cleaning out his chimney every fall by intentionally lighting off creosote left in the chimney from the prior season after one really good fire he made certain the flue was brushed out instead.

 

Today I got a chance to lay the tools onto the ROTOR for the new Munchy.

Got the tube trued up and the ends counter bored to fit the end plates.

Next I need to machine the end plates to fit snug in the tube and then weld them in.

I got a chunk of 1-1/2" shaft to use for the main rotor shaft.

The plan is to fit the shaft into the rotor and then weld it in place, then machine the shaft OD to 1-1/4" to fit the cast iron belt pulley I scared up.

Here are some pix

Once the rotor assembly is welded together then I will add 4 weld beads at 90 degree points around the rotor (To pull the shells through...the loaner had 3) then take a light machine cut on the welds to make them true to the diameter and square with the anvil...

I want to keep the distance between the rotor and the anvil as close to true as possible (without extensive fiddling about)

With the rotor assembly finished, then the frame can be fabricated and the rest will go pretty quick.

Some 2 x 2 x 1/4 square tube will make a dandy frame to hold the rotor, anvil and the motor.

The hopper will slip over the rotor and bolt to the frame.

The anvil will be movable to allow clearing out sticks and other junk that always manages to get into the shells.

The anvil will have a positive stop to keep the adjustment SPOT ON, and only require setting the anvil tight against the stop.

Probably make the anvil move with a threaded rod/crank setup.

Not totally sure on the hopper yet, but it will be a lot bigger than what was on the loaner unit.....

 

I had a chimney fire , the sound of that fire is crazy , no harm to my home after fire dept came . The next heating season I was a pellet burner

 

We had several stack fires, most were controlled burns while we were at home...
After installing the new heavy pipe and the stainless heavy wall liner we did not sweat a chimney fire.

We got started with Pellet stoves in 1991....I had just gotten into dump trucking and had been contacted by an individual that wanted me to pickup and deliver a load of nut shells to his home.

This was my first contact with the local shelling plant.

I delivered the shells and was puzzled by the folks wanting the stuff dropped on a large heavy tarp in the yard.... and then they scrambled to cover the pile with tarps and weight it all down good...

I had to ask ..WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THIS STUFF ????

The fellas wife took me into the house and showed me their pellet stove in the corner happily burning away.

A week later we had landed a new "Blem" Earth Stove pellet stove from the factory which is 15 miles away...

NO more fire wood, BARK FULL OF BUGS and chimney fires.

The following week we had the stove installed and a stash of barrels along with a supply of shells.

Never looked back...

That little stove is still with that house and the current owners love it.

NOW...ON THE SUBJECT OF STACK FIRES.

I have had a couple stack fires in the small Whitfield while running the shells.

We had some batches of shells that had a lot of nut meats (Very oily) and running on low the pipe would get a coating of fine fluffy and very combustible ash.

TURNED THE STOVE UP and poooooof the stack started smoking as the paint burned off

Shut the stove down...wrapped the pipe with a wet beach towel and once the issue was over just brushed the crap out of the pipe.

Even pellet stoves can have stack fires.

Since then I have adjusted the stove to keep the stack hotter and that stopped the formation of the combustible deposits.

Tall stacks can cool enough that there can be formation of some deposits over time.

This is one reason I prefer direct venting with easy access to the terminus.

Quick easy access to do LBT and run the brush through it..

Short direct vent is also much less spendy $$$$$$

 

In the low 30's and rain/snow mix for today. The backyard ice flow is starting to get channels of water running thru it. Hopefully that trend continues.

Picture from 3/15/19; ice flow with a bit of water on top


Picture from a couple of minutes ago - channels of water have developed


Longer view shows that yes, there is still snow on the ground except for the paths.

 

Got some more work done on the new "MUNCH"

Had to make a mid course correction and not use the large round plates..

I could not grab them in the lathe chuck....just too big.

Grabbed some 1/2 x 5" flat bar and drilled a 3/4 inch hole in center and bolted the plates to a spud and was able to turn them to fit in the rotor.

The plan is to fashion two 1/4 inch plates out of 1/4 x 2" bar and weld at 90 degrees to the large plates to support the opposite sides of the rotor.

Tomorrow I will see about welding the plates into the rotor and moving ahead.

Once the plates are welded in the 3/4 bores can be machined out to allow the 1-1/2" shaft to fit in and get welded to the plates.

Then the shaft can be machined down to 1-1/4 and concentric to the rotor diameter.

Then add a key way to let the pulley drive the rotor.


With the rotor completed the main frame can take shape and come together quickly.

 

Can't wait to see the finished product

 

Another warm sunshine day.snow melting/hydrating nicely.BTY,kinda agreeing with previous post,grew up learning "burn the stack out" every 3 days.A fire like the video i posted probably ruined the chimney.If there was a SS liner in the chimney,I would never trust it.Very old pellet stoves created creosote.anything made since mid 1990's should never happen.But,it does.The fire in the video I posted would have cracked the tile liner,but,if in a SS round liner,would you trust it?

 

So chitty to wake up to snow this end of March!!

 

Thanks.
Please don't expect Mercedes Benz fit and finish
This beast is gonna be strictly "A GITTERDONE TOOL"
The plan is to get the best parts that can be had ON THE CHEAP $$$$$
To get the rotor to the point it is now has cost about $100
Still need to get steel tube for the frame, steel angle for the legs, bearings for the rotor, heavy sheet metal for the hopper/crushing shroud.
I have an extra electric motor on the shelf..,
I am predicting costs to total about $300....when the beast is complete.

Ebay has saved me a bunch on parts already.
Found the big pulley for $25 (new in box) sells at the industrial supply for $90.
I found pillow block bearings for $20 (For a pair)

Ah yesssss....just another project...
Sadly, once the plant gets their system fully refitted we will not need Munch...but until then we have no choice but to do this.

 

Most wood burners have heard the "jet engine" at one time or another!
I know I have..


Dan

 

SOLD!

 

Somebody got a good deal..
That is what a lot of us "coal burners" (former) used..

Dan

 

Got a lot of work done on the Munchy rotor today.

Was able to get the side plates welded in and the bores for the shaft finished.

Grabbing that big hunk of pipe in my lathe proved to be tedious at best.

With the jaws turned over I could grab the OD, but the jaws only grab about 1/2" onto the OD of the pipe....
With the plates welded into the pipe the assembly is a bit heavy.

I really did not want to toss that thing out on the floor.

Took a bit of time and care to get both plates bored.

I had to indicate the OD, then bore one plate, then clean the OD to true it up (One end is shiny on the OD just enough to grab it) and then flip the assembly around and grab the OD and bore the other plate.

Came out fine.

The 1-1/2" shaft slips through the bores just great...
I made the bores about .003" over the shaft size.

Once I get the length of the shaft sorted out it gets welded into the rotor.

Once the assembly is welded its back to the lathe to turn the shaft diameter to 1-1/4" to fit the bearings
(Also to make sure the shaft ends are concentric with the OD of the rotor)

Then it's off to the mill to cut a 1/4" key way in the shaft for the drive pulley.

Piccy of the assembly sitting on the mill table so I can figure out how to get hold of it and keep it straight with the table.

Going to slip a couple pieces of 5/8 cold rolled steel pieces into the T slots in the table and then sit the pipe between them... Clamp the unit down with clamp bars and T nuts to the table.

Will be plenty good enough to do whats needed.


A few pix

I am real happy the tough turning is over.

Normally I would prefer a much bigger lathe for that size of pipe.

Beggars can't be picky.....just take it slow and easy....