I acquired a stone slab from a stone cutting place that throws out their mis cuts and cut outs. Its a very flat grey stone that may be sandstone. Almost like a fine or very fine grit for knife sharpening. Its not perfect but planning on putting this on my stove for more mass heater since the bricks that I was hoping to use are now out of the equation since I have installed a child gate. Its been polished on one side likely the top as it was cut as a countertop. Im just wondering if there could be anything I should be aware of if I put this on my stove? Perhaps store in the house for a little bit before applying it to stove? Looking to use this as a more gentle heat application. No finders fee for this so I'm not worried about it if it breaks just cautioned about pieces being sharp if it does. I can post a picture if necessary.
I don't think you would gain much from a slab of stone. I would think it would slow down the radiant heat escaping from the stove top. Condensation getting under the slab would be a concern for me.
This has that bottom lip thats been cut into it which is common of stone counter. But you’re probably right about the condensation. I didn’t mean to gain anything if that. Just perhaps something to Slow the output a little?
It ain't sandstone if it was a from a countertop. Could be soapstone which is used for some high end counters and is a pretty awesome heat sink.
I had a hard time identifying it. So went with something safe as it is soft. I took a small piecr that I had and tested on my slate. It drew a big white line on the slate hearth. I must have picked up soapstone without realizing it...I had high hopes but I am not keen for identifying soapstone unless it is a white kind for welding. Will need to cut it though.
There is a brand in New England that makes them. They use soapstone as heat sinks on wood stove. It puts heat out for a few hours after the fire is out. I would imagine that at startup it takes a while to get it up to temp, but when it is it would radiate. If your worried, can you build a fire outside to apply heat and see what happens to the stone? Interesting to see what you find out.
Had a soapstone wood stove at my previous place and it was awesome in looks and as a heat sink to release the warmth long after the fire went out.
Our stove is soapstone and is awesome. However, putting more slabs of stone on top doesn't really gain much if at all. On the other hand, we have some very small pieces of soapstone that are about 2" x 7". We put those on top and they serve several things. First and foremost are use for drying the insides of boots. They work even better than the electric boot driers. They also work very well for drying gloves. Another thing we do is put hot ones inside winter gloves when going out to work in the woods. As hands get cold or wet, we change gloves and it really feels great to put you cold hands inside a pair of warm gloves. To keep them warm until needed, we simply wrap them in old towels. Another use is placing under pots that are warming some food or even cooking some food. Another use is making people wonder why in Sam Hill we have extra stones on top of a stone stove.
Earlier today, I went to cut some of this slab with the tile cutter. Something wasn’t right. The cutter was slow and sloppy. Very large and supporting it wasn’t happening. Then I smelled the end of the cut. This wasn’t soapstone. But some kind of clay mix. I looked in the bottom of the wash tray and sure enough it was just loaded with the dregs from cutting.’very silty and smelled different from the soapstone i have. So maybe another time I’ll find some. These are just whats thrown out, I grabbed this piece as it didn’t have a plastic weave-like backing. Didn’t want to even touch that.
