Building My Biggest Rocket Stove Water Heater

I finally got around to building this beauty.
Songs used:
Evergreen Fields - Tape Machines
Building Blocks - Josef Falkenskold
ES_Pokettoni - Sugoi
Kick the Tires - Will Harrison
Breathtaking World - divine
All songs above are from Epidemic Sound.
where my new rivet gun can be found 👇
www.ebay.com.au/usr/keynote-s...
Need a handy tool set with MasterSpec 12 V cordless Drill?
Use the Amazon affiliate link below:
amzn.to/4aQSkH

[@DerekWoolverton]

One minute we're precisely facing off some tubing on the lathe, and the next moment we're watching the drill press walk across the workbench. Bless your maker spirit.

[@t.h.o.r.]

Oh - and your rivet edits are awesome

[@burtrat4851]

Was waiting for a "Thankyou for your service ". Every Bonds singlet, sock or Stubbys shorts gets the same eulogy. Faithful service earns respect. Just sayin. Cheers from North Queensland 🌴

[@Holodomor4.0]

Man you are a craftsman! I love you watching these fabrication videos! Your video editing is as good as your fab skills! So good mate! This comes from a fellow metal worker and purchaser of 3 of your stoves in the past!

[@306champion]

5:04 Ah Mozart's Requiem, great taste.

[@Jimmeh_B]

Can't wait to see the results on this one! It looks like an absolute winner. Would absolutely buy the plans for it.

[@em9594]

I think instead of insulation around the burn chamber I'd put sand, make it a thermal battery with the ability to recover the heat with a liquid, that would certainly allow heating all the way around the water jacket.

[@harrisgraves592]

Tiggin is my favorite way ta weld. Clean and beautiful beads.

[@RB-wl7ct]

Top man. Beautiful stove. I'm reassured it's not the military version. Thank you so much.

[@wayne-oo]

You can tell this guy really works in a shop ! Safety glasses on top of his head and not over his eyes !

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yeah I need to get some fresh clean ones that I can actually see through.

[@troyam6607]

@@LittleAussieRockets so you can see your hair better aha

[@damianwie476]

it's nice to watch your work

[@keefy302]

Looking at those plans, we used to have a glass one in a mates shed back in the day.. someone would use it as a microphone for a while, and the water would get hot.. seems to be a tried and tested design 😂

[@TerrorTubbie666]

🤔🤔🤔

[@arccaptain-weld]

Wow, another amazing build! I think my home definitely needs a water heater like this. 🤩

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thank you 😊

[@SiGFriDar]

Great job!! i love watching your work process. Nice rocket ! i need one and i cant wait for the results. Greetings from ARgentina.

[@gordonauld5945]

Looking forward to it.

[@brettaay824]

Should use plenty of water to cool down your holesaw.Work's better and last's longer.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yes I have started doing that and it has helped.

[@keymad4]

you are awesome

[@user-ty1dk8jw1x]

как всегда шедевр

[@mutantryeff]

I need to fire up my TIG welder and do something.

[@string-bag]

Is it weird to like watching someone weld? Great build, can't wait to purchase one of your rocket stoves.

[@markfryer9880]

It's amazing what people will actually stop to watch, welding, wood turning, laying asphalt roads, watching a concrete slab being poured or a car being crushed. At times we are a curious species and other times completely ignorant. Go figure? Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺

[@bakupcpu]

Another great build! If only i was just a tad closer I'd come over for a coffee and look at all your project! Cheers!!

[@ZEGOAT-pe6pp]

That is a seriously awesome build, would you consider making a smaller one for camping to use for hot showers?

[@LittleAussieRockets]

That's a good idea actually, I have a lot of irons in the fire at the moment so I can't promise anything but that might be something for down the track. Thanks mark This is what happens when my wife doesn't prof read my replies.

[@markfryer9880]

Ions in the fire? Electrolysis a major concern?😂 I know you meant irons! Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺 Interesting expression though.😮

[@user-xh9pt8zu2l]

Now Mr Aussie Rocket Man you have a beautiful build with a snazzy maker badge showing the outline of our sunburnt land (Tasmania excepted as usual, i.e., present, but no sunburn), and it's fixed with six rivets, not the seven points of the Federation Star. Not a big thing but it's there to be had and some of us will notice. 😉 It's been fun to watch this design mature - well done.

[@vesslewiththepesstle]

No risk of sunburn in Tassie and the 6 rivets most likely represent (in no particular order) Shane Warne, Fred Hollows, Dame Edna Everage, Mary MacKillop, Robert Menzies and Bob Hawke and if you want to name all the other rivets be my guest. feel free to name your 6 Australians, it will be a bit of fun and increase LAR's post count

[@user-xh9pt8zu2l]

Excellent ideaa @@vesslewiththepesstle I'll see your six and raise it by one. Seven is goodish number and there are plenty of candidates as you say. 😉

[@Vikingwerk]

Nice build, looking forward to the test!

[@vesslewiththepesstle]

as well as sugesting the Cleco fastners to help with assembly as Jim posted, use an electric soldering iron to trim the larger plastic film from the sheetmetal, it cuts (ments) the film without marking the surface of the metal.

[@markfryer9880]

Cleco, are they what they use in aircraft construction to hold assemblies together until they can be pop riveted?

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I've used Cleco's in the past, they were pretty good. I've never thought of using a soldering iron it's good to know in the past I've used a copper knife, it does a reasonable job at not marking the stainless steel. The cheeky thing about using that rivet with the little blade welded onto it is that it cuts a perfectly sized hole that the rivet covers and so the marks aren't noticeable thankfully.

[@vesslewiththepesstle]

@@LittleAussieRockets I will be adding the rivet trick to my bag of tricks, thanks.

[@vesslewiththepesstle]

Traditionally aviation prefers solid rivets Mark but yes that is exactly what they are used for, they come in a variety of gauges and there are also clamps that are handy as well

[@charliedontsurf4543]

Love your work bloke, go queenslander

[@robburley9494]

Love these builds mate keep it up!

[@itsamindgame9198]

Did I hear you say "Like a bought one"? Not kidding, that was a saying of my brother's back in the early 70s, and it caught on a bit when he was working on a dairy farm at Rosevale (we were at Rosewood, ourselves). Now, for completeness, I need to hear that it's "properly flash".

[@LittleAussieRockets]

My dad grew up around that area, he used to say it all the time. That's cool

[@itsamindgame9198]

@@LittleAussieRockets Such a small world.

[@ile84]

Your TIG welding looks so easy to get such a good looking welds, I have had a chance to try out TIG welding for a bit, but only on too thin crappy steel so I haven't had much of a success in that, can handle MIG though. 👏

[@benson0408]

Great job again always nice too see your videos 👌🏻👊🏻

[@briancatling925]

Great work, well done

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thanks 😊

[@jds653q]

Looks awesome

[@cheesynuts4291]

Gasification wood boilers use a Turbulator to chop up and slow down the flu gasses and help transfer heat to the water. You may consider trying that to see if it helps your heat exchange. Great stuff!

[@chookchook5600]

Brilliant, keep it up

[@robertpoynton9923]

Gotta love your references to early 2000's ads mate! I watched the video of this beast heating water, is there a way to have a bigger fuel hopper without compromising the efficiency/operation? I'm thinking fill it once to get it up to temp instead of coming back and restocking it.

[@seancorrigan4946]

Very good Sean in Ireland

[@Smallathe]

awesome :)

[@mihevcful]

You should put the plans of this rocket stove water heater online. Open source it or sell it. I would buy!

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I am thinking about it. I've been swamped with work.

[@jeffwallace2201]

I would certainly join your patreon page

[@MrMudstick]

Hi there, A aussie Rocket Sauna Stove would be awesome!!!

[@markfryer9880]

Interesting video Steve! Bit alarmed that you didn't have your drill press fixed down, even temporarily. Amazed by the size of your sheet metal folder. How big is it and how long have you had it? Sorry to see the passing of your air riveter. You should have sounded Last Post as you delivered it to the scrap bin. 😂 I used to do that for mice killed in the workshop. Sound Last Post and do the Funeral March with feet gliding across the floor! 😂 It used to piss the old PIA Electrician off no end! 😂😂😂 That was half of the point! 😊 I was watching this build and pondering just how much it was costing, so your decision to start a Patreon account was no real surprise. I will see what I can do, however I am currently very busy shovelling as much coin into Super as possible. I turned 59 last month and the Finish Line is rapidly approaching. I know that you both have many calls on your $$$, but if you can put some extra money into your Super now it will have a far greater effect than if you hold off until later. Watching how much gets taken out in fees is also important. It all has to do with Compound Interest. The longer that it has to work, the greater the return. Get yourself a Compound Interest Calculator from the App Store and have a play around with some of the variables to see what I mean. Sorry to preach, but learning about Compound Interest is like the Eighth Wonder of the World. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Hi Mark I appreciate the financial advice that is something that I need to be proactive with, and no pressure with patreon. The biggest cost for me isn't the materials, it's all the time that goes into making the video that I could have been doing good paying work. But I do so enjoy making the videos and having these interactions with you guys. It makes it all worth it in the end. I've had the folder for about three months now it's 3 meters long and can fold up to 3 mm mild steel and 2 mm stainless steel. Funny coincidence that folder is identical to the machine that I used in my apprenticeship so I was pretty excited when I found it for sale, it also came with a nice old guillotine. It's been a great upgrade for the workshop and I've picked up extra work because of it. Always great to hear from you Mark.👍

[@jimsvideos7201]

Cleco fasteners may be of interest to you btw.

[@vesslewiththepesstle]

second the cleco's it will make assembly a lot easier.

[@grumpyjohntxredneckrc6346]

VERY NICE! 👍👍😲😲😁😎

[@t.h.o.r.]

Is she still wearing that old shirt! I guess she has to so that you can buy full lengths of 100x100 S/S RHS ! lol. I have you on speed +1.5 and the music's jiggy. you are wearing out sanding disks 1.5 x faster tho

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yes we're not really big into fashion, if it still fits and if it has an acceptable amount of holes in it we keep wearing it. 👍

[@Boosted98gsx]

13:45 FYI, a bath in citric acid with some current applied will passivate your stainless welds to further assist with oxidation resilience.

[@Boosted98gsx]

20:20 to tes that theory, instead of insulating between the riser and heat exchanger (or the bits between), put insulation around that entire air volute...?

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yes, you're the second person to suggest that and I think I will for the test.

[@robertjolliffe2612]

Can you make it a pallet feed? Please

[@MLVII2011]

Why not fill it with sand? Then it will act as a sand battery, Then you achieve the draw aspect and residual heat for the water part.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yes, this is a good suggestion.

[@markfryer9880]

Ah, sand battery! Someone has been exploring geothermal heat storage options.

[@gsestream]

wouldnt sand be a quick insulation, no fibers, and easy to remove if needed. fits neatly in the empty space too. it would be heat accumulation medium too. a-men.

[@aussietim7974]

Once you get the design 100% then I'm sure there is a market in Aussie from those in the bush who aim to live self sufficently. I guess it would need it's own independent fireproof shed (maybe out of concrete block) next to a house, any thoughts?

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Thanks mate. It should be good enough that you could put it inside, it's not really that much different from an old pot belly stove if the same precautions are taken.

[@davidprocter3578]

Can I suggest that in colder climates the heat loss through the walls of the flue heat shield might negate any gains, Still a good idea to convert into what is basically an oven but like an oven will need an insulation layer fitted inside or outside to retain heat. Obviously the temperature of the oven will be dictated to some extent by the flow rate of the water and whether it is a closed or open system. Would it be possible to insulate all but the last two inches of the flue? ie those top few inches separately from the lower water heating section, this might help keep the flue pull going if heating water in an open system

[@AboveandBeyond44]

🎵 🎹 + 🔧🪛 = 🔥

[@tdimccullough]

how about filling the space around riser and heat exchanger with sand? it would probably work better in long burns

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I think this will be the next step. By far this is the most common request and having looked into sand batteries I can see why.

[@firststeward]

😊😊😊

[@Khakhees]

ohhh I was wondering if I could find an attachment to use that little ferrex cutoff tool as a sander - can you share what you bought? I assumed one of the kits at bunnings or total tools would work but haven't checked.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

www.ebay.com.au/itm/314479162782?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=f90abdths7e&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=tRO4joLsQgi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY I have to modify the shank and cut an M6 thread on it, that's what's in the little grinder. You could probably use some M6 threaded rod cut to the right length as that happens to be the same thread that's in the little rubber backing pad.

[@mutantryeff]

!!!

[@ankitgorwadia9335]

Please insulate the firebox and riser - without insulation these fantastic stoves are not reaching their full potential.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

It would definitely improve things, I was thinking about putting some fire bricks on the inside of the burn chamber.

[@Aiken47]

So if you’re testing water tightness, is there a reason you didn’t use the air compressor and water with detergent method? Wouldnt testing under pressure be more accurate?

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yeah, that is a better way of doing it I had other things to do and it just suited the situation best to fill it with water and come back and look for any wet patches considering the system is never actually going to be under pressure that should be more than sufficient.

[@jimsvideos7201]

RIP rivet gun.

[@LittleAussieRockets]

Yes it served me well over 7,000 rivets.

[@lucpet95]

Those holes were just as painful to watch as well lol

[@velvia7880]

Fill it with sand instead? Would work as a heat battery?

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I've been looking into sand batteries and I'm really warming to this idea 😁

[@user-di8il8ks5i]

Might consider adding a magnesium or zinc sacrificial anode into the water heating area where galvanic oxidization will be accelerated....because the lesser noble metals electrons will tend to migrate toward the stainless steel. One idea is to weld a inspection cap to your water heating chamber where a replaceable HWS anode can be inserted - make sure this is electrically isolated from the metals. This might be helpful too kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZXZmn9_oZaNlZY

[@louchitchat]

be careful of x-rays from welding arc

[@markfryer9880]

????? I haven't heard mention of X-rays from welding arcs before? As far as I know X-rays require a radioactive source to be produced. Welding arcs on the other hand, produce intense light, and heat (infra-red) and spatter from the arc crossing from the electrode to the work piece. The light component of the arc contains the full spectrum of visible light as well as Ultra Violet light and Infra-red. It is the combination of UV light and Infra-red light which can give unprotected skin intense Sun Burn like burns only more severe due to the closeness of the light source. Hence the need for PPE and a face shield with suitable eye protection shading. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺

[@LittleAussieRockets]

I couldn't have said that better.