How To Make A Lava Rock And Refractory Mortar Rocket Stove

I make a lava rock and refractory mortar rocket stove, with a fire brick fire box. The rocket stove will provide the heat for my concrete, fire brick and rebar pizza oven.
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[@winspire4846]

Thanks! The honesty regarding your build projects is exactly why I like this channel.

[@motosport8851]

Thank you again now I want to leave a comment about why I like your channel so much. Part of learning is understanding, if you understand why something worked or failed you can build on this knowledge. If you watch a video and someone says do this and do that and this other thing and you will have this item a lot of people maybe able to build what he built. But they want know why or how it worked. If later they need to build something similar but also different most could not figure out how. It is similar to give a man a fish or teach a man to fish. You are teaching principals that will help if they want to build other things similar but different because they will understand what makes it work. No one knows everything we are all learning. Thank you again for what you are doing.

[@cindylee2379]

When cooking food, use hardwood in your fire. Very little ash will be generated. Also, use a damp rag ball on a stick to clean the oven floor prior to cooking once the fire has heated it. Cheers

[@edieboudreau9637]

Yeah. It looks great. Second fire up is great!!!

[@bog11gie]

I love your trial and error methods. I dig seeing the mistakes and your solutions. New subscriber.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for watching.

[@duhhhh1723]

Watching you experiment with everything I want to do is fascinating and your voice is very relaxing ,thanks so much for sharing 👍

[@maehay4065]

Ahh, this is one cool looking pizza oven! I enjoy watching how you can correct any mistakes and it will make a super project for anyone who is willing to try your method to make bear pizza oven/rocket stove.!👍

[@emaglott]

love your iterative process!

[@dudebroham4083]

I really like your style. You show integrity and you are very genuine. You don't see that very often anymore. I'll be looking forward to your content in the future.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Dude, thank you for your encouragement. I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you for watching. I look forward to your future comments.

[@kateveneroso5754]

I love how you are willing to experiment, fail/succeed! What a cool dude you are!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for watching, Kate.

[@joeyhardin1288]

Tried a couple of times to make a cob oven for baking bread and serve as a pizza oven. Might go back to your brick making video for help with that. Great video

[@edieboudreau9637]

Yessir that never ending cycle. I know it well. Lol. Same think with cake batter from scratch. Lol.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Ha! I understand. :-)

[@nomatesgates]

Making mistakes is part of the fun and why I enjoy your videos so much. It's not fake, it's real life. Good on you for sharing success as well as slight fails.

[@amendippanesar]

That is super cool

[@JohnMarsing]

nice. looking for your next "proof is in the Pizza" video

[@ArdieStranger]

To add the tiniest amount of water, just dip the stir stick or trowel in a bucket of water, then continue stirring. You can even adjust the amount of water by dipping it more or less deep.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Great tip, Bracker. Thank you. Thanks for watching.

[@FredMcIntyre]

Cool stuff Tom! 😃👍🏻👊🏻

[@nogheadz4987]

Videos are great, thanks

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for watching.

[@nogheadz4987]

@@GreenShortzDIY do you think I could make a rocket stove and curve the chimney around the inside / wall of a Cobb oven to make a smoke free cooking chamber?

[@antesetto]

thanks

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for watching.

[@manuelgarrido5602]

Hello! I love your honesty and this is why I watch your videos. Did you solve the hash problem? Thank you and keep going !

[@caryfmartin]

Definitely would suggest you make your lava rock, concrete outer wall thicker and premix the lava rock in with your mortar. You are actually creating a concrete mixture that hopefully will be able to withstand a lot of heat. I'm assuming you are using your 2k degree mortar? Just redesign the wall to be thick enough for the size of your aggregate. Did you consider crushing down the size of your lava rock? Actually perlite is a glass substance similar to lava rock... Maybe experiment with all of the above and even use some vermiculite ?

[@edieboudreau9637]

Looks like pizza in the future for surety!

[@shogun274]

Kia Ora from South Auckland New Zealand 👍👍👍👍👍

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Kia Ora, my friend. NZ is on my bucket list. An amazing place. Cool folks too. Thank you for watching.

[@kateveneroso5754]

whoa you rascal you!! wonderful,,, this is going to work!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

I will accept rascal as a term of endearment. LOL. Kate, I had my doubts about this oven as well. But In the end it seems to have been a success. Sometimes good things come with some extra perseverance. Thank you for the encouragement. Thank you for watching.

[@kateveneroso5754]

glad this old woman has a bunch videos from you!

[@rachellmang-osan9401]

Looking great ,this is how the oven in japan

[@johnwells3547]

I work with my department of I+D... Kudos for being fearless. I feel that the top of your rocket stove should hit the floor of your oven and then go out the back and out your exhaust... Cheers!

[@richardsolomon8076]

Awesome job 👍maybe the steel man could do a sheet to keep the ash out?

[@robervalleonciodossantos4837]

Muito legal seus vídeos bacana de mais São Paulo Brasil

[@duhhhh1723]

If you could find a way to incorporate pieces of glass or marbles into the blank spaces where the lava rock crumbled that would look awesome .

[@edieboudreau9637]

Maybe taking door down 1/8" below the opening for baking in it to keep ash off??? Yep. Process is good too.

[@sambilotta9535]

Diesel fuel or used engine oil (thin coat) will work as a release agent . You have the right idea which you should of used for your chimney .

[@Dimythios]

Old school use of lava rock done by me 47 years ago. Seems nothing has changed except your mix.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

There is nothing new under the sun. :-) Thank you for watching.

[@pkgoldopalhunting]

how would it go if you try put in a like fly screen mesh in the top of the riser or bottom of the riser to try stop ash getting into the cooking chamber

[@willamballard7857]

I would have broken the lava rock up smaller and mixed it with the morter mix

[@GreenShortzDIY]

That would have been a good solution, Willam. Thanks you. Thanks for watching.

[@cpd833]

What would life be like without sweet Georgia clay? By the way,..I like your backyard noises.

[@grantchapman8079]

kia ora to you too from Aotearoa New Zealand

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Kia Ora! Your beautiful country is on my bucket list. :-) Thanks for watching.

[@piyushpoptani7507]

I am thinking of making a pizza oven & you won't believe i had exactly similar dezin on my mind. I think problem with your oven is in sufficient insulation,small flame & also you need to have some small lip of material on top so that heat spread inside a little more

[@WesleyOrias]

I think one issue you are having is the rebar maybe sucking up more heat than it is radiating to the rest of the oven. Like you said, you've essentially made a broiler, which is great for searing a steak or getting cheese brown and bubbly melt. But it's not so great for something that needs even heating. You might be able to rectify this by putting a layer of stove mortar inside on the bars and possibly using refractory paint over that.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Excellent feedback, Wesley. I appreciate both of your comments on this video. Great tips. Thank you. Thank you for watching.

[@sambilotta9535]

You should've used the same idea for you chimney ! Which I think is a little overkill ! But I admire your courage for improving your Pizza Oven project

[@arthurjir]

Do jeito que você explica é facil aprender mesmo não sabendo o seu idioma obrigado!

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Fico feliz que tenha sido fácil de entender. Um dia espero ter tradução em português. Obrigado por assistir.

[@sharedinventions]

I don't know much about bricklayers job, but surfaces should be wet before applying mortar (clay), and you should add dry material (cement) into water to mix them instead to add water to the dry material.

[@dwmaddawgs]

Wonder if anyone is using an afterburner design. Step up chimney with a siphon hole that reintroduces air to the superheated smoke. You're probably getting it in your design from any leaks between the oven and up flue.

[@poosmate]

I felt so sad when you de-formed the chimney (excuse the pun), you just sounded so disappointed. You shouldn't be, it's good to see what can go wrong and in showing this you have probably stopped others from doing the same. Glad you fixed it up all right, the flames licking the roof of the oven at the end was worth it. Take care, Poo P.S. it's 17:45hrs here in the UK and I've not long finished work so am too knackered to be motivated now lol (there's no pleasing some people is there lol).

[@edieboudreau9637]

Lol

[@kevinburgess6112]

very good video! have u ever experimented with a J-tube? thank you

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Hi Kevin. Yes. I've done a cobb J-tube and a welded steel J-tube. I use the steel rocket stove as a bio char reactor. Both fun builds. Thanks for watching.

[@kevinburgess6112]

@@GreenShortzDIY yes , found them, tnx for your time

[@advanced-electronic]

make a wire mesh filter to catch the ash .

[@arnulfocapuli7819]

You dont have to use plastic bag, apply use oil on the side of salvaged pipe, the lava rock tou dont need that. But if you insist, mix the lava rock to mortar. The cement is thick add a little more water. To compact the mortar cement, vibratefor a few seconds on both side. When the mortar is cured, pour hot water on the pipe, to remove the cured mortar..

[@CSMMaster]

I would have ground down the lava rock, and made a hydrogenous mix with the mortar cement. Avoid the potential for voids and lack of bonding.

[@blandlameo9307]

The thing you could've done to prevent the uneven lava rock and it having holes/gaps would be to make it in bricks. Make a form, put the concrete or whatever you use to seal on the bottom and line the top of the bricks with the lava rock. You'd have to play around a bit to figure how to put the bricks together but it seems like it would've made it more like what you were looking for.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

That is a good solution. The lava rock and mortar didn't mix like I thought they would. Thanks for watching.

[@hafsalinda]

If you hadn't buttered the grate in completely you would have extra airflow right at the fire.

[@jwfinkler388]

Great build, reducing the chimney length seems to have had the difference you were seeking. Suggestion; build or modify a small brush to scrape out the ash from the oven floor to determine if ash is from twigs and not major logs. Second thought; with all the spare metal on the roof could you fashion a scoop 1/2 the height of the back of the oven to direct some of the hot exhaust down on the brick floor. Flames from back of riser still heat the oven top while flames from riser front are directed toward the brick floor. Nice to see you wearing gloves and mask. Peace brother.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

JW...I like the brush idea. I've had a few other comments about heating the floor. I was thinking about doing that with a second rocket stove underneath the oven, but sharing the chimney input into the oven. I can't use the roofing without removing the galvanized coating (which can be done). I do have some raw sheet steel that would work as well. I'll look into that design idea. Thanks for the support, brother. :-)

[@jwfinkler388]

GreenShortz DIY good catch on the galvanized flavor additive. Redirecting heat down to the brick may make the difference you need for a crispy crust. Stay safe out there. Peace brother.

[@andrewderocle]

Super por-rok.... comes in a 5 gal bucket.... mix 1/2 bucket at a time to a thin-ish slury... pre fill form w lava rock and cage. The mix will make heat and start drying like epoxy, so pour quickly... make sure bottom of form is sealed.... remix more if needed. Iv used the stuff for setting signs in concrete walkways.... fairly fast set up time but not sure how it'll hold up to the heat.... but its strong stuff

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for the suggestion, Andy. Thank you for watching.

[@davidhollingsworth8766]

I hope you clean and sanit the waste pipe or was to a new pipe not use for waste i don't won to see you sick or your family and friends sick for a waste pipe thank you for your time on the video i learn a lot of your work

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Hi David. The pipe was actually salvaged prior to use. :-) It was a cut-off from a construction site. So...no nasties to worry about. lol. Thanks for your concern. Thanks for watching.

[@terrylnlt]

would it be possible to crush the lava rock so smaller chunks when working on such a small project? I would worry that inner part of tube is same as outer part.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

That might have helped. I tried to pull out the bigger rocks. While this was a bit of an awkward build, it turned out ok. Thank you for watching.

[@edieboudreau9637]

Clay usually smells like it too. Lol

[@heleenbrits1040]

Better off also by lightly coating the piping with any oil, wipe the excess. Mix the mortar and rocks, i would even wet the rocks first maybe if its a dryer mix... Fill the spaces tight. Tap it to get as much air out. Put in the bucket and recast it over the busted stove. A thinish layer, without rocks even, will do Layer and knit it into the stove to bind. Compact and next layer..... Mix bigger batches dude. Different mixes means different chemical reactions ergo, weak chains in the link and can crack Tip. Pour boiling water. It also releases nicely.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for the feedback, Heleen. I appreciate it.

[@everettp.5956]

Spraying your form with WD 40 or vegetable oil instead of using the trash bags will release the concrete.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks for the tip Everett. I'll use your recommendation in my redo. Thanks for watching.

[@cw2126]

👍👍👍

[@kaydog2008]

Problem With the ash is your using sticks that have bark on them and the cardboard to light it that's whats causing all the ash. You need something more solid to burn. Maybe you could try using charcoal briquettes piling them to the opening of the stack. (Not using lighter fluid or paper of any kind the light it) Use a blow torch to light them from the bottom center of the pile then use man made logs once it's hot enough and there's room for them. Plus you need to make the fire place into a tunnel. Like one brick more longer to build up more heat.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thanks for the tips, Mike. Good suggestions. Thanks for watching.

[@gregx1044]

Would be great if you can get in the habit of showing temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Those infrared thermometers have a button to instantly switch between the two.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Greg, that a great suggestion. I know most of the world uses Celsius. I need to be a little more mindful. Thank you.

[@nandodando9695]

It's an education to see someone's work as they try stuff out. It's nice showing taking of readings on camera. I second the SI units though, it's how I was taught to think ;)

[@edieboudreau9637]

I'd say you might want to save the pipe & cardboard wrapped post piece for future usages.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

The post, I will save. The cardboard is already toast. :-) lol

[@hafsalinda]

Smaller lava rock size more liquid slurry = better coverage of the wire, longer wait time.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

A good assessment. Thank you for the feedback. Thank you for watching.

[@garybrown4753]

Use a pva bonding

[@G-boi]

Have you consider using alternative fuel so you don't have to use wood everytime.!?.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

I like that idea. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks for watching.

[@poosmate]

@@GreenShortzDIY LOL! Yeah, I'd be interested to know of an alternative too.

[@jwfinkler388]

GreenShortz DIY what do you use the wood char for from your wood gas project. Are there an abundance of pine cones in your vicinity ? Cheers.

[@edieboudreau9637]

@@jwfinkler388 pine cones explode like fireworks.

[@kateveneroso5754]

you can use veggie oil as a release...!

[@edieboudreau9637]

My minds really on food tonight. Putting the lava rock into the concrete on it made me think of fruit cake. Lol

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Ah. Your talk of fruitcake has made me think of making concrete with dried cherries. :-)

[@edieboudreau9637]

@@GreenShortzDIY lol tasty but tooth chipping. Lol And oh my the dumps. Lol

[@TheRojo387]

In my region we say "kaya" for "hello". (I'm in the Nyoongar region of Australia; my uni campus is bilingual English/Nyoongar)

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Cool, Rohan! Thank you for sharing. Thank you for watching.

[@TheRojo387]

​@@GreenShortzDIY I'm also trying out the "sand core" technique I learned from the Townsends; they use paper to keep the sand from sticking to the cob due to their use of it for an oven, but for a stove I see no need, yet I have to pretty much…hand-3D-print each module.

[@bigoldgrizzly]

Where can I buy Georgia clay please ??? :

[@GreenShortzDIY]

You just gotta buy land in Georgia. :-) Thanks for watching.

[@chefboyrdanbh]

I have thought about using lava rock but I thought it was to big so I didn't use it.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

The stuff used in landscaping is bigger. This stuff I got was smaller as you saw. I think of it as a natural aircrete. Thank you for watching.

[@edieboudreau9637]

Behind the form. Looks like a little old lady in a hood watching from below ground. Lol.

[@jamesquigley8628]

Where's the pizza? Be Well, JQ.

[@ManCrafting]

L A V A. Nice job. Keep it up. See you Thursday. Don’t forget the email.

[@edieboudreau9637]

Utube is up to old tricks. Took away my thumbs up when fone died at 30 minutes in.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Ha! Thanks for the second thumbs up. :-)

[@edieboudreau9637]

@@GreenShortzDIY you're welcome. I don't like underhanded tricks like that.

[@ianbruce6515]

Wet out the lava rock with a sloppy mix before you put it in. That'll stop it sucking the moisture out of the concrete and retarding it's flow

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Great tip, Ian. Thank you. Thank you for watching.

[@lancerudy9934]

Water looks dirty!

[@amerisreb9567]

Impossible

[@edieboudreau9637]

Yeah it might've shattered and spread fire through the fence & the hoard. Better you didn't fire it to high heat.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

It would have made for an epic video. :-) Thanks, as always, Edie.

[@edieboudreau9637]

@@GreenShortzDIY it would've... But...the wife would NOT'VE BEEN happy. Yikes.

[@artport7]

never use pine in a rocket stove/oven.

[@GreenShortzDIY]

Thank you for the tip. Thank you for watching.

[@disastertourist]

I think the first design was failing because the point of the oven is for the fire to be burned on the same base you cook on.. maybe..