How to Build and Use a Sawdust Stove

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The sawdust stove is easy to light. Just crumple a sheet of newspaper accordion-fashion and push it gently down the chimney until it protrudes at the bottom. Put a match to the lower end, and the homemade heating unit will require no further attention whatever until the fuel is completely consumed.

The powdered wood burns from the center outward, the hole gradually increasing in diameter until there is no sawdust left and the flame dies out. The rate of consumption is about an inch and a half to two inches per hour (the figure varies slightly with the quality of the fuel and how tightly it's packed). A stove one foot in diameter will burn about six hours, and one eight inches across will operate long enough to cook a meal and produce some hot water to wash the pots and pans.

The amount of heat produced is regulated by the depth of the container: the longer the chimney, the hotter the flame. A tall, narrow stove will become very hot for a relatively short time, a broad, squat model will give a gentler heat for a longer period and a tall, wide drum will burn both long and hot. Calculate the dimensions to suit your requirements.

The basic design can be adapted to special purposes. For example, a good sawdust-fired kitchen range can constructed in either of two ways: [1] Two or more legless drum stoves can be bricked in, with a small opening b low each to admit air and remove ashes. [2] The stove can be built brickwork alone, without drums, and two-inch round hole made through the wall into the bottom of the firebox. This second model is filled with the help of two sticks or pipes. One is first is pushed through the front opening least as far as the center of the stove and the other is held upright so that rests on the horizontal rod. Then the unit is packed with fuel and both sticks are drawn out.

The basic sawdust burner may be modified into a space heater to d laundry on a rainy day or warm a living room on a cold night. To adapt a can stove for this purpose, a second container (with its top removed) turned upside down and fitted snug onto the upper rim of the heater. This radiates warmth into the room. An opening is made in the upper chamber near the top, to receive a stovepipe which carries any fumes out through a wall or window. If desired, a hole with a removable cover could be cut in the top to make an open burner for heating a kettle.

Whether you decide to modify the basic sawdust burner I've described or not, I think you'll find the device presents a most efficient means of using a common waste. I know you'll also finds that it produces steady, reliable heat for cooking and/or warmth.

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