Hand-Fired Stove in a Wood Shop?

Would a hand-fired stove in a small wood shop be asking for a fire? I want something I can start and stop as I need it. I thought a small cast iron stove would hold up. I know steel would rust out starting and stopping all the time. Is this a crazy idea? Please share your thoughts , Thanks.

plumb-r wrote:Would a hand-fired stove in a small wood shop be asking for a fire? I want something I can start and stop as I need it. I know steel would rust out starting and stopping all the time. Is this a crazy idea? Please share your thoughts , Thanks.

I wouldn't. Not because it wouldn't work, but you said you
wanted to use it and stop as needed.
That is NOT coal...
Just burn wood. That's the best imo.
My grandfather built his wood shop in the 20's, passed it on to his son,
a cabinet maker, and refinisher,
and was then used by another uncle. They have all passed on,
the shop is still there.... wood stove all those years.
That's what I used in mine for years.
As for the rusting out, I don't know that is true.
I got my Ashley in mid 70's, and sold it last year for 300 bucks.

You should look for a Monticello like I have. It won't rust out. If you're gonna work in the shop all day, you could make a coal fire in the morning and just let it go out 8 or 10 hrs. later.. Just more work getting rid of ashes and restarting. You can close em up tight and not worry. Burns wood and coal either or. Or some other steel airtight stove might do the trick. One thing about wood, I think it's more convenient in some ways if you want occaisional fires. Just throw a few pieces on until you're ready to let it go out you know.
How big is the shop and what is the chimney like?

That sounds as smart as lighting a match in a coal mine. Don't you use solvents and spirits in a wood shop? Last I remember those solvents are flamable. Keep in mind that solvent gas (depending on the solvent) is denser than oxygen and because heat is usually at the ceiling and cooler air at the surface, the solvents potentially can be sucked into the heater. This is why building codes require a concrete lip between a garage and other parts of a home. Gas fumes lay low and if it comes in contact with a flame, it will ignite. Think carefully about what you use.

a fellow co worker of mine uses a wood stove in his shop for over 20 years and no explosions so far

If I'm still posting, I'd say the chances of that happening are slim.

Just a couple weeks ago we had a kerosene torpedo blazing away, along with a warm air furnace, while my buddy painted a fender in my barn. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face! Something bad should have happened ... but didn't. Not bragging - gotta do what you gotta do to pay the bills, know what I mean?

I know enough to shut the torpedo off when doing a fuel pump. See - still a couple cells firing away up there!

I guess a combo wood and stove would make sense. I'd have a way of getting rid of scrap wood for short burns and use coal on the weekends when I'm living in the shop. It's just a hobbie I make furniture. The shop is a little over 600sq. ft. It would beat running the electric heaters I run now and to answer the question, no combustables on finishing days, I haven't huffed enough thinner to be that dumb yet. Great thoughts guys. Thanks

snuffy wrote:That sounds as smart as lighting a match in a coal mine. Don't you use solvents and spirits in a wood shop? ... Think carefully about what you use.

It could be dangerous, yes. A lot of things "can" be dangerous.
Those same fumes could be touched off by a propane heater, or even an electric
space heater.
I was giving him the benefit of the doubt thinking that most intelligent
people would understand that you should be cautious using certain solvents with an open flame
in the same area.
The biggest threat was from laquer and contact cement.
Neither used much today in home shops.
Even though my grandfather was not an educated man, he was able to keep
himself and his shop from blowing up for 70 years. As was my uncle, and even me in my current shop...

In my wood shop I have a hand fed Jotul 507b. Since the wood shop is my business, I am in the shop every day all day for about twelve to fourteen hours seven days a week. I burn coal almost exclusively in the stove. At the end of the day I will load the stove and idle it down to a stall and when I return to the shop in the a.m. I just throttle the stove up and start the day. In the early fall months I will try to burn all of my scrap pieces that have accumulated over the winter and summer months. When I make the switch to coal I don't switch back to wood. I do not like restarting the coal stove every day. I do not use a fan to circulate air around the stove. I do not spray any finish or stain in the same room as the heater. I have a spray room on the second floor of the shop where all spraying takes place. I have the spray room modeled after a commercial spray booth for vehicles. I made a down draft system that vents all air in the room through a series of filters before exiting the building. My shop also has an environmental control system in it to maintain the correct amount of moisture in the shop. This keeps the air in the shop from becoming too dry or too moist, which also helps decrease the chances of any explosions.

I know of several shops that heat with a wood or coal stove and they regularly spray their finish in the same room as the stove and never have a problem. I believe it is possible to get an explosion, however, your chances are very low especially if you take precautions as to not spark a fire and keep down the ppm of whatever your spraying. The shops that spray in the same room as the stove will not stoke the stove until the ppm of spray in the air has decreased. They also take a fan and install a fine furnace filter on it and place it in a window so they are catching any airborn spray before it goes through the fan in a filter and exchanging the low quality shop air with fresh outside air. As a result the ppm of spray always remain low, air quality remains high and the chances of an explosion are extremely slim. Eventhough the possibility of an explosion is very very small, I decided to further lower the risk by not spraying in the same room.

The constant radiant heat from the coal stove makes a very comfortable working environment. I did a smoke test in the shop shortly after installing the coal stove so I could see the air circulation in the shop with the radiant heater. It was amazing to see the constant exchange of warm air at the ceiling and the cool air at the floor. The air in the shop was under a slow and constant motion and this is before adding a person or two moving around in the shop further circulating the air. So, to wrap up all of my rambling, go ahead and spray in the same room as your stove provided you do not have an open flame, just put a fan in the window with a filter on it to catch the airborn spray which will also exchange the air in your shop.

the snowman.

Thanks, for the reply Snowman .I guess I'm going to start looking for a small hand-fed then,it sounds like it'll do what I want. Thanks All!

I am planning on puting my new 130,000Btu DS Machines stove in my garage and it will also be used to heat my whole house. I think that a small parlor stove would be great for you. Start with a nice hard wood fire then just add some coal. That is what I have been doing in my garage till this comming call. I work with chemicles all the time. No problems at all. A constant flame is better than a spark anyways.

An outside air intake for the stove would be another safety feature. Another way is to install a small mesh screen over the air intake as is used in explosion proof lanterns, open carburetors, and explosion proof oil burners.

Hi

Run a coal stove in my wood shop witch is my basment no problem with fires I don't shut stove off it helps heat the house
make guitars so I use plenty of chems that could blow up.

Good luck

Hi Guys,

Here's why I think it's a bad idea and it is only from experience. Prior to installing a coal stove, my wife and I ran a picture framing shop from our home. One day while working, we heard a strange hissing sound coming from somewhere. It took about ten minutes to find the source. Turned out that a propane tank spontanously started leaking (it hadn't been used for about two years). Having an oil burner running about 25' from this leak scared the crap out of me and my wife. It was winter time and normally we were not usually at home at the time this happened. I can only imagine what could have happened. As always, its your choice.

Snuffy

snuffy wrote:Hi Guys,

Here's why I think it's a bad idea and it is only from experience. Prior to installing a coal stove, my wife and I ran a picture framing shop from our home. One day while working, we heard a strange hissing sound coming from somewhere. It took about ten minutes to find the source. Turned out that a propane tank spontanously started leaking (it hadn't been used for about two years). Having an oil burner running about 25' from this leak scared the crap out of me and my wife. It was winter time and normally we were not usually at home at the time this happened. I can only imagine what could have happened. As always, its your choice.

Snuffy

I'm not following you.
What does this example have to do with using a coal stove in a shop?
The moral of your story should be, don't store a propane tank in your house.
It has nothing to do with the operation of a coal stove.