Re-Building the Bit Crusher

Hello,

I picked up a really nice old coal burner yesterday and need some advice.

All the sections came apart clean, No cracks (amazing) I am going to wire wheel and hi temp paint the whole thing. The sections have a "Hub" style fitting, sort of like terracotta waist pipes.

So do I fill the channel with furnace cement and smooth it over or do I stuff hi temp rope in there too?

What is the best type of cement for this cast iron application?

Also its got a 8" exhaust with a barometric damper, can I run that into a 6" flue?

Thanks!

P.S. Check out that Kidney!

We used a "twin" to your stove in my dad's workshop for 20+ years, I think it came from Troy, NY. It burned mountains of firewood, nut coal, oil filters, and even shell corn. Keeping furnace cement in the seams was always a challenge. If I was going to put another one together I would probably use flat rope gasket and furnace cement in the seams. A 6" flue will probably work "ok" for anthracite, but it won't be ideal for bit. coal or wood (also won't be "code"). If the thimble is 6" you could run 8" pipe all the way from the stove and reduce it at the thimble, then it won't be as sensitive to fly ash buildup.