# Here's a quick, useful, and cheap SHTF project



## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

I have some concrete blocks put aside to make one of these concrete block rocket stoves, I'm sure many others here have one. They'll burn biomass, (leaves, sticks, anything), and are very handy to have if your other fuel sources run low.









But recently I read on the Western Rife Shooters Association website: "This stove will only work for maybe 1 or 2 firings before the blocks crack."

https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2014/11/09/four-block-rocket-stove/

That would be bad news if a pot of boiling water was on top. I thought that lining the firebox and chimney with refractory cement (stove mortar) may help to resist heat. I scrubbed the cement into the block using thick gloves and really filled all the pores.









The instructions say to cure the cement slowly. I'm going to burn some charcoal briquettes in it for a few hours.

What do you guys think? Will this lining stop the block from cracking? Anybody ever have any block crack?


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## NKAWTG (Feb 14, 2017)

Inquiring minds want to know...
But I'm guessing nope...


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## Robie (Jun 2, 2016)

Anxious for input also as I was going to make the exact same thing.


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## maine_rm (Jun 24, 2017)

I'm going with no.. if you would like to have something set aside to build a stove with in a jiffy. Although I don't know why you wouldn't just build it now. Buy some fire brick. Pretty cheap you can make the oven as large as you would like and they will last a whole lot longer. Or look up building a stove from a 20 pound propane tank. I have several in different designs they are very-nice!


If your not handsome , best be handy!


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

There are fire bricks and refractory flue sections that can be used without worrying about breakage and are cheap. 

I am not talking about the terracotta stuff that is very fragile either.


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## indie (Sep 7, 2013)

We were going to build one and didn't because of that. When we get around to it, the plan is fire brick. I'd rather build something I have no doubt I can rely on, and I don't think the cost is terribly much more. They are still just bricks, after all. 

I'd love to do something with thermal mass too, particularly in the greenhouse. That's for way down the line though, no time for creativity right now.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

As others have wisely stated, don't use those blocks but get you some fire brick. Last thing you want is for one of those blocks to crack & give way from the heat of the fire, with a pot of something hot on it... especially in a crisis. I keep a big stack of these bricks in my upper barn for such uses and maybe for the floor of an earth oven. Here is a pic of some stacked to make a rocket stove. You will need to have a couple of half pieces, so might be a good idea to go ahead & cut at least one in half.










I keep a couple of pieces of stainless screen for the wood to sit on & provide airflow under.










This shows you where you need the two half bricks. Note I do mine a bit different & don't do a solid bottom layer. I like having a double height opening, where I can use a screen to have the airflow under the burning wood... thus the screen.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

I use regular bricks to make a outdoor kiln
down side of using cinder blocks and bricks = not very portable 
now for a make shift cooking surface a cinder block works great; cooked fish, steak, deer, snake, and potatoes, burritos and even pizza.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Lots of old abandoned Coke ovens around the area. If needs must I could get bricks from there to build a stove/oven with.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Oh, well. If it doesn't work I'm only out 4 bucks.


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## Brettny (Apr 26, 2017)

Whats wrong with rocks in a circle? Use to much wood? I live where wood grows taller than me.


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## Robie (Jun 2, 2016)

Brettny said:


> Whats wrong with rocks in a circle? Use to much wood? I live where wood grows taller than me.


That's what I use a few times a week, and made a tripod to hold a 22" round grate...completely adjustable up and down on a cantilever.

I am going to go with a rocket stove of some sort though for "pot and pan" cooking while the grate is busy.


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## Robie (Jun 2, 2016)




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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Nice setup. Don't tread on me?


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## Robie (Jun 2, 2016)

sideKahr said:


> Nice setup. Don't tread on me?


Absolutely.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

sideKahr said:


> Oh, well. If it doesn't work I'm only out 4 bucks.


Oh, I'm sure it would work for a while. My concern is using it every day, multiple times, during a crisis. Is it worth risking serious injury, during such a time when medical treatment isn't a short ambulance ride away? The nature of any rocket stove is that the pot/pan sits well above the ground. If a block were to fail after repeated use, it could be nasty. I just don't understand the mindset, especially from someone as sharp as you, in using an inherently dangerous product. Those blocks are not designed for the high heat associated with a rocket stove.

If someone didn't have access to fire bricks, and wanted a rocket type stove, there are other materials that could be used. I've seen on this site & others where folks have hollowed out a stump. Way back in the dark ages, when I was in Boy Scouts, we made a similar type stove in a dirt bank, where you dig a horizontal hole in the bank & then another straight down from the top. Back then we didn't call them rocket stoves but it created the same chimney effect to provide airflow for the fire & to concentrate the heat.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

A rocket stove is a great idea. I purchased fire brick and have it set aside in the back if I ever need it. I have ideas to expand on it in the future.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

******* said:


> ...I just don't understand the mindset, especially from someone as sharp as you, in using an inherently dangerous product. Those blocks are not designed for the high heat associated with a rocket stove...


Deathwish? Just kidding. I probably won't use it, it's just a fun experiment. I had the neighbors standing around shooting the bull and criticizing it while it smoked up the garage. Mine did survive in good shape after the first firing using charcoal briquettes, however. I'm going to get a good wood fire going next, and see what happens. Maybe I can contribute to the combined knowledge of the infamous internet concrete block rocket stove.

P.S. Many years ago I rebuilt the firebox in my fireplace using firebrick and Franklin's principles. I didn't have a saw, it took me forever to chip out the duplex angles with a geological hammer. LOL. Those were the days.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

maine_rm said:


> If your not handsome , best be handy!


would you please quote red green correctly!!!!!!!!!

if the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

No DIY project, but this one works great.

http://www.silverfire.us/survivor-rocket-stove-p10


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## Bigfoot63 (Aug 11, 2016)

Saw something similar on the YouTube ... They used an old ammo can. Looked good. Called the minuteman rocket stove. If you are handy...


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I know that cinder blocks and fire is the makings for a bad combo, not too sure about concrete blocks. but I think I'd stay with bricks. My guess is, and I am guessing, is that the cinder blocks attract moisture, and when heated, the moisture turns to steam, and cannot escape fast enough and thereby.....BOOM. Whatever the reason, I seen them bust, and pop, pretty good too.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

Concrete and extreme heat do not mix. I have seen it pop


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I think this is a good post,,,,, You never know when SHF will happen or where you will be.
Knowing stuff like this could make the differnce


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Can the 3 hole bricks be used?


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

inceptor said:


> Can the 3 hole bricks be used?


Any brick can be used but the only brick designed to work in those temperatures is fire brick. Any other brick can crack & fail after some use... and that could hurt someone.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

******* said:


> Any brick can be used but the only brick designed to work in those temperatures is fire brick. Any other brick can crack & fail after some use... and that could hurt someone.


Locally all I've found are concrete fire brick. Those are $36 for 6. So to build this rocket stove would cost over $100. Someone said earlier that concrete doesn't hold up well to heat.



A Watchman said:


> Concrete and extreme heat do not mix. I have seen it pop


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

inceptor said:


> Locally all I've found are concrete fire brick. Those are $36 for 6. So to build this rocket stove would cost over $100. Someone said earlier that concrete doesn't hold up well to heat.


Contact your local brick yard, Acme is one that is local in Dallas. They should have some partial or damaged pallets of fire brick.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

A Watchman said:


> Contact your local brick yard, Acme is one that is local in Dallas. They should have some partial or damaged pallets of fire brick.


Great minds think alike. That was I am considering. I know Acme has a place in N Dallas area. A lady I work with has had 2 of her son's working there. I never really paid that much attention to it but it appears that I'm gonna have to contact them and see what they have.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

inceptor said:


> Great minds think alike. That was I am considering. I know Acme has a place in N Dallas area. A lady I work with has had 2 of her son's working there. I never really paid that much attention to it but it appears that I'm gonna have to contact them and see what they have.


Imagine that .... two great minds from the Great State of Texas!


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

A Watchman said:


> Contact your local brick yard, Acme is one that is local in Dallas. They should have some partial or damaged pallets of fire brick.


I got mine from Acme.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

******* said:


> I got mine from Acme.


One of the largest brick companies in the US and Canada. When your web address is www.brick ..... well, what else is there?


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