Building furnace out of a chimney liner?

[Orjan72]

I got an idea I want to run by you all, it might have been tried before but I haven't seen it, or it has never been tried (for good reason?)
what if I used a liner for securing old chimneys as a furnace? In Norway it is used for slipping inside an old brick chimney as a fire precaution. The liner is made of some sort of concrete/ceramic and is rated for 800 C.

I thought of insulating it with Rockwool on the outside. Maybe some sheetmetal to enclose the insulation.
If it worked I could easily get a replacement inner chamber when the old one is gone.. I got a length of liner ready.. :

What do you think? Anyone tried it before?

Orjan

 

[Gearsguy]

Orjan,

Just made one using a chimney liner like you suggest. Put the liner in a small steel barrell, someone said it was called a quarter barrel. Looks to be about 30 gallons. Firebricks on the bottom and filled around the liner with perlite. Works just fine. If the liner wears out it will only take about 30 minutes to replace it with a new liner. Used no refractory cement, no mess, no drying time. I wiil do a post with pictures at a later date.

Gearsguy

 

[Paul Erland]

Would love to see pics of your setup. Looking to upgrade from my current 5 gallon bucket charcoal furnace. Would be really nice to avoid the castable refractory.

 

[Orjan72]

List of items aquired:

- 1 chimney liner outer diameter 250mm, inner diameter 200 mm, length 500mm.
- 24 liters of Perlite ( Ithink that will do the trick )
- Crucible from ss citchenware, diameter 140mm, length 210mm
- Gas bottle 10 kg, domestic gas (propane) Low pressure

Need to get/make
- triangular wood frame with steel sheet top and weels.
- Outer shell for furnace (sheet metal, bucket or pipe) inner diameter 350 mm
- regulator for gas bottle, hose and torch.
- Lid for furnace
- Tools for handling crucible
- Pig mould (cupcake tray)

I think I will cut the liner down to a height of 350mm.
There is no point to having it 500mm high that I can see...
I will also have to secure the liner from moving about alot when I move the entire furnace in and out of the basement, otherwise it will crush the perlite to dust over time...

Anyone have any thoughts?

Orjan

 

[Dan Rowe]

Orjan,
If you have welding equipment why not make the whole frame from metal?

A channel beam or an I beam with a plate welded to the end makes a good pig mold and a handy location for extra hot metal.

Gearsguy we want photos.

Dan

 

[Orjan72]

Orjan,
If you have welding equipment why not make the whole frame from metal?

A channel beam or an I beam with a plate welded to the end makes a good pig mold and a handy location for extra hot metal.

Dan

No welding equipment I'm afraid, on the "to get" list.
I'll use wood with a protective sheet of steel on top.

Good tip on the I beam, will look into getting a length or two.

Orjan