Cookstove! Chimney

Pics or it didn’t happen:

cookstove-chimney-01

This adapter, made by Selkirk, cost me $42.99 and is worth every penny.

The same part costs the same thing on Amazon: (6″ Chimney Pipe Adapter). Given that ill fitting parts foisted by evil box stores killed several man hours I’ll order online from now on. Lesson learned. The fact that you can climb a ladder and have it installed in 30 seconds makes the high price worthwhile.

cookstove-chimney-02This is a “Lock Bond” and it’s a clever little band that locks the adapter to the existing chimney super tight. It’s dirt simple to install but I think $8.99 is pushing the boundaries of acceptable price. I took a photo of the price tag just to complain. Then I found out it costs $9.97 on Amazon: (Selkirk Metalbestos 6T-LB 6-Inch Stainless Steel Locking Band). I guess I’ll shut my mouth. It does look very slick and install in a jiffy so maybe a ten spot is worth it mainly on the “bullshit avoided” front.

cookstove-chimney-03This is black pipe. Black pipe is dirt cheap but a drag to work with. This is an old piece from my “stash of old but usable black pipe”. As you can see I’m about to modify it with the super high tech tool called hacksaw.

cookstove-chimney-04You work up a sweat hacksawing black pipe but it works. This is old black pipe but it’s entirely serviceable. I assembled the black pipe system from the stove to the chimney out of some new stuff and some old stuff.

cookstove-chimney-05Done.

About AdaptiveCurmudgeon

Adaptive Curmudgeon is handsome, brave, and wise.
This entry was posted in Betsy The Woodstove. Bookmark the permalink.

9 Responses to Cookstove! Chimney

  1. Glenn555 says:

    Funny, when I worked with this stuff over many years in the trade, the band was always supplied w/each section shipped. NOW the bastidges charge for a separate 10 cent needed piece? In most states it won’t pass inspection with out them installed. Though I doubt that is an issue you would bring upon your very nice installation. (You might want to make sure the horizontal run is pitched slightly toward the breech.

  2. farmist says:

    I don’t recall ever cutting black pipe with a hacksaw – I have always used snips

    • Good idea. I’ve used them before but it didn’t occur to me this time. The hacksaw made a hell of a racket and it was hard work.

      That said the cut was nice and straight and the pipe snugged up very well. I probably won’t have to cut pipe again for several years. Probably by then I’ll probably have forgotten about tin snips again.

    • R says:

      I use snips or an angle grinder with a cutting wheel. A cutting wheel works great for gutters and downspouts too.

  3. Robert says:

    Would 45 degree vs. 90 elbows improve the draw? And possibly minimize a hot spot at that first el?

    • Yes in both theory (and practice when the flue is very long) two 45’s is better than two 90’s. That was my original plan. However theory and practice don’t always work out the same.

      All I could find to purchase locally were two “adjustable 90’s”. Adjustable 90 degree elbows allow one to contort the elbow into an “infinite” range of angles. They’re a great idea but they suck in practice. All that “joinery” is a weak spot that can cause issues as it expands and contracts. Plus they look ugly. I tried it this time and as I spun the asymmetric wedges to and fro trying to get two joins to look equal it just screamed “redneck”.

      I much prefer rock solid inflexible 90 degree elbows when I can get away with them. These come in two flavors; adequate three metal things fused, and super excellent heavy corrugated bend. I had one of the beefy bends and one of the regular bends and used both.

      For the very short pipe/chimney on this stove it works great and is nice and solid. (I think adjustable elbows are a bit “rickety”.) Luckily it’s not hard to establish “draw” on something this short. It might be a different ballgame if the chimney was three stories or something.

      So that’s the long answer to a short question: 45 degrees is presumably more optimal but there’s nothing unsafe or unusual with 90 degrees and in this application it’s working fine.

      (I think too much about this stuff.)

  4. Tennessee Budd says:

    That $8.99 part looks remarkably like a hose clamp. No scale, so maybe a hose clamp wouldn’t work.
    It was 72 degrees today . It’ll get cold later, but not yet. When it does I’ll wish I was in FL, where the GF is from, but as I told her, there ain’t no mountains there. If not for the warm weather, we might as well go to Illinois or some such benighted place. I’ll stick with my hills & be cold for 3 months or so. But not very cold.

Leave a Reply