Let me introduce myself

Howdy from Western Nebraska.  Just started messing with rocket stoves a bit as I was researching a way to heat my shop.  This video is of my first bigger build.  Not quite ideal, but it was all with found materials except for the chimney and associated parts.  I like the pellet feed as it doesn't require me to find wood.  It's convenience.  

I haven't enclosed the exposed portion of the riser and burn tunnel yet.  I've just got a couple layers of kaowool on there.  Amazing stuff that.  Underneath the 1/4" tube is glowing orange hot and yet you can touch the wool without ill effect.  The top of the bell is about 5" from the top of the riser.  The bell reaches about 775 degrees within about 20 minutes of firing it up and there's no smoke coming out of the stack.

The garage is 18' x 30' and while it is drywalled, it isn't insulated.  Today it's 25 degrees out and snowing.  After about an hours run time the garage is a comfy 58 degrees some ten feet away from the stove in my main work area.  If I'm running it full tilt boogie it will eat a pound of pellets in about 9 minutes.

Very nice man, would like to see how you did your pellet feed set up.

Thanks.  I'll try and get a few pics of the pellet feed up for you.  It's actually really simple.  Gravity is your friend.    It works really well and is probably the best engineered piece on the entire stove.

The burn tunnel is 3.5" square tubing.  I welded a 3" piece of 3" round pipe, with corresponding hole, onto the top for the the pellet feed.  Inside the 3.5" tube there is some flat stock that extends about 2/3 the way down at a 45 degree angle.  That piece becomes the ramp that the pellets slide down to hit the burn platform.  The burn platform is expanded steel and has a corresponding 45 degree slope that mates to the ramp.

On the forward side of the pellet feeder hole there is another piece of flat steel welded inside the 3.5" square.  It extends 1/3 into the square tubing at a 45 degree angle.  On top of the burn tunnel, just forward of this piece, are a couple of 1/2" holes for secondary air.  This piece of flat steel doesn't really do much for the pellet feeding, but it does direct the secondary air across the top of the pellets.

Hard to describe in words so I'll try a little video or pictures later.  I guess there's a reason for the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words." 

Yesterday I ran it full-on for about an hour and then backed it off to about 75% by cutting down on the intake air. Two hours in it was 64 degrees about ten feet from the stove in my main work area. Outside it was 27 degrees.  

Took a few minutes for some shaky video on the pellet feeder before work.  If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Very nice man, thanks for taking the time to share your pellet feed design.

Very nice! Simple, yet functional!

Welcome to the Forum Josjor,  Very Nice RS !  I like simple, No need to reinvent the wheel when you know it works!

Thank you for sharing.

Nice RS! As DK says, simplicity in itself from a design perspective and sounds like it works a charm!

I have got to say, the comments at 3:50ish > 4:10 about safety and fire and burning etc did make me chuckle given the recent forum announcements about safety and such like.

Cheers for sharing!