Translations:Poelito - Poêle de masse semi-démontable/139/en-gb

There are a number of items that are needed to build this stove, which can either be bought from new or salvaged.

• The drums are easy to obtain, apart from the 120 litre ones, which are rare... and it can cost 50€ (excluding taxes) to buy one of this size from new.
• The stove pipes, which form the fire pit, are very easy to salvage and will be considerably more expensive if bought from new.

NB 1: the 2 pipes that are used for the (fixed) ash tray and the (removable) feed pipe must have a male fitting at one of their ends to accommodate the stopper. NB 2: A rigorous approach must be adopted when producing the exhaust system, using pipes which are compatible with one another. It is important to avoid leaks (condensates as well as smoke) and also the risk of fire .

• Concrete can be made up of sand and fire cement but this will not be as durable as using chamotte concrete/fire cement. Chamotte consists of ground-up fire brick and must contain 25 to 40% alumina. To contact manufacturers of fire bricks, see list in the annex.Grain size of 0 to 10 mm grade is ideal, but 0 to 5 mm can also be used.

AVOID making concrete with ordinary cement or ‘black’ cement (unlike fire cement, it does not contain alumina)

• Vermiculite: mixed with cement acts to insulate the bottom of the container. You can find this in builder's merchants and garden centres mostly under the names of “Vermex” or “Effiperl” (NB the latter also contains perlite and is a French brand)
• Ceramic glass: this is specialist glass which does not expand when exposed to heat and is resistant to thermal shocks of up to 800°C ! You can buy it in the shops (for about €400 to €600 per m²) but you can also salvage it from old inserts, electric hobs, oven doors (inner glass only, otherwise it is likely to have little resistance to heat). Do not use ordinary glass ! To test salvaged glass, stand on a flat surface and put the glass onto a gas camping stove. If it resists the heat, then that is a good sign.

The final thing to do for the ‘crash test’ is pour a glass of cold water over it. If there is no reaction, then it is specialist glass. Do not put it on the grass in case it breaks.