Earthen plaster make over of an old messed up fireplace.
I used clay sand vermiculite, saw dust and wheat flour glue to repair and improve this not functioning fireplace, mantle, and chimney so it could be used again. I think the original fireplace burned coal because it is only about eight inches deep. The grout between bricks was crumbling and there were big holes, maybe from a previous owner starting to install a wood stove and then giving up. The actual wood stove puts earth plaster to the heat test. The second chamber of the stove is a teracotta flue liner encased in one inch of clay and sand burnished smooth. The flue liner alone cracked in a test burning outside. So I encased it in earth plaster to simulate the way it would function inside a brick chimney. It gets too hot to touch and still has not cracked from heat expansion. This earth plaster mix has lots of sand, no glue and almost no sawdust. I would have like to have encased it in 2 inches but it quickly gets very heavy. The way it is the stove is easily stackable and dismantled parts that one person can lift. More levels could be added to function more like a true masonry stove or kokelofen. Each layer can be opened to inspect or to cook inside of. I am working on making this door glass for easy viewing. The solid heat mass of the wood stove takes longer to warm up but then radiates heat for more than an hour after the fire has gone out. The smokes zig zags three times before leaving the stove and draws air very fast. The zig zag is to contain the heat so that the smoke has more time to completely burn, thus a cleaner burn, and to dissipate heat before leaving the room.
