# woodstove top fan - plans wanted



## Marty Feldman (Aug 11, 2012)

A search on fans for the forum turned up nothing.
Anyone have plans or design comments for a hot air fan, standing about a foot high or so, that could sit on the cast iron top of the wood stove?  Not interested in commercial ones or ones that suck on electricity.  Thanks,
               -Marty-


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## Tin Falcon (Aug 11, 2012)

Villiage Press published Steam and stirling Book 1
 that has plans for MORIYA  by James Senft. 
it sits about 16" high as drawn. the fan is 10"  power piston is 3/4 bore. 
if you want just the moriya plans contact villiage press and see if they will sell just the plans. or get the book with lots of other cool projects. 
IIRC it has been built by folks here. 
Tin


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## Tin Falcon (Aug 11, 2012)

http://www.model-engine-plans.com/engineplans/stirling/superfan.htm

another option
Tin


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## idahoan (Aug 11, 2012)

Myers Model Engine Works has a nice set of castings for a wood stove fan.

Dave


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## Marty Feldman (Aug 12, 2012)

TIN - Thanks for the leads.  Some of Jerry Howell's stuff that I have seen is nice, and he sells just plans if you want, which is a good thing.  Bet it would be easy to modify his fan to run on a stovetop.  Might even be able to build it without aluminum.  I'm going to look into this.

IDAHOAN - I've seen Clarence Myers' fan, and it is a bit Art Deco for me.  Looking for something more rough & ready, or industrial looking - tasteful in a mechanical way but not ornamental.  Also, he wants 300 bucks or so for it, which I consider pretty far out of line, not only out of line for what he's selling, but out of line with my budget.  But thanks for the reply.


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## Orrin (Aug 12, 2012)

> Also, he wants 300 bucks or so for it, which I consider pretty far out  of line, not only out of line for what he's selling, but out of line  with my budget.


If anyone does the math they'll find out that people who sell casting sets are barely making wages.  For many, it is a labor of love.

Orrin


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## Marty Feldman (Aug 12, 2012)

Orrin, your comment is interesting.  I hope I haven't misunderstood your point, but here's my take on it.  

From the seller's point of view, x number of dollars needs to be charged to meet expenses and, hopefully, have a bit of profit left over.  But however reasonable this may be, it does not put the buyer under any obligation to pay that x number of dollars.  A buyer will pay it only if he feels that he is getting fair value, regardless of the reasons for the price.  If there is a sufficiently robust stream of buyers, or if the seller is doing it as "a labor of love" (something that I find difficult to understand), the business will continue  --  Myers has been at this for years  --  if not, the"Closed" sign will go up on the door.  

I have a lot of sincere admiration for individuals who have the talent and the guts to do design & production work and then set up a business.  But that just makes me an admirer, it doesn't make me a customer.  

     -Marty-


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## Aquarius21 (Aug 30, 2012)

Hi Marty; I was looking through some of my old Modeltec magazines the other day and came across the plans for a half size fan. As this magazine is now defunct I do not know if there are any copyright laws covering my scanning the relevant issues and sending them to you. ( If there is, then this particular emoticon should cover it...:fan:
Have a great and wondrous day, 
Quincy, Nova Scotia


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## David Morrow (Aug 30, 2012)

Aquarius21 said:


> Hi Marty; I was looking through some of my old Modeltec magazines the other day and came across the plans for a half size fan. As this magazine is now defunct I do not know if there are any copyright laws covering my scanning the relevant issues and sending them to you. ( If there is, then this particular emoticon should cover it...
> 
> Have a great and wondrous day,
> Quincy, Nova Scotia



I suspect that you have the issue that I have - May 1995 with the Jacobs Fan. Unfortunately it's a casting kit.

But, having said that, I wouldn't mind locating the rest of the series from subsequent issues of Modeltec.


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## Marty Feldman (Aug 30, 2012)

Aquarius21, David -

Thanks to you both.  I'd be interested in seeing the plans.  I recognize that they are keyed to castings, but that's not necessarily a fatal limitation.

I'm sorry I can't be helpful about the copyright issue.  My guess is that if the plans were originally sent to the magazine for all to see, period, there should not be a problem.  If, however, the plans were meant to accompany a set of castings that were for sale by the person who sent the plans in to the mag, the profit considerations might represent a problem.  Just a guess, though.  Perhaps someone else more knowledgeable than I could chime in.

If in the end either of you determines that you are willing to copy and send me the plans, please PM me for my mailing address, and include your own address so that I can pay you for your trouble and expense.


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## RonGinger (Aug 30, 2012)

I built the Jacobs half size Lake Breeze Company model A fan. It is a nice model and runs fairly well, but not for long. There is not enough air flow over the cold end of the engine to keep it cool and after 8-10 minutes the whole engine is hot and it stops.


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## Aquarius21 (Aug 31, 2012)

Hi, just checking and out of an eight part series I am missing either August or Sept. 1995 which has part four of the series. My apologies. I will check with some club members who might have the missing article. 

Quincy:hDe:


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## Dr Jo (Aug 31, 2012)

I looked at building a Stirling stove top fan. In the end I decided on the grounds of safety (the top of my wood stove is not very wide and the Stirling engines seem to be very tall, hence it could be unsteady) I would buy one of the modern Ecofan's which have a thermoelectric module which acts as a small generator to power the fan's motor. As I have a high efficiency wood stove (70+% efficient made in Sweden) I went for a gas stove version rather than the wood stove version, It happily runs all day  and has improved the heat output of the stove no end.

It's magic! and cost less than half the price I was going to have to pay for a casting set. (But I would have enjoyed making the Stirling engine.)

Jo


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## Orrin (Aug 31, 2012)

Dr. Jo, is your avatar a Lady Stephanie?  If so, do you know if Reeves still has the castings?

Orrin


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## Aquarius21 (Sep 1, 2012)

Greetings, I contacted a retired engineer yesterday and received the missing pages to part 4. Does anyone know a way to shrink a scanned page so that 31 pages can go out in the email fairly easily? Quincy


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## Henry (Sep 1, 2012)

Aquarius21 said:


> Greetings, I contacted a retired engineer yesterday and received the missing pages to part 4. Does anyone know a way to shrink a scanned page so that 31 pages can go out in the email fairly easily? Quincy


Try with a OCR software and convert it to text, word or pdf, if there are pictures JPG will be your best option.
For the OCR are a few free options online.


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## Marty Feldman (Sep 1, 2012)

Aquarius21 - just sent off a PM to you.


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## Dr Jo (Sep 1, 2012)

Orrin,

Yes it is my Lady S,  I believe that Reeves 2000 still do the castings. But beware there are lots of fiddly bits on her but she is worth it in the end.

Jo


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## Aquarius21 (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi Marty, sorry about whatever happened with my reply. I cannot seem to get it to work. Perhaps I need to register for something more. I did get your email and will get those plans copied and sent. Don't worry about the funds just yet. I have your address from your e-mail. By the way, as part of that envelope did you want a Model Engineering magazines from 1951 for your collection? 

Or, for that matter, an issue of projects in metal or The Home Machinist magazine or two from the 1990's. I keep promising my wife I will clean out some of my magazines. In the PIM I hve Aug. 92, Oct. 92, Oct. 97, and April 92. The Home Machinist magazines to go are March-Dec/90, all 92's, Jan-April 93, all 94's, Jan-Aug. 95, Sept.Dec./95. and Jan/Feb.2012. 
I know the postage would be hefty like the magazines, but anyway, I would be glad to send any issues that you would find helpful. 

Well, back to bagpipe chanter practise. ( what else would expect from a
Nova Scotian?) Quincy 
Oh, since there are problems with my email here is the proper one,"quincy
[email protected]"


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## Marty Feldman (Sep 2, 2012)

Sure, Quincy, send the mags as well.  I'd enjoy reading through them and so would a few of the guys up my way in Maine who do some model engineering.  I will pay whatever you report the postage to be.  Send cheapest way.  "Media mail" or "book rate"?  No rush.  Thanks again.

Interesting, by the way, to hear that you are a piper.  Do you make your own chanters?  My town, Owl's Head, is quite a small place, but the nearest big (by Maine standards) town, Rockland, has been home for a number of years to a bagpipe corps, about 20 strong, including about 8 drummers.  They have performed in parades and similar events.  I quite enjoy the music.  I'm always surprised at the volume of the sound.

Thanks for your email address.  Mine is martfeld at midcoastdotcom.  Let's continue this by private email rather than using space on the forum.

           -Marty-


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## mcostello (Sep 3, 2012)

I too would like woodstove fan plans, but I would need my fan to be self starting to function at night. Rigging something up to turn over a couple of times then drop out of engagement is a stumbling block.


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## Marty Feldman (Sep 13, 2012)

I have just received from Aquarius21, in Nova Scotia, a set of original plans that were published in Modeltec.  Once again, many thanks Quincy, and thanks to all who responded to my original post.


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