If I had 8 hours for everytime I've thought about covering the cast iron baffle plate in my jotul fire
with wood ash, clay, crushed brick and tile, perlite, plaster of paris and refractory cement in the last 12 months I'd have quite a lot of time. 8 x 3 =24/ That's one day. I reckon I'd have about 2weeks.
I could do with those two weeks now. Instead the clock started a mere 28 hours ago, consequently the above mentioned heat reflecting mix has not had time to dry.
Also, I could have done this work anytime in the last month when I was using the other fire and thereby profited from the heat the Chappee fire generated to gently and slowly dry the baffle.
This was not the case and consequently I am now sitting in 8 degrees of heat with 8 candles on 2 brick inside the foyer of the Jotul, creating condensation inside the foyer as the moisture from the grog mix bleeds out.
I'm not cold as I've got 6 layers on top plus hat and scarf and leggings and deep freezer worker's dungerees on, sort of like skiing gear but with hi viz safety flashes.
But the point is I should have done this work weeks if not months ago.
In my defence I've had to baffle [battle surely? ed] an infamous weak design point on this particular fire, and also, I bought the fire off a french, and the french are notorious for fukcing up fires in my experience.
The design fault is the baffle plate itself. It tends to warp and split along the front edge. The company bought out a replacement two-piece interlocking design., that lists for 350 dollars! This design better allows for expansion but also allows the baffle to be removed without dismantling the entire fire!!
It's not really a good excuse, the fire has design issues that any right thinking person would then take into account would have been ruined as owned and run previously by a french, implication being, of course it's going to be fukced.
Anyway, due to this baffle problem I've never been able to properly seal the fire. Yesterday I ground off the two fixing lugs cast into the side plates that allowed me to install the baffle once all four sides of the fire are assembled (instead of sliding the baffle plate in through the front to rest on the sides and back and then close up the front (door end) section.
I reasoned removing two fixing points from one side paprnel while still having two on the other side (I never use them to fix down the fire) would be a reasonable compromise to paying 300+hurooos for a new plate. If I wanted to secure it with bolts it's still possible with a DIY alternate fixing point to the side I removed the lugs.
This solution worked well. I was able to properly secure and seal the four lower plate with refractory cement (instead of fibreglass wadding) and then slip the baffle plate inside.
And all this would have been fine and dandy if I hadn't then, as we approach the coldest part of the year, and have minus 4 tonight, -5 tomorrow, -6 wednesday, decided to cover the cast iron baffle plate with the aforementioned mix. If I light a fire to dry it it risks drying too fast and will crack. If I stick with the 8 candles it should be dry end of feb ... the fire's assembled and weights in at 120 kilos. I could drag it to one side and set up the Chappee again as a temporary fix .... that's probably what I'll do I think.
In the time it's taken me to write this I've come to the conclusion that that is the best course of action. A small price to pay for the crime of 'manyana manyana' tomorrow, tomorrow ... putting off 'till tomorrow' what should be done today. The clay, crushed rooftile/brick, wood ash, perlite, plaster of paris, and refractory cement mix will, I'm sure, thank me, at some point.
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If I had 8 hours for everytime I've thought about covering the cast iron baffle ... [more]