How to make a stove in the bath from the bath. A cast iron bath stove is a budget solution for everyone! Necessary materials and inventory

Summer cottages, acquired back in Soviet times, are real treasures: in the attic, in the back room or right on the street, you can find many rare or simply useful things for the household. For example, an old cast-iron bathroom thrown out as useless most often plays the boring role of a container for watering plants. She will bring much more benefit, if with the help of skillful hands it turns into a source of heat or a brewing unit. We offer detailed description how to make your own oven from a bath, in which you can stew meat and bake pies.

Cast iron parts are valued in the manufacture heating devices for two reasons:

the metal heats up quickly and retains heat for a long time;
despite sudden temperature changes, cast iron does not wear out and lasts for decades.

Even the enamel with which they cover plumbing equipment, retains its qualities and does not immediately burn out. The fact is that the technology of applying a layer of enamel in the last century involved heating the finished product to 800ºС. Quartz sand, which is part of the solution, under the action of high temperature melted and contributed to the baking of the enamel. She received high strength indicators and at the same time "welded" to cast iron. The only thing to be wary of is sharp heavy blows, under the influence of which cracks appear.

Old cast-iron bath - the main element of the garden stove

The concave shape of the product is also suitable for the device of the brazier. It resembles a dome, which can also serve as a base oven, and the compartment of the combustion chamber. So, if you want to build an original barbecue oven from an old bathtub with your own hands, arm yourself with tools and get down to business.

Instrument preparation

You will need tools for working metal and building brickwork. To cut a cast-iron bath, grind its edges, make holes for fasteners, you will need:

laser level, plumb line, tape measure, marker - for marking;
grinder with a set of circles (for cutting metal - with a diameter of 125 mm and a thickness of 1 mm, for grinding);
files with large and small notches, sandpaper;
electric drill, drills 9-11 mm;

hammer, pliers, wire cutters.

In addition to metal parts, brickwork will be present at the base of the structure, so a mixing nozzle is required cement mortar, container for it, trowel, spatula.

If you do not use the grinder all the time, you can rent it

List of required materials

A few items made of cast iron (if not, then stainless steel will do):

cast-iron bath of the "old school";
grate;
stove with burners or metal sheet (5 mm and thicker);
door (beautiful forged or just typical).

Even of the metal elements, corners are needed to fix the grate, fixing bolts with nuts, a chain-link mesh to reinforce the clay layer, a pipe for making a chimney (diameter from 100 mm to 120 mm).

The masonry is made of refractory bricks, fastening the rows with a clay-sand mortar. The number of bricks depends on the size of the structure. If ceramic is planned for the exterior of the device, then tile and heat-resistant adhesive, as well as heat-resistant sealant, should be purchased. Do not forget about protective equipment - tight clothing, goggles or a mask, work gloves.

How to cut a cast iron bath

We immediately warn you that the sawing process is a laborious task, requiring effort, endurance and certain knowledge. Anyone who has previously worked with a grinder knows the technology for cutting thick metal sheets, but here a special case: the base material is coated with a thick (about 2 mm) layer of enamel. Therefore, you need to cut carefully, slowly, in sections of 5-10 cm, making pauses to cool the disc.

The ideal place for cutting is the street. If the procedure takes place indoors, it is necessary to protect the surrounding objects, since cast iron dust can ruin good things. It is better if the container is upside down - it is easier to make a straight cut.

What is the foundation for?

Having cut the main part of the future stove into two identical fragments, you can proceed to the construction of the foundation. It is the main stabilizing element of the structure. Without a solid cement foundation, regular shrinkage (do not forget about the weight of the metal) into the soil will occur, which can render the brickwork unusable.

The technology for constructing a concrete base may be different. A small stand can be built without additional supports; to build a high one, you will have to put together a blind area. the main objective blind areas - to give the concrete base an even shape.

Device diagram concrete foundation with blind area

Detailed instructions for assembling the structure

It can be said that everything preparatory work finished and you can start assembling the stove from the bath sawn in half. At this stage, you should decide on the type of facade. There are two popular solutions: an all-metal face or a part-brick face. Doors in any case are made of metal. You don’t have to cut them yourself, as specialized stores sell ready-made options - from simple rectangular doors to decorative ones with forging elements.

Installation of a bathtub on the foundation

When the concrete of the foundation sets, one half of the product is installed on it, bottom down, with a cut towards the future facade. This is a combustion chamber on which corners can be fixed in advance to support the grate. You need at least 4 pieces to secure the grate from all corners. The distance from the bottom to the corners is 15-20 cm. They begin to build brick walls after the concrete has fully matured. This may take from a few days to 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather.

Metal sheet installation

To separate the lower half (combustion chamber) from the upper half (cooking and oven), it is necessary to cover the already installed part of the bath with a thick cast-iron sheet. In the absence of it, it can be replaced with a steel counterpart. A hole for the chimney should be cut in the ceiling sheet. Ideally, the diameters of the hole and the pipe should match. To cut an even circle, you should mark, drill it around the entire circumference with a small drill, and then walk with a grinder. Irregularities are ground with a file and cleaned.

It looks like a metal sheet separating the oven chambers

Fixing the chimney

We insert the chimney into the hole, firmly fixing it. If there is a small gap between the elements, fill it with a fire-resistant sealant. There is a second way to install the chimney - from the back. If you remember, it is in the “rear” part that there is a small hole for draining water. In this case, the configuration of the structure will change slightly, since the pipe will be led out along the back wall.

Having fixed the chimney on the sheet, we coat the contour of the container with a heat-resistant sealant and connect these two elements. The lower chamber - the firebox - is ready.

Top fixing

The metal horizontal panel is the basis for the second half of the bath, which must be installed on the finished structure, but upside down. In this half, it is also necessary to make a hole for the chimney so that after installation the pipe is strictly vertical. We twist all three connected elements along the edges with bolts (10 mm), with an interval of 15-20 cm. The “heart” of the stove is ready - the process of burning firewood and cooking will take place in it.

Connecting all parts with bolts

Grate installation

The grate separates the two chambers of the furnace: on the upper grate, the process of burning logs takes place, the lower one is the blower. Over time, ash accumulates in it, so it is better to provide it with a separate door - for free access to combustion waste. We fix the grate on the corners screwed in advance. You can not use fixing elements, but then when laying logs, the grate will move and roll to one side.

Construction of brickwork

Bricks (solid, ceramic) are laid out around the perimeter of the base so as to close the back wall and sides. Partially, you can decorate the facade, leaving room for doors. First, we display the layout of the first row according to the scheme, then we build the walls. The upper boundary of the brickwork should be at the level of the cooking compartment, and the entire lower part should be slightly larger than the upper one.

Making the bottom of the brick

Forming the front wall from brick, we do not forget about the doors: we mount the blower at the very bottom, under the grate, and the main one - a little higher. To close the upper chamber, we make a metal damper with a handle protected from heat. The damper, resembling an analogue of the Russian stove, should match the shape of the bathtub bend so that there is no gap on the sides.

Insulation of the cooking chamber

To protect the oven chamber from rapid cooling, it should be “covered” with a thick layer of material that does not conduct heat well. For these purposes, a thick clay-sand mortar is usually used. To prevent cracking, a little lime is added to the mixture.

Table of the ratio of components in mortars

In order for the solution to adhere well to a smooth surface, it is pre-covered with a finely meshed mesh. It prevents slipping and reinforces the insulation layer. Clay mortar is applied in layers, leveling with a spatula. As a result, its thickness should be about 6 cm.

Furnace decoration

A self-built stove from an old bathtub will look much more interesting and attractive if you decorate it from the outside. For finishing, you can use:

ceramic tiles (whole elements or fragments)
artificial or natural stone;
custom made tiles.

The upper part is usually covered with whitewash or paint. Natural brickwork also looks appropriate if there are already brick objects on the site (house, gazebo).

Finished stove in the countryside

Alternative use of an old bath

Convenient for outdoor use, a barbecue stove is not the only product that can be built from old cast iron. Using the heating function of individual fragments, fireplaces or sauna heaters are built from them. Applying paint and others decorative types finishes, make garden furniture - sofas and armchairs. The most common application that does not require cutting or welding is the construction of a small pond. The bath is placed in a pit, lined with aquatic plants and decorated with stones.

Videos to help home craftsmen

Step-by-step construction of the furnace: video instruction with a detailed explanation

Cast iron bath fireplace

Country buildings, made by handicraft method, are of particular value - they are made with soul and love for their work. Today, you can hardly surprise anyone with an expensive purchased unit, and a self-assembled stove is a truly amazing work of art, moreover, very necessary and useful.

Masters - craftsmen, of whom there are enough in every city with an average population, have long mastered the manufacture of solid fuel boilers and furnaces made of steel or brick. Moreover, most of their products function quite reliably and efficiently. And only cast iron, as a material for home-made heaters, until recently remained on the sidelines. But there is already an initiative here, and in this article we are ready to present it and discuss the question of how to independently make a stove from a cast-iron bath.

Homemade cast iron garden stove

Previously, masters for a reason bypassed cast iron with their attention, although it is in high demand as a material for the manufacture of heating equipment. The fact is that gray cast iron is difficult to process mechanically, and manufacturers of heating equipment use the industrial casting method to give it the necessary shape. These technologies are not available at home, so for the manufacture of the furnace, you can take some kind of cast-iron product and remake it, which was implemented by one of the home craftsmen. Suitable for this purpose old bath from cast iron, of which there are still plenty left from the Soviet era.

Since this material is extremely hard and brittle, its processing requires not only a lot of patience, but also good locksmith skills. The garden stove shown above from an old cast-iron bathtub - good example such skills and patience, and our task is to explain how this is done. First of all, you should take an angle grinder with a working diameter of 250 or 300 mm and stock up on cutting wheels for metal, then carefully measure half of the tub and draw a cutting line. In this case, the width of the cutting wheel must be taken into account.

Procurement work

The next operation - the cast-iron bath is cut in half, strictly along the line. The work is hard and long, but quite doable. When there are 2 halves of the product, they must be fastened together. Again, welding of cast iron parts at home is not available, so the halves are bolted together, and a steel sheet is laid between them, separating the firebox from the oven.

For this purpose, the master took corrugated sheet metal with a thickness of about 8 mm, you can follow his example. If there is an ordinary smooth metal of this thickness or a little more, it will also work, although it is better not to use a sheet thicker than 10 mm, this will affect the warm-up time of the oven. It is better to cut a blank from a sheet in advance, but if the available metal is slightly larger than the size of the bathroom, then this can be done later, in place.

Another step towards the goal is marking and drilling mounting holes in the cast-iron bath and the metal gasket. We’ll make a reservation right away that you will need high-quality drills and the ability to sharpen them, because cast iron will not give up to you just like that, without a fight. To make 4 through holes, you will need to patiently regrind the drills several times, while maintaining the working edge angle of at least 120º. We drill with different tools, from small diameter to large, at low speeds of the drill, periodically lubricating with machine oil.

And the last time-consuming operation is cutting a hole for the chimney. If it is not very difficult to make it in a metal gasket 8 mm thick, then you will have to tinker with the bathroom. It is best to cut in the place where the bathroom used to have a drain, it must be expanded to a diameter of 100 mm. When this operation is over, you can start assembling. To begin with, the chimney pipe must be welded to a metal sheet.

Any knowledgeable stove-maker will tell you that this place is the weakest in the entire structure of any steel heater, this joint burns out first. The cast-iron stove from the bath is no exception, so it would be more correct to pass the pipe through the sheet and scald it on both sides.

Furnace body assembly

When the element is ready, it is installed on the bottom of the bath, and the second part is placed on top. At the point of contact, the master used a special sealant as a sealant, but asbestos or basalt cardboard can also be laid. After that, the holes are aligned, the bolts are set and tightened. On this, the body of the stove can be considered ready.

In order for a home-made stove from an old bathtub to take on a finished look, it is necessary to cut and attach a metal front panel, a sheet thickness of 5-6 mm is enough here, and then make doors and a grate. This whole structure should be installed on a pedestal made of bricks. In order not to heat the street, the metal surfaces of the combustion chamber and oven must be insulated with a layer of basalt fiber and lined with any convenient material.

Since not only garden stoves can be made from the bathroom, but also heaters for different rooms, then in the latter case, insulation of the case is not required so that the walls can freely give off heat to the air environment of the room. Then the front panel will take on a different look, and the brick base will have to be ennobled finishing materials. At the same time, brickwork should not be erected in front and behind the stove so that the firebox is freely washed by air. However, another craftsman can replace a brick support with a metal one, everything is in your hands here.

On the advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage that a do-it-yourself cast-iron bath stove has is its almost zero cost. The main investment is your work, and it will have to be applied a lot. The second advantage is durability, it directly depends on the service life of the welded joints of the chimney and the front panel with the doors, and the tightness of the main elements. As for the bathroom, even the enamel on it will not burn out right away.

For reference. IN Soviet time for bathtubs and kitchen utensils, enamel based on silicon (quartz sand) was used. It was applied to metal products in 2 layers (a primer and a glossy layer) and heated to a temperature of 860 ºС so that the quartz sand melted, and then cooling was carried out according to a certain technology. This kind of coating protecting cast iron served for decades and was destroyed only by strong blows with a heavy object.

From the point of view of heat engineering, the efficiency of a home-made stove is unlikely to exceed 40% due to the direct exit of flue gases from the furnace to the outside, they transfer only part of the heat to the oven, and the rest goes into the atmosphere. For this reason, a similar design is used as a sauna stove, where efficiency indicators are not so important, the main thing is temperature. True, only one half of the bath is taken and placed on a base laid out of brick, and then the side walls are erected and a heater is arranged.

Half of the bath serves as a reliable and durable firebox, which will not burn out very soon, and the heater will give off heat perfectly. As a result, the construction will take less red ceramic bricks, which will significantly reduce the cost of the steam room as a whole. The only caveat is that sauna stove correctly join two materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion - brick and cast iron. For this, expansion joints are provided, where asbestos or basalt cardboard is laid.

Conclusion

Similar non-standard solutions in the design of do-it-yourself stoves, they amaze with their originality and simplicity. No one will doubt the reliability and durability of homemade cast iron oven from a Soviet bath, but it was invented and assembled by a master with a head and skillful hands at home. Such products can be made by every homeowner, subsequently they will serve him faithfully for many years.

Sooner or later, but still, there comes a time when you have to change the bathtub for a new one, and the old cast-iron vessel, still Soviet-made, as a rule, is sent to a landfill and to a ferrous metal collection point. However, do not rush - it is quite possible to use it a second time, giving " new life". Some owners of private houses make ponds out of baths, others use them as garden benches, dividing the bowl in half lengthwise, processing the edges and adding legs to each of the halves.

But some craftsmen can make a stove from a cast-iron bath with their own hands, sawing it across. Such an original stove can be installed on a garden plot, or its cast-iron parts can be used for the combustion and cooking chamber of a conventional stove. large sizes or for arranging a fireplace.

If you have the skills to work with locksmith tools, which you cannot do without in this process, it is quite possible to save on some materials for the construction of the furnace.

Most often, an old cast-iron bath is used to make garden barbecue stoves, which, with the right design, become assistants in cooking for the entire warm season. Cast iron has a high heat capacity, so a chamber made from it will help not only prepare everyday meals, but also bake bread products, as well as make preparations for the winter.

Materials and tools for work

For the manufacture of such a furnace, you need to prepare necessary tools and materials. Since sawing a cast-iron bath, especially Soviet-made, when metal was really not spared, is not so easy, and “disposable” Chinese appliances may not be able to cope with such a task. For this work, you need a reliable German or Russian tool.

Tools:

Small angle grinder - "Bulgarian".

"Bulgarian" must be reliable - a low-quality tool may not even be able to cope with such a task

Circles for cutting on metal, 1 mm thick and 125 mm in diameter, they will need 3 ÷ 4 pieces, depending on the thickness of the cast iron.
Grinding wheels - for processing the cut sides of metal, files.
Electric drill with metal drill Ø 9 or 11 m (depending on the selected bolts). It is necessary for drilling holes in the sides of the bath to connect its two parts with bolts.
Trowel and spatula for bricklaying and finishing work.
Construction gun for sealant.
Plumb and building level.
Hammer.

Prices for angle grinders

Materials:

The cast iron bath.
Sheet metal, at least 5 mm thick.
Cooking two-burner cast-iron stove. Instead, an ordinary metal sheet can be laid.
Brick for erecting walls that will close the lower part of the bath, which will be the combustion chamber, from three or even four sides.
Grate grate placed in the furnace.
Clay and sand for masonry mortar.
Ready-to-use heat-resistant adhesive mixture for exterior walls with ceramic tiles.
Heat-resistant sealant (material -).
Bolts with nuts and washers for fastening the structure.
Metal mesh "chain-link" for reinforcing the clay solution laid on the top of the bath, which will act as a cooking chamber.
Ceramic tiles (possibly broken) for decoration.
A metal corner that may be required for the manufacture of brackets - for installing a grate that separates the firebox and blower.
Chimney pipe with a diameter of about 110 ÷ 120 mm.

In order to ensure personal safety, work should be carried out in safety glasses, a respirator and construction gloves.

Prices for heat resistant sealant

heat resistant sealant

Cutting a cast iron bath

The most difficult and responsible process in the manufacture of a furnace is, perhaps, sawing a cast-iron bath, and many even believe that it is almost impossible to carry it out.

Perhaps the most crucial stage is a high-quality cut of a massive cast-iron bath

Masters who have already done this work more than once recommend doing it as follows:

If the cut of the bath will be carried out indoors, then first you need to carry out preparatory work, since the cast-iron dust, flying in all directions, can ruin the objects and things in it. Therefore, the room must be freed from them. If the apartment is being renovated, and the door from the bathroom has been removed, then the opening must be covered with plastic wrap or an unnecessary cloth (moistened is best), because cast iron dust is quite oily, and it will be extremely difficult to wash it from walls and furniture. It is better to take care in advance that she does not get into the living quarters.
Further, the marking of the future section is carried out on the bath, since it must be divided exactly in half.
The bath is covered with enamel, a layer 1.5 ÷ 2.5 mm thick, and first of all it is necessary to cut it along the entire line of the future cut, otherwise chips will form on the edge of the coating.
Then, the cast iron itself is carefully sawn, with small cuts of 100 ÷ 120 mm. Moreover, it is recommended to cut it at a slight angle so that the reverse motion of the disk does not peel off the enamel. It is necessary to ensure that the "grinder" does not overheat - if necessary, the work is interrupted, and the device is given time to cool down.
Having cut half of the bathtub, under each of the future halves it is necessary to put props, for example, from stacks of bricks. Otherwise, at the final stage of work, the halves of the tub along the sawn line may close, pinch or even break the disc (which is extremely dangerous) or damage the instrument.
With a quality tool, such work can be done in about an hour.

If the bath is taken out to the summer cottage in its entirety, then it is best to cut it on the street, turning it upside down in advance. In this position, work will be much easier.

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How to make a garden stove from a cast-iron bath?

When the cut bath is delivered to the installation site, you can proceed to the process of building the stove.

Illustration	Brief description of the operation to be performed
	At the chosen location garden plot a foundation is laid for the installation of the furnace. It is necessary, since the structure will turn out to be quite heavy, and without a reliable foundation it will constantly shrink, which means that the entire structure can be deformed. Then the lower part of the bath is put on a ready, well-dried foundation. If you want the oven to be a little higher, then it is lifted onto supports and also fixed to concrete mortar. While the concrete solution under the bottom of the bath will gain strength and mature, you can start preparing the rest of the structural elements. It should be noted here that the oven can be made in two versions, and each master chooses the one that is more suitable for himself. In the first version, the facade of the furnace is completely decorated with metal walls, and in the other case, the firebox and blower are closed with a brick wall, into which cast-iron or metal doors are built. After the solution hardens under the bottom of the furnace, it is best to immediately fix the brackets for installing the grate on the walls of the lower half-cylinder. This structural element separates the firebox and the blower, so it must be raised above the bottom of the bath by about 150 mm. On the marked walls of the bath, metal corners are fixed, on which the grate is laid.
	To assemble the furnace structure, a metal sheet is cut out, which will completely cover the lower furnace section. The chimney can be welded into a metal sheet and led through the cooking chamber, i.e. the top of the tub, to the outside. In order to cut a hole for a pipe in cast iron, first small holes are drilled along the marked contour of the circle, which are then carefully combined with a grinder, and then the resulting opening is brought to the desired configuration with a file. Or you can choose another option, less laborious - this is the installation of a chimney pipe through the back wall of the furnace. In this case, the pipe will have to be connected to the bath hole intended for the "drain-overflow" system.
	The next step is that the furnace part of the furnace is smeared along the contour with a fire-resistant sealant and covered with a sheet of metal with a chimney installed in it. Some craftsmen make a cutout of the right size in a metal sheet and install a cast-iron, more heat-intensive, hob on it.
	Next, you need to install the second part of the bath on top of the metal sheet, which has a hole for the pipe. Before its installation, the sheet of metal in the places of future contact with the side of the bathtub is also smeared with sealant. It turns out that the upper part is put on the pipe, and then the chimney is increased to a height of 1000 ÷ 2500 mm, depending on the openness of the space where the structure is installed.
	The next step is to twist the upper and lower parts of the bath, as well as the metal sheet installed between them, using bolts with a diameter of 8 ÷ 10 mm. To do this, through holes are drilled in the sides of the bathtub with a pitch of 150 ÷ 200 mm, through which all the elements assembled into a single structure are fastened.
	In this figure, you can see how the structure should look from the side after it is fastened.
	Here is a view of the cast-iron furnace body from the facade and it clearly shows how the chimney pipe should be installed in the metal sheet and in the "ceiling" of the combustion chamber.
	Then, the combustion and blower chambers are separated by a grate. The grate is laid on metal corners fixed on the walls. But, in principle, it can be laid in a cylindrical chamber without brackets - if selected suitable size, which provided a clearance at the lower point of the order of 150 mm.
	Next, you can move on to masonry work. As mentioned above, the walls can be erected only on three sides of the structure - on the sides and behind, or around the entire perimeter of the cast-iron chambers. First, the masonry line is marked along the foundation, and then the walls are removed.
	If from the front side the firebox and the blower will be closed with a brick wall, then the blower door is mounted in the wall at the level of the bottom of the lower part of the bath, and the furnace door is at a level just above the grate.
	Having folded the walls to the level of the cooking chamber, it is necessary to expand them inward so that the brick fits snugly against the outside of the bath. Otherwise, the stove will not only look sloppy, but the heat created in the furnace will be blown out by a draft very quickly.
	In this embodiment, to close the cooking chamber, which can serve as an excellent oven, a shutter is made of a metal sheet. This structural element should close the oven as tightly as possible, otherwise it will be problematic to bake bread or a pie in it. In order for the damper to tightly close the chamber, a metal corner must be fixed in front of the latter. The distance between it and the front cut of the bath should be 1 ÷ 2 mm more than the thickness of the metal sheet of the door. The damper handle must be protected from overheating, otherwise you cannot do without burns, so most often its gripping part is made of wood.
	The second design option for the front part is to cover the fuel part of the furnace with a metal sheet in which a hole is cut out for installing the furnace door. To design the cooking chamber, a figured element of the desired shape is cut out from the same metal sheet, which is fixed from the outside to the walls of the cast-iron container using corners. It should be noted that this method of closing the furnace chambers is more laborious and less efficient than the first one, and besides, it is unlikely that it will be possible to save money by using metal instead of brick.
	After the lower furnace part of the furnace is partially or completely dressed in brickwork, you can proceed to the insulation of the cooking chamber. Since clay mortar has low thermal conductivity and adheres well to surfaces, it is perfect for creating a "fur coat" for the top of the furnace. For this, a thick and plastic clay mixture is prepared with the addition of sifted sand, in approximate proportions of 1:2 or 1:3, depending on the fat content of the clay. Sometimes, in order for the hardened solution to crack less after drying, a little lime is added to it. While the solution is infused, the outer cast-iron surface of the cooking department is covered metal mesh"netting" with cells 15 ÷ 20 mm - it reinforces the insulation layer well, and will also help retain the solution until it hardens on a fairly smooth surface. The grid is fixed to the brickwork located on the sides and back of the combustion chamber. Then, a clay solution is applied on top of the grid. You can lay it in two layers, the first of which does not have to be smoothed to perfection, and the second is leveled with a trowel moistened with water, a wide spatula or trowel. In total, the thickness of the layer after drying should be approximately 50÷70 mm.
	When the stove is ready and insulated, it needs to be given the most aesthetic appearance, that is, to make it not only a functional device, but also a decorative ornament landscape design. Some owners of the plots prefer to leave the brickwork in its natural form, and cover the clay "fur coat" with whitewash in several layers.
	Another option would be to finish the entire structure with ceramic tiles. Moreover, for this case, leftovers and even a battle from tile materials of different colors are suitable, and this will help to significantly save on finishing. If the tiles are broken into small pieces, then they will make an excellent original mosaic. Sometimes finishing is carried out and natural stone, cut into plates with a thickness of 10 ÷ 12 mm. Finishing material should be laid on a special heat-resistant compound.
	The result is an excellent stove in which you can cook every day in the summer, saving electricity or gas. Moreover, food cooked in the oven is always more aromatic and tasty than food cooked on a gas or electric stove.

Thus, by building a stove from an old bath, you can get several benefits at once:

Attach old thing with maximum benefit.
Decorate landscape design with an exclusive, and most importantly, a very functional accessory.
Save on building materials, and in the future - and on fuel (energy source) when cooking.
Get the opportunity to cook a variety of, not only tasty, but also healthy dishes every day.

You may be interested in information on how to do with step by step instructions

How to use an old cast-iron bath in a different way?

In addition to the barbecue oven suburban area, an old cast-iron bath can be used to make a few more useful things.

Part of the cast-iron bath will make an excellent firebox for the fireplace. The convenience of such use lies in the fact that it is not necessary to remove complex semicircular shapes of the hearth from the brick. To fold a neat fireplace with a firebox with an arched vault, you will have to make a template from boards or plywood, and then do complex manipulations of lining it with bricks. The cut off part of the old bath already has the desired shape, moreover, it can easily withstand the weight of the masonry. It remains only to make a chimney hole in its “ceiling” and overlay a cast-iron firebox brickwork, and then decorate from the outside with a fireplace portal.

From a sawn cast-iron bath, you can also make a combustion chamber for a sauna stove. In this case, it is installed in the same way as in the manufacture of a fireplace - with a dome up. Part of the bath is installed on concrete base located in the steam bath, and the edge where the bathroom cut is located is built into the wall and taken out to another room, from where the furnace will be fired. Then, the cut hole is covered with a brick wall, into which a furnace and blower door is installed.

In the steam room, along the entire perimeter of the bath, at a distance of 80 ÷ 100 mm from it, a wall is also being erected, the height of which should be equal to the height of the cast-iron container. Further, all the resulting space around the bath and the brick wall is filled with stones, which will warm up during the heating of the stove and give the necessary heat to the steam room.

Another area of use of old cast-iron bathtubs is the manufacture garden furniture, reliable and durable, which will last for decades. Carefully cutting the bath along, you can get a comfortable "sofa", which is installed in the gazebo or near the barbecue oven. In this case, you get a whole set to decorate the landscape design of the garden plot. Such a "sofa" is not afraid of rain, snow, high and low temperatures. It does not require special care - it is enough to wipe it with a damp and then dry cloth. The smooth surfaces of the sofa are easily painted, both inside and out, and by sewing soft pillows, you can relax on it not only while sitting, but also lying down, stretched out to your full height.

In addition to “sofas”, two comfortable “armchairs” can be made from any bath by cutting it across. Having equipped such “armchairs” with beautiful legs, you can get an exclusive and almost eternal thing. The only drawback of cast-iron "furniture" is its heavy weight, since it will be problematic to move it from place to place.

Some craftsmen manage to make a set from a bathtub, consisting of a designer chair and an original coffee table with a built-in lamp or even a floor lamp.

Most often, old cast-iron bathtubs exported to suburban areas, are used as containers for the device of an artificial pond, which will certainly become an excellent decoration of the territory. The bowl is installed in a prepared pit, to which a sewer pipe is connected, and its ground part is designed to the taste of the owners of the cottage.

Another use case is artificial pond in the garden area

In this case, you will not have to cut the bath, and the laboriousness of the work will consist only in earthworks, lowering the tank into the pit and connecting it to the drain.

You might be interested in information on how

Russian summer residents very often surprise with their ingenuity, and, it would seem, old things that have completely served out on their plots receive a “second life”. Perhaps, having studied the options presented, someone will have the desire and inspiration to come up with their own stove model or other things that are useful in country conditions. There will be slaves if such an inventor shares his achievements on the pages of our portal.

Video: a good example of building a garden stove from an old bath

Evgeny AfanasievChief Editor

Publication author 13.01.2016

It is always a little pity when some old things that have served faithfully for many years become unusable. But the natural domestic ingenuity often allows you to breathe a second life into seemingly “veterans” who have served their time. For example, very often a sauna stove is made from an old cast-iron bath. The popularity of such a solution is added by the undoubted advantages that such a non-trivial material as cast iron has.

practically unlimited service life. Even the enamel that covered the baths is practically very difficult to destroy. This is explained quite simply. In Soviet times, the enamel coating was made in two layers using quartz sand, which, when baked, formed a heavy-duty composition;
a significant indicator of heat capacity, as well as the accumulation and release of heat;
high resistance to corrosion.

Necessary materials and tools

in fact, an old bath, preferably cast iron, although steel can be used with a slightly lesser effect;
steel sheet with a thickness of at least 6 mm;
steel pipe;
several bricks;
metal fasteners;
angle grinder, she is a grinder;
welding machine.

Option number 1, universal

Step #1

Cut the tub in half using a grinder. Cast iron is a brittle material (and this is perhaps one of its few drawbacks), so when making a cut, care must be taken to avoid chipping the material. It is necessary to ensure that the grinder does not heat up too much, for which technological breaks are arranged.

Step #2

Cut a metal sheet 6 mm thick. or more according to the size of the part of the bath prepared by the first step, which in the final design will be located below. Having previously outlined, cut a hole on the sheet according to the size of the existing pipe. Then weld it in place. Thus, a chimney is gradually formed.

Step #3

Make a hole in the upper part of the bath, then put both halves on top of each other with a layer of metal sheet. The pipe must be secured either by welding or using heat-resistant oven sealant. With the same sealant, it is necessary to process the junction of the metal sheet to the halves of the bath, which will avoid possible smoke. The edges of the bath must be securely connected with fasteners.

Step #4

The basis of the future furnace is almost ready. Now it must be installed on the brickwork to give the structure stability and ease of use. The ends of the future furnace, first of all, for decorative purposes, it is recommended to sheathe either with an ordinary iron sheet or with a corrugated one, which looks even more attractive.

Step #5

Make metal doors for the firebox and the chamber for stones. In order to improve the air supply and, as a result, better burning of firewood, it is necessary to make a number of holes in the firebox.

Step #6

The resulting universal oven can be used for a variety of purposes. In order to install it in the bath, it is necessary to make the most minor additions, namely, place stones in the upper part; connect to an existing chimney or bring an existing pipe outside the steam room.

Option number 2, specialized for a bath

When using the oven only for a bath, a simpler design solution is possible, which includes actually refusing to use the second part of the bath. In fact, the first half of the bath is used, which is lined with ceramic oven bricks.

Inside the bath, either a gas cylinder or a metal drum with a diameter of about 40 cm is used as a firebox. A chimney pipe is connected to it, welding it.

IN free space halves of the bath, left over from the firebox, are filled with stones (7-15 cm in diameter). As a rule, pink quartzite or granite is used for this.

Video review :

Masonry is carried out to the height of the bath using clay mortar. The main feature is the joining of two materials that are very different in terms of thermal expansion - brick and cast iron. To do this, it is necessary to provide for expansion joints, in which, as a rule, basalt cardboard or asbestos is used.

After performing masonry work for decorative purposes, you can tile the surface.

Ecology of consumption If you have an old cast-iron bath, which is usually adapted for watering the garden, and the construction of a bath is brewing, then you can save a lot by making a stove in the steam room from this bath.

A cast iron bath stove will last forever. Even enamel will not burn quickly. In Soviet times, enamel was applied in two layers. The enamel contained quartz sand. After enamel coating, the product was baked in an oven at a temperature of more than 800 degrees. The sand melted, and such a coating served for decades. The enamel could only be damaged by a strong blow from a heavy object.

In addition, cast iron has a high heat capacity, well accumulates and gives off heat. Not afraid of corrosion. The industry produces furnaces and grates made of cast iron, as it does not burn out for a long time, unlike steel. But cast iron is a fairly brittle metal.

Bath cut

Sawing a bath is best on the street, after turning it upside down. Cast iron is a brittle metal, so the procedure requires accuracy. The cut is done by a grinder. Get several cutting discs at once. We make markings, and then slightly incise the enamel along the line so that chips do not form with a full cut. We saw through cast iron at a slight angle and make sure that the tool does not heat up. We take breaks. To prevent the halves of the sawn tub from pinching the disc at the final stage of cutting, place supports made of wood or brick along the edges of the cut.

Cutting the bathroom is done by a grinder

Foundation for the oven

The type of foundation depends on the total weight of the furnace:

a brick base is suitable for a light oven. Bricks are laid on edge and bound with mortar. Grade of cement for binder solution is not less than M300;
for a heavy furnace weighing more than 700 kg, a self-leveling foundation with a depth of at least 50 cm is required. Formwork is made and poured liquid concrete with or without filler. The filler will be a broken brick of fine fraction or gravel.

The top of the base is arranged flush with the floor or 15 cm below the floor level. To protect the base from moisture, the bottom and walls of the formwork are lined with roofing material and all joints are coated with bitumen.

Advice. The base should protrude beyond the boundaries of the furnace by 50 cm. In front of the combustion chamber, 1.2 m of space should remain free.

Furnace No. 1

This version of the furnace is able to warm up a bath of 7 square meters. m to 80 degrees in just a couple of hours. To build a furnace, you will need scrap metal: a cast-iron bath, a gas cylinder and a metal drum from a 40 cm diameter conveyor belt. The drum can be replaced gas cylinder or a pipe - this will be the combustion chamber. The sequence of work is as follows:

Advice. If a flat metal platform, then you get a stove for heating the kettle.

Furnace No. 2

From a cast-iron bath sawn into two parts, you can make a combustion chamber for a sauna stove. You will need one half, the second can be used for a fireplace.

The remaining half can be used to build a fireplace. Cast iron can easily withstand brickwork if the fireplace is lined with an arched vault. And for this you do not need to make a complex template from plywood. The front part is made out by a portal. The chimney is removed. You can make the fireplace closed by installing a transparent door on the firebox and admire the flame.

Advice. Cast iron and red ceramic bricks have different coefficients of thermal expansion. Therefore, when erecting brick walls, expansion joints are provided, which are filled with asbestos or basalt refractory cardboard.

Furnace No. 3

The third version of the stove is often used as a garden barbecue and for cooking in the summer. If the upper chamber is filled with stones, then this design will replace the traditional oven in small bath, so we will not bypass this model.

The foundation is poured under the furnace.
The bath is sawn into two identical components.
Supports are placed on the foundation if you want the furnace to be higher.
The first half of the bath is installed. A sheet of metal with a thickness of at least 5 mm is laid on top, which will completely cover the upper and lower compartments and serve as a hob.
Construction of a barbecue grill from a cast-iron bath
We cut the chimney pipe into the sheet and weld it along the contour by welding.
We install the second half from above with the bottom up, having previously cut a hole for the chimney.
We glue the metal sheet and halves of the cast-iron device with high-temperature sealant. This will prevent smoke from entering the upper chamber.
We clamp both parts with clamps and drill holes for 10 mm bolts along the contour. We fasten both parts of the bath and the metal sheet.
We lay out a brick pedestal under the oven of three walls.
The grate is installed 15 cm from the bottom of the combustion chamber. If the size of the grate is small, then two corners are welded to install it.
The front part is closed with a sheet of metal or brickwork with the installation of a door opposite the combustion and blower chambers.
Finished Cast Iron Bath and Sheet Metal Product
A metal shutter is made according to the size of the upper chamber. In this form, the chamber can be used as an oven.
Now it remains to give the product a noble look: veneer the brick with tiles or plaster.

Such non-standard designs are easy to manufacture and require minimal financial costs. A thing that has served its purpose will receive a second life, and you will receive a convenient and practical stove that will serve you faithfully for many years. published