During my 25 years as a stonemason I hate to admit it, but only recently have I had calls from people wanting to have traditional open hearth fireplaces built.
As I studied the technical information a picked peoples brains for information, there is one question I’ve never got and consistent answer to.
What is the shape of the smoke chamber opening where it starts over the irregular shaped throat of the firebox. Does it match the shape of the throat with splayed sides, or is the opening rectangle. Why also is the smoke chamber opening bigger than the throat and have a ledge not only for the smoke shelf at the back but also at the sides.
Replies
I'm curious too. All I've read on this is from the Rumford books on fireplaces. The smoke shelf is to allow the fresh air coming down the chimney to reverse course and flow up the chimney with the smoke.
In my mind on a still day that may be so, but on a windy day I can't believe the smoke & fresh air move in a lamilar fashion.
As for the smoke box width being wider than the damper lid... I don't know either. Convienience? Convention? Construction? Logically the damper is always narrower than the firebox when the sides are corbeled. Possibly the smoke box is larger due to support issues for the chimney?
This is my next project (after the 23 finish projects) And I've scoured the bookstores for masonry fireplace building and there is little available.
(Possibly you need to be a 33rd degree mason to learn the secrets?)
Only being a third degree mason, I wouldn't know all the secrets. I did however build two fireplaces in my own house using precast Rumford smoke chambers from Superior Clay. They work great.Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
I've seen the Superior clay stuff and it is great, however the question our initiator asked (I believe) is 'how works it'?
So don't be giving me the third degree! ;-)
Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?
I was just doing an end run around the question...Having been married for some years, I've learned not to question stuff that works. <G>Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
LOL!!! That one needs to be added to the favorite quotes thread!Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Without one to look into, could it be that the smoke chamber is wider than the top of the firebox by approximately the thickness of 2 layers of fire brick, and if so ....
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Albert Einstein said it best:
“Problems,” he said, “cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them.”
Your mileage may vary ....