That Was The Chiminea That Was...
How one reader repaired his own chiminea... in his own words!
Dear NH,
As promised, here is a digital photo of my "recycled' (or rescued) chiminea. As you can see, the chiminea is sporting its coal scuttle (ash bucket) as a rain/weather cap. The two metal bands on the stack are large diameter hose clamps applied after fine cracks began to appear in the red clay flue pipe, in addition, these cracks were filled or caulked with high temp .(appropriately colored) red RTV silicone caulking.
The broken chiminea I purchased had the "stump" of the original "chimney" still attached to the base of the chiminea. The "stump" of the chimney looked like a jagged crown about 6"-8" above the body. I was able to widen and slightly bevel a 10" diameter clay flue pipe with an large old rasp and coarse garnet cloth mounted on a piece of scrap wood. The flue pipe fit over the chimney "stump"....with a few prayers and some gentle coaxing with a large rubber mallet! There it has stayed thru wind storms, rain and now snow.
As mentioned earlier, I use a reconditioned and modified a galvanized coal scuttle as a chimney cap. The scuttle also serves as an ash bucket...with the inverted coal scuttle on top of the chimney it looks like a pipe with a hat. The coal scuttle modifications were simply some holes drilled around the base to keep rain water from accumulating inside the base. This arrangement has weathered many a storm.
This contraption really works! When I fire it up, it's amazing how it will consume just about anything that can be burned including green garden waste! When I have a good bed of coals the big mouth makes it easy to grill meat or make pop corn.
It should be further noted that even with all the additional materials this chiminea still cost me much less than half of the price of an intact unit.
Take care and keep up the good work!
Guy D'Angelo