Barrel Stove - It burns everything and is HOT

by Joe
(Warrensburg, NY)

Had a barrel stove in my workshop years ago. I inherited from someone else that no longer needed it. Was made from an old style iron ringed drum from WWII or earlier years. One of the cast iron legs was cracked so I fixed that by welding and set it up in my garage where I had my tools and worked on cars as a teenager.
After firing this baby up in subzero winter weather, I was soon working all year round on projects.
For safety I put a sheet of reflecting metal behind the stove on the wood wall; worked well.
Also put some firebrick on the bottom to prevent burn through because cherry red was frequent.
One time I put an old full size car battery in that was drained; when I cleaned the ashes out, the lead was there in the bottom. This stove burned anything I put in it!