Welcome to my newly revised and updated website! I can't believe that it's four years since I first got a website, at least three years since it was updated, and that I've now had my workshop and forge for seven years, not the three years on my original text. Much has changed since then and I now have more stoves in more designs than ever. I have also shipped stoves to France, Ireland, and even the USA!
Some things have changed, for example I now draw everything on computer and have the components laser cut, but others are unchanged. All my door handles and catches are still beaten hot over the anvil, and all my stoves are hand built by me.
The principles of functionality, large doors for large logs, hotplates for cooking and a long burn time haven't changed at all, and neither has the aesthetic. It should do all the above and look nice too. It should also last a lifetime.
I've left the original text which explains who I am (in case I forget) and what I do below as a reminder and for the benefit of anyone stumbling onto the site for the first time.
I've added a new gallery page, with a selection of my more recent work. There's a wide variety of size and style representing a whole pile of work, I hope you enjoy!
The tinderbox project has changed since my original design. Essentially I was building liquid cooled thermoelectric generators. They worked well and I sold several, but were quite complex to install, and I had supply problems which set me back no end. I still make thermogenerators but only on request as I can build them quite easily, but they look like they were assembled by a family of spiders under Heath-Robinsons' direction rather than a professional product, and as such I'm not happy to release them on a commercial basis.
My name is Julian and I started off making horseshoes an embarassingly long time ago. I then trained as an agricultural engineer and travelled the world for many years in that capacity. And then I went back to the anvil, and have had my own workshop and forge for just under three years. I started out making trivets and camping equipment after many people enquired, and started designing and making my own wood-burning stoves after I was approached by a friend. I spent a long time listening to people then I spent a lot more time designing a wood-burning stove that gave them everything they wanted. It boiled down to three key things for me, it must stay in overnight, it must take big logs, so it needs a big door, and it must have a hotplate for cooking. I added in the fact that I wanted my stoves to last forever and that I wanted them to look nice and arrived at the basic design, which has remained unchanged, though each of my stoves is unique and some are really works of art.
Having got hooked on making stoves, I started looking for ways to make them more useful. I kept thinking of all that heat and how I might harness some of it. Generating power seemed the obvious task to me. Even small amounts can make a huge difference if you have no mains power, particularly in winter. Daylight is limited, wind is unpredictable and generators have a host of problems, so there was a huge challenge to get my teeth into. I looked at steam in various configurations and I even looked at Stirling cycle engines, before rejecting all of them for a host of practical reasons. You can see what I arrived at on The Tinderbox page. I'm excited, and I think you will be too.
Some things have changed, for example I now draw everything on computer and have the components laser cut, but others are unchanged. All my door handles and catches are still beaten hot over the anvil, and all my stoves are hand built by me.
The principles of functionality, large doors for large logs, hotplates for cooking and a long burn time haven't changed at all, and neither has the aesthetic. It should do all the above and look nice too. It should also last a lifetime.
I've left the original text which explains who I am (in case I forget) and what I do below as a reminder and for the benefit of anyone stumbling onto the site for the first time.
I've added a new gallery page, with a selection of my more recent work. There's a wide variety of size and style representing a whole pile of work, I hope you enjoy!
The tinderbox project has changed since my original design. Essentially I was building liquid cooled thermoelectric generators. They worked well and I sold several, but were quite complex to install, and I had supply problems which set me back no end. I still make thermogenerators but only on request as I can build them quite easily, but they look like they were assembled by a family of spiders under Heath-Robinsons' direction rather than a professional product, and as such I'm not happy to release them on a commercial basis.
My name is Julian and I started off making horseshoes an embarassingly long time ago. I then trained as an agricultural engineer and travelled the world for many years in that capacity. And then I went back to the anvil, and have had my own workshop and forge for just under three years. I started out making trivets and camping equipment after many people enquired, and started designing and making my own wood-burning stoves after I was approached by a friend. I spent a long time listening to people then I spent a lot more time designing a wood-burning stove that gave them everything they wanted. It boiled down to three key things for me, it must stay in overnight, it must take big logs, so it needs a big door, and it must have a hotplate for cooking. I added in the fact that I wanted my stoves to last forever and that I wanted them to look nice and arrived at the basic design, which has remained unchanged, though each of my stoves is unique and some are really works of art.
Having got hooked on making stoves, I started looking for ways to make them more useful. I kept thinking of all that heat and how I might harness some of it. Generating power seemed the obvious task to me. Even small amounts can make a huge difference if you have no mains power, particularly in winter. Daylight is limited, wind is unpredictable and generators have a host of problems, so there was a huge challenge to get my teeth into. I looked at steam in various configurations and I even looked at Stirling cycle engines, before rejecting all of them for a host of practical reasons. You can see what I arrived at on The Tinderbox page. I'm excited, and I think you will be too.
Contact the Fireweaver, you will not be disappointed!
