How to make a real Russian oven with your own hands

Recommendation points

• How and from what is the Russian stove “Kolkhoznaya Teplushka”
• Subtleties of preparing masonry mortar
• How to mix clay mortar
• Foundation for the Russian stove
• Stove masonry
• Masonry orders

There has always been a special, reverent attitude towards the Russian stove in our culture. How does it differ from other stove structures, how to fold a real Russian stove – let’s try to figure it out.

The Russian stove is a multifunctional device. This includes heating the premises in winter cold weather, and hot, very tasty and healthy food prepared according to old traditions, and the ability to preserve the harvest due to drying, and household amenities in the form of hot water..

Of course, it cannot be said that the Russian stove is an ideal device that does not have its own weaknesses. To successfully cook food in it, the hostess must have considerable skill – not every modern lady can handle a grip and pots. Every morning the stove needs to be heated, which means someone needs to chop wood. The disadvantage of a stove as a heating device is that heat is released at a level above the hearth, that is, almost a meter from the floor. Modern types of stoves are designed in such a way that smoke channels are placed in the lower part, and such a stove heats up to its entire height. The design can include a cast iron cooking plate.

The Russian stove can be of three standard sizes: 231×160, 213×147 and 178×124 cm.Of course, it is quite possible to deviate from these standards, and the average stove measures about 213 cm in length, 142 cm in width and 180 cm in height. This is enough for cooking and heating a room of 30 m². It consists of the following elements (let’s start from the bottom):

1. Guardians (guardians). It is used for storing and drying firewood.
2. Cold stove – a small recess in which dishes are stored.
3. Six – space in front of the crucible: here you can put a pot pulled out of the furnace.
4. Under – the floor of the cooking chamber. It has a slight slope towards the mouth to make it easier to move heavy dishes. It must be carefully sanded.
5. The crucible, or cooking chamber, is the place where firewood is laid and food is prepared. The crucible arch also slopes forward. Thus, hot gases accumulate under the ceiling of the cooking chamber, which well heat up the entire oven and, in particular, the stove bench..
6. The overtube is a chamber located above the pole. Above it is the chimney pipe.
7. Samovar (stranglehold) – a hole that goes into the chimney and is designed to “connect” the samovar pipe. This is an “optional” device, not necessary for the oven.
8. View is a door that completely covers the chimney. Through it you can get to the shutter – a metal plate that moves in a horizontal plane, adjusting the traction.
9. Lounger – a horizontal surface located behind the chimney, above the arch of the furnace. This is a distinctive feature of the Russian stove – you can sleep on it.

1 – baking; 2 – cold stove; 3 – six; 4 – under; 5 – crucible; 6 – overtube; 7 – strangler; 8 – chimney; 9 – view; 10 – damper; 11 – bed

The most common today is the improved Russian stove. Its difference is in the heating of the underfloor part, due to which the heating of the premises becomes more comfortable. Cooking in it is also more convenient, because in the summer, when there is no need to heat the room, such an oven works like a hob. The fuel is burned in a small firebox, and the exhaust gases go directly to the chimney, while in winter they pass through all the channels, heating the furnace body. This is due to the timely installation and removal of the “summer” furnace shutter. In addition, this oven has a hot water tank. Its design was developed by the Russian engineer Joseph Podgorodnikov at the beginning of the last century, and it is called “Teplushka”. Its dimensions are 1290x1290x2380 mm. It is these ovens that are most often found in the homes of rural residents. It can heat a room up to 35 sq. m.

How and from what is the Russian stove “Kolkhoznaya Teplushka”

As with any other furnace, refractory bricks made of chamotte clay are used for laying the furnace part. The rest of the structure is made of ceramic bricks.

Each stove has metal, more precisely, cast iron parts – doors and dampers. They also need to be prepared in the right amount. We will need:

1. Doors: furnace 250×205 mm, blower 250×140 – 2 pcs., Cleaning 130×140 – 2 pcs., Ventilation of any size for the chimney.
2. Grate grate 380×250 mm.
3. Gate valves: 260×260, 180×140, 140×140 mm.
4. View with a diameter of 230 mm.
5. Crucible damper 450×380 mm.
6. Hot water box 500x120x280 mm.
7. Stove with two burners 400×700.
8. Steel strips: 1000x50x12 and 1430x25x2 mm.

For the laying of some elements – arches and vaults – templates will be required, which should be easily dismantled. They are made from wood and plywood parts..

Subtleties of preparing masonry mortar

Unlike usual, masonry mortar for oven work is much more difficult to prepare. Of course, you can buy a ready-made mixture at a hardware store – there is one if you look well. But, if the goal is to make the oven independently, we will also prepare the solution with our own hands..

Masonry mortars for stoves are selected depending on the bricks used:

1. If a solid brick of grade M150 or more is used for masonry, a clay-sand mortar is used in a ratio of clay and sand of approximately 1: 2. It is also used for facing the oven with ceramic tiles..
2. For laying refractory bricks, mortars are used based on refractory clay with the addition of sand.
3. When using fireclay bricks, solutions are used from refractory (kaolinic, bentonite) clay and fireclay powder in a ratio of about 1: 3-4.
4. Brick pipes in the attic space are laid using a cement-sand mortar.

Clay is a soft non-metallic rock, and, as everyone knows, it can be used to sculpt sculptures, dishes, make tiles, and so on. The difficulty lies in the optimal selection of raw materials – in nature, clay occurs in different forms, and can be “lean”, normal or “oily”. The skill of the stove-maker lies in the selection of the optimal ratio of clay and sand in order to obtain the ideal masonry mortar.

To check the quality of the mud, a variety of well-known methods are used. The simplest of them is to “knead” the clay dough, roll a thin flagellum and try to bend it. The smaller the bend radius at which the flagellum begins to crack, the better the solution.

Another, very accurate way: roll a ball out of the prepared “dough” and gently squeeze it between two boards. When compressed to a third of its diameter, normal clay will begin to fill with fine cracks. If the ball crumbled even earlier – the solution is too “skinny”. If cracks appeared when a lump of clay was compressed by half the diameter, the solution is greasy. In any case, it is better to get a fatty solution than a lean one..

How to mix clay mortar

For laying a Russian stove, you will need about 3.5 m³ solution. Accordingly, the required amount of ingredients is taken in the ratio specified above, and diluted with water in the amount of 1/4 of the volume of clay taken. For example: 1.1 m³ clay, 2.2 m³ sand and 0.27 m³ water.

An iron barrel or a box upholstered in tin is used as a container, the clay is soaked in water for a couple of days. After that, sand is added, and the entire solution is mixed with your feet (you will have to stock up on high boots) until the mixture becomes homogeneous.

Important: since the width of the masonry joints is no more than 3 mm for fireclay bricks and 5 mm for ordinary bricks, all large lumps and stones must be removed from the mortar.

Foundation for the Russian stove

Since the furnace is a massive and heavy structure, it needs a separate foundation. Therefore, starting the construction of a furnace in an already erected house will be problematic – you should think about this in advance.

A slab monolithic foundation made of reinforced concrete would be an ideal option for reliability. The base of the furnace foundation is not connected to the foundation of the house and is an independent structure. Its construction is carried out according to standard technology. The cut-off, that is, the ledge formed by the upper edge of the foundation and the first row of masonry, must be at least 50 cm.Before laying on the foundation, waterproofing is laid on the foundation – roofing material folded in two layers.

Most often, the stove is located near the inner wall, which has a shallow foundation. In this case, its sole should be flush with the sole of the oven base. To ensure the independence of the foundations, a gap of at least 5 cm is left between them, into which sand is poured. The upper edge of the furnace foundation does not reach the level of the finished floor by 14 cm.

In cases where the furnace is located near the outer wall, under which a buried strip foundation is located, its pit expands and sand and gravel backfill is performed with careful layer-by-layer ramming. After that, a slab foundation of the furnace is arranged with a gap of 5 cm from the base of the house – a retreat, while the depth of the base of the furnace foundation is at least 50 cm. Sand is poured into the retreat, and its end walls are formed by brickwork.

If the stove is installed in an opening cut in a supporting wooden wall, it is necessary to connect the resulting ends of the lower crown. This is done using steel strips 6 mm thick and 60 mm wide, which are applied to the logs on both sides of the wall and tightened with 16 mm diameter bolts. The opening is framed with wooden posts. A circulation gap of about 5 cm wide should form between them and the future furnace, which is called cutting. In the foundation of the house under the wall, a gap must also be provided in advance equal to the width of the base of the stove plus an offset of 5 cm on each side.

Stove masonry

The main requirement for oven masonry is tightness. Therefore, only whole bricks without cracks are taken on the furnace, and the seams are made thin – no more than 5 mm. It is impossible to achieve airtightness by coating the walls of the furnace with clay from the inside – this reduces thermal conductivity and increases the deposits of soot and soot. In addition, clay can flake off and clog channels inside the oven, which can be difficult to clean. Masonry methods are applied:

• “Into a brick” – that is, the wall thickness is equal to the length of the brick;
• “In half a brick” – the brick is laid flat along the wall;
• “In a quarter” – the brick is laid on the edge.

The dressing of the seams is carried out due to the use of bonded and spoon masonry in the corners (the brick is laid flat, and the next row is poked out) or incomplete material. If a ceramic brick is used, it must be soaked beforehand, because it “draws” moisture from the solution. When laying, it is imperative to remove excess mixture, especially from the inside of the oven. The outer walls of the furnace are laid “in brick”, the inner walls are usually “in half a brick”.

Masonry orders

Ordering – step-by-step instructions for laying, detailing the order of actions in each subsequent row. Thanks to them, the process of building a Russian stove can be mastered by anyone..

It is preferable to lay the first row from burnt brick, which absorbs moisture less. The corners of the first row are laid out of bricks, cut to 3/4 of the length. For a better fit, the inner corners of one of them and the adjacent one are sawn off. For this, a grinder, a diamond file, etc., is used. Such masonry is necessary in order to correctly tie the corners in the subsequent rows..

2nd row: the laying of the walls of the furnace begins, cleanings are laid in the front and on the left side. An ash pan is formed on the right side of the front.

3rd row: cleanings on the left are laid with bricks without mortar. The blower and cleaning doors are installed in front. The doors are installed using baked steel wire, which is laid in the cuts in the bricks and fixed with masonry mortar.

4th row: hearth channels overlap.

5th row: the grate of the small firebox is installed. For laying the inside of the firebox, refractory bricks are used, which are laid without mortar.

6th row: a water-heating tank is installed on the left side of the furnace, the laying of the firebox with refractory bricks continues.

7th row: the grate of the stove is installed, the laying of the walls of the stove and the first firebox continues. The right wall is reinforced with a steel strip placed in the seam and pulled together with end caps.

8th, 9th rows: masonry of walls and internal channels continues. The doors of the stove and small firebox are installed, fixed in the way described above – with the help of hardened wire.

10th row: the vaults of the first and second firebox are connected. The bottom of the furnace is overlapping. The smoke exhaust ducts remain open, so they are discharged into the furnace.

In the 11th row, a steel angle 30×30 mm is installed on the front edge of the masonry, a plate is laid on top. The open space of the right firebox is covered by a removable grate.

12th row: laying of the front walls of the furnace begins (refractory bricks are used) and the side walls of the slab. The furnace flap is installed. To the left of the stove, the formation of the lower part of the chimney begins. There is a hole between it and the crucible, which is closed by the summer valve.

Next, you need to make an arch template out of wood and plywood. The arch of the arch is laid out on it.

Rows 13-16: Furnace walls continue to form. Furnace mouth overlaps.

17th row: A gradual narrowing of the furnace vault and expansion of the chimney begins. The back wall of the furnace is reinforced with a steel tie.

18th row: the arch of the furnace is overlapped, the laying of the front wall of the furnace begins, forming an overtube.

To lay the arch of the crucible, you will again need to build a template – formwork. It consists of two rectangular frames on which plywood parts with a semicircular top – circled – rest. So that the structure can be disassembled from the outside, the circles are attached to removable pins, and so that it does not fold inward ahead of time, several spacers are inserted between the frames. On top of the circled, flexible flooring is made, assembled from thin boards using ropes or belts.

19th row: the front wall of the furnace is strengthened with a screed, the walls are continued to be erected above the furnace, creating a space for filling.

20th row: the arch of the crucible is filled with sand and compacted well. This is done in order to increase its heat capacity and ensure high-quality baking of bread, etc..

21st row: the stove is closed, the overtube gradually narrows towards the chimney.

22nd-23rd rows: laying of the chimney and narrowing of the overtube continues.

24th row: overtube is closed by a ventilation flap.

25-26th rows: the space above the overtube gradually connects to the chimney, narrows.

Further laying is carried out depending on the height of the room: from the outside, the chimney narrows with a step in front of the ceiling, after which a pipe is already formed, passing through the ceilings and the roof. In the space between the ceiling and the roof, as well as above it, the masonry is made on a cement-sand mortar.

Now the oven is ready. It remains to lay out the pipe above the roof surface – and you can heat it! A native Russian stove will feed, and heat, and put you to sleep – know, throw some firewood.