Unboxing the Glorious Two Dog wood stove from Fourdog

I just had a wonderful five minute conversation with the owner and founder of Fourdog stoves. I  kind of took a risk this morning as his website says he opens at 6 am with his phone number. I called and left a message at 6:10 am approximately! He called me back about an hour later to inform me that the reason I had not heard back sooner via email is because he was out of town. So first thing I did was ask if he had been goose or duck hunting? Nope a symposium in Texas!

Dan Wesson 2 years ago

Seems like a terrific product. I have been trying to contact this company for a little over 4 years now. Emailed directly, called, left messages. No reply. I want to purchase a stove pipe. I cannot seem to find the telescoping titanium stove pipe on their website to order. I have trepidation now: what if there is a problem after I order it? Who will help solve said problem/issue?

I was trying to be conversational but I didn't pry as to what "symposium" - and instead I asked if he got my visa charge? Yep. So he showed me the stove and when I lifted - or was about to - he said - here's the handles. The stove was in a plastic bag but sure enough the handles were easy to find and grab (nice big handles that are VERY sturdy). Right away that's a plus as a stove I bought previously had unattached handles that used small screws - and one of the screw holes did not hold - and so one of the handles is now not attached....

So then I mentioned again how I was confused by the website stating it is unavailable in small letters but then in big letters it says, "in stock ready to ship." I said someone online had wondered if you had stopped making stoves?! Don confirmed that he is now only making Titanium stoves so then he had his former worker make this Two Dog stove for me.

I don't know - when I look on the site just now it says the Titanium stove is unavailable also and Don is retirement age... maybe he just makes a few designs. Nope BOTH Titanium stoves say "not available."

Ronmiester R 11 months ago

they don't even sell this stove this video is a waste of time I have called several times over the last two years to try to purchase a stell four dog and they say "we don't sell steel stoves anymore" ? only titanium ?? we want the steel one !!

Fiberglass gasket with cement glue (see site) for Airtight seal!!

It takes an air tight stove. Here's why;
Heat rising up the stack makes a low pressure area in the flue, (lowest at the stove collar) and inside the stove. Any air leak will allow atmospheric air pressure to leak into stove - raising the pressure, meaning no vacuum or void. The vacuum is what allows the higher air pressure outside the stove to rush into the primary intake. A stove with secondaries has a second intake that leads to the tubes above fire. When the primary intake is closed, oxygen is pushed into the only place it can get in. The secondary inlet, through the little holes in the intake tube where the smoke is. Any leak into stove allows atmospheric pressure to take the path of least resistance and not enter through the secondary inlet. This is why chimney height and diameter is so important as well. It has to create enough pressure differential for atmospheric pressure to be high enough outside the stove, compared to inside. You can see how any leak would balance the negative pressure you're trying to create with the chimney..

So maybe Don is retired but then he said - we'll you were able to order it!! So I did notice on his site that you have to choose the right "shipping" option to be able to order the stove - I thought maybe I squeezed around his website limitations on the Two Dog since I ordered it as a "local pickup"? I don't know. When I tried to just reiterate it was confusing but that I did not know about websites - he just seemed to agree that he did not know really what was on his website. haha

So I didn't want to "fester" on that point and as I was about to leave I threw out another conversational teaser. I think he mentioned first about how I could get duct pipe at Menards but that it's hard to find a 5 inch damper. I said I had ordered an enlarger to 6 inches but that I was going out a side wall so I was not sure.

 He said well then I need to do a 60 degree pipe until I get outside.

 So I asked for clarification. He said to put on the enlarger and then an elbow at 60 degrees with a pipe going outside. So I figure then I can put the damper on after the elbow.

So then I decided to push my luck as I was loading the stove into the car. I said nonchalantly - "well I was thinking of building a rocket stove." https://www.hunker.com/13418919/how-to-use-a-wood-stove-damper

This got me a very brisk response - and again I asked for clarification. He did indeed said what I thought he said - and precisely what I was thinking as well - that with a Rocket Stove you need to keep on feeding it. That was precisely one of my main reasons for NOT wanting a rocket stove. So I was glad to hear Don corroborate my main concern with the rocket stove. Also he added how they don't necessarily work correctly - which I think is well-known - how people have to tinker with the designs to get it to work properly.

 Generally, the way I go about it is to have the air open to get the fire going. As you start closing the air down, you will find the stove gets hotter. Surprisingly, the more you close the air down, the hotter things get. Then at some point, it levels off and you are 'in control' of the fire. At that point, you can reduce air further for the temperature you need. Though at some point, you go too low and it may start smoking.

The glorious Baffle on the inside of the Two Dog stove - that upper shelf is the "baffle"

So then I said how I got a bunch of free bricks off Craig's List so that I was gonna surround the Two Dog with bricks and that someone online had posted the Two Dog like that. Don said, "Anything can be a heat sink, like water." I said yeah so I can just heat up water on top. And he said yeah like the wood pile will also be a heat sink. I then mentioned how Mors had discussed how the "reflector" using wood was really NOT a reflector but a radiant source. Video of baffle being added to old wood stove  So he just does 4 weld spots in total compared to below - 10 weld spots in total!

The baffle makes a huge difference! I had a stove that has a shelving for a baffle that I had no idea what it was for. Just to try it out I cut a heavy tin sheet to size and my little stove threw out more heat, burned less wood.

The intense heat that normally would heat the rear outlet elbow now goes up the plate and burns the unburned smoke particles before they get to the outlet. This also directs the heat to the stove top instead of in the direction of the exhaust. (rearward) Huge reduction in smoke. (about 90% reduction as calculated in EPA testing with and without baffle)

 I had the steel baffle plate made per forum recommendations and propped it upright on firebricks sitting vertically on top of the lower course and got the 2 inch gap right at the rise. The stove burns long and hot and nearly smokeless, temps on stove top usually 400 - 600,

So Don then picked up on this - stating that yes the wood also is a wind block but that for example if you use aluminum that it will conduct the heat much better than steel - even if the steel is painted black.

This is the view of the Baffle through the exit chimney hole - so there is under an inch space in the back for the immediate draft

So that was very intriguing to me - as I was thinking about the conductivity of aluminum. I said I had read about this a bit online. Oh and also I had mentioned to him about the Slanted Rumford and how a masonry worker in Connecticut had designed a damper so that the Slanted Rumford works like a masonry stove! So Don pointed out that Sweden and Hungary have excellent masonry stove designs and he described the design using his hands for visualization. I agreed and then he said how you want a small hot fire for a masonry stove. Again I agreed.

Another image of the baffle "shelf" at the top - that reflection is the BACK of the wood stove box. So the secret of the baffle is to redirect the smoke back into the fire for a secondary burn - increase heat and less particulates in the exhaust.

So oh that whole conversation was kicked off by me stating, "Now I know you like to sell to people who know how to start a fire but I can not guarantee that!" haha.

So Don ended the conversation with a comment for me to Take Care - and I left with the assurance that this is a very well-made stove. Four Dog video on the Shop Tour of machining the stove!  The baffle was first introduced into wood stoves in the 1980s and was considered a key improvement - featured in the "Kent" stove from New Zealand. So then that Kent stove first had the draft open but then closed off the damper completely so that all the smoke was rerouted through the baffle (that I guess had its own direct path, a "bypass valve" to the chimney duct).

So this baffle still allows direct draft up the back but since the draft of the oxygen enters from the front - this still pulls the smoke back towards the oxygen as a secondary burn.

 I will NOT install a damper - to make sure I don't get any creosote build up as my duct pipe will be at a low angle...

Keeps me cozy

Posted by Unknown on 16th Dec 2013

I installed my stove a couple of weeks ago in a 9x 22 foot cabin in the middle of a snow storm. It heats the place up in about 10 minutes, and can burn a couple of logs all night long, still cozy in the morning. I love it. I don't have a damper on it yet, but the adjustable air intake seems to do the trick for controlling the heat.