Thread: Chimney top.

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Last spring the top blew off the fireplace chimney. Too much heat & smoke turned it brittle & it broke like dried leaves. They have to be special ordered around here, they're expensive & we've gone through 2 in 11 years. So, I took a couple hours & made one out of .080 aluminum sign cut-offs.

At a sign shop, you use what you have. Made a template out of scrap vinyl.



Wheeled a little pitch in the top & bottom pieces for water runoff.



I don't have tipping dies for the bead roller, so I picked something close & went with it



Used the shrinker / stretcher & a hammer to get a 90°.



Test fit the bottom half on the stainless inner liner.



I tried everything I could think of to make the louvered sides, but nothing turned out right (wasted a good part of the afternoon figuring that out). So, as an alternative, I stomped out a handful of aluminum stripes on the shear, used the bench vise & a crescent wrench as a jig & bent all the stripes into louver pieces & then clamped spot welded them to the top 1 by 1. Then did the same with the bottom



It actually went together fairly quick once I had a system down. Welded some mounting tabs on the bottom & got it installed in the dark. Installed the screen on the bottom to keep birds out of the liner vent. I have to do a little re-sealing on the chimney itself, but it started to rain just as I was putting the last screws in.



Cross another Honey -Do off the list in my quest to get back on the "Z". Been some chilli mornings lately & NO fireplace. It's nothing fancy, but it should do the job. Nobody's gonna notice now that it's on the roof anyway.......well maybe me ........or Santa Claus. Good luck sliding down this one Santa.

Looks like it ought to work just fine, Pro!!!! Nothing like a bit of Hot Rodder innovation to fix up things around the house---Betcha it cost a lot less and will last a lot longer then the store-bought version, too!!!!!

Looks great, but my question is who's the brave person taking the pictures? That roof looks like a 12/12 pitch?

Thanks Dave. Maybe one of these days I can actually do car stuff.


Yes it is Oldmanb. It's a little trickier to navigate than it was a few years ago. I built it, I shingled it, but when it needs shingles again it WILL BE somebody else doing it.


From the same spot, slightly to the left.

I have roof jacks if you get the notion to go for it

So do I but I'd like them to stay in retirement.

Thats where mine are

I did one side of my old house last year,made a roof ladder that hangs over the top, knees shook for hours,but after the first day or so got braver,lol.
Brian

Heights to a point don't bother me. Installing signs I'm on ladders & scaffolding on a regular basis. I once lettered a water tower, that had me a little nervous at first, but I got used to it after awhile.
Now if I fell, I'd probably be nervous on the way down.

Many moons ago when I still did the skydiving thing, a guy asked me the usual "Why would anyone jump out........." ... My standard answer was that I was afraid of heights and it was the quickest way down!!!!

Originally Posted by pro70z28

Last spring the top blew off the fireplace chimney. Too much heat & smoke turned it brittle & it broke like dried leaves. They have to be special ordered around here, they're expensive & we've gone through 2 in 11 years. So, I took a couple hours & made one out of .080 aluminum sign cut-offs.

At a sign shop, you use what you have. Made a template out of scrap vinyl.



Wheeled a little pitch in the top & bottom pieces for water runoff.



I don't have tipping dies for the bead roller, so I picked something close & went with it



Used the shrinker / stretcher & a hammer to get a 90°.



Test fit the bottom half on the stainless inner liner.



I tried everything I could think of to make the louvered sides, but nothing turned out right (wasted a good part of the afternoon figuring that out). So, as an alternative, I stomped out a handful of aluminum stripes on the shear, used the bench vise & a crescent wrench as a jig & bent all the stripes into louver pieces & then clamped spot welded them to the top 1 by 1. Then did the same with the bottom



It actually went together fairly quick once I had a system down. Welded some mounting tabs on the bottom & got it installed in the dark. Installed the screen on the bottom to keep birds out of the liner vent. I have to do a little re-sealing on the chimney itself, but it started to rain just as I was putting the last screws in.



Cross another Honey -Do off the list in my quest to get back on the "Z". Been some chilli mornings lately & NO fireplace. It's nothing fancy, but it should do the job. Nobody's gonna notice now that it's on the roof anyway.......well maybe me ........or Santa Claus. Good luck sliding down this one Santa.

That is a spark arrestor. Honey do list??.Don't let her see this question because if you didn't your going to be taking it back off.

Did you run a brush down it to clean it while you had it apart??Chimney swept??.The last time that was done was when??.Yeah those logs for cleaning is just a maintenance tool,but do not replace a good cleaning.

Cool metal working.

Got it covered. Chimney is clean & ready to fire up. I've used those logs a couple times & I don't see where they do much good. Maybe they do, but it seems like a quick swipe of the brush works better.
Can't believe this thing is 11 years old already.

Unless you have ready access to wood,we have suggested for those that have a stainless liner to convert to pellet stoves which are more efficient and can be hooked to a thermostat to be programed and is a whole less to handle with no sweat equity splitting and stacking wood.

I have a tree trimmer customer that gives us free wood. Hard to turn down, & my son does the splitting & stacking. Hard to beat sitting by a good old wood fire on a cold winter night.

Nice job Gary. You're right about roofing being easier back when, even used to pack the shingle bundles up the ladder with ease. Now, can't even walk on a 6/12......ankles don't bend enough anymore. Impressed that you can still do that.......kid!