Anyone who uses stoves with stoves knows that over time, the latter crack both along and across. Previously, such stoves were simply thrown away and new ones were installed, since it was possible to buy them. Now, when cast-iron plates were also in short supply, the question arose: what should be done in this case? After all, it is very inconvenient to operate a plate of halves, quarters, and so on, since the cracks constantly diverge from heating and cooling and you need to shift them all the time. Therefore, in order to extend the service life of a cracked slab, I wire individual parts of it.
In the right places on the plate (Fig. 1), I drill in pairs (opposite each other) holes with a diameter of 3 mm, placing them from the edge of the crack at a distance of 1.5 ... 2 mm. I insert a steel wire (2. .. 2.5 mm in diameter) into the paired holes and twist its ends from the bottom of the plate. To bend the wire at the edge of the hole so that it does not “hump”, I make a bevel on top of the hole.
Now individual fragments of the plate from heating and cooling do not diverge. I also note that the wire protruding on the surface of the stove does not interfere with putting pots on the stove.
I would also like to share one little trick. Everyone who has ever had to break up large chunks of coal knows that during such an operation the fragments fly apart, which is unpleasant in every way.
To avoid all this, I made a small device from the shafts of obsolete old rubber boots. Separating the heads, I cut along both legs, after which I fastened (stitched) the resulting pieces with a thin wire (or twine). The result is a rubber "safety cover" without a bottom (Fig. 2). In the upper part of the cover I cut out a “petal” so that it would be more convenient to hold the cover with my left hand when cracking coal.
Grinding coal is as follows. I put a rubber cover on a piece of coal and, holding it with my left hand on the "petal", I hit with a hammer a piece. The fragments no longer fly apart, therefore, safety precautions are respected. Yes, I forgot to say that there is a slot in the cover for the handle of the hammer.It is done about half the height of the shaft, on top of the slot a little widened.